Sure, the contract between the resort and the LPGA expired the moment Lexi Thompson tapped in to complete her wire-to-wire victory in late May. Sure, years of attempts to lure a title sponsor, including with assistance from the Tour itself, have been fruitless.

But in March, Texas-based Escalante Golf paid $ 30.7 million to purchase the Williamsburg resort from Xanterra Parks & Resorts, whose interest in hosting professional golf tournaments might best have been described, charitably, as tepid.

Not so for Escalante. It owns the Golf Club of Houston, home to the Shell Houston Open. The Web. com’ s WinCo Foods Portland Open is staged at Escalante’ s Pumpkin Ridge, which also has hosted two U. S. Women’ s Opens. Dove Mountain and The Gallery, Escalante properties, have hosted the Accenture World Match Play Championship, with the latter looking to secure an event on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.

Let’ s see: PGA Tour event, Web. com event, angling for Champions Tour event. What would best fill out their dance card? You guessed it.

Of course, the Kingsmill purchase, said John Hilker, new chief operating officer for the resort, was about more than just a professional golf tournament. The goal is to market a resort Hilker called“ one of the most iconic golf destinations on the Atlantic Coast,” in a manner not evident for several years.

But, he added, the tournament is an integral part of the process.

So from Day One, Hilker and Escalante began discussions with commissioner Mike Whan and the LPGA. What emerged were two parties equally committed to maintaining women’ s pro golf in Williamsburg.

The LPGA has some not so obvious reasons to throw its weight behind Kingsmill.

Fan support is a big reason the LPGA pros love coming to Kingsmill.

First, and I suspect foremost, is player response to the event. Despite the mere $ 1.3 million purse, second-lowest on the Tour, 20 of the top 25 and 85 of the top- 100 money winners came to Williamsburg in 2017. Short of the majors and perhaps early-season events when everyone seeks a fast start, few other events can make that claim.

Why? The women said the River Course was in the best condition they’ d ever seen, and better than almost every track on Tour. Television analyst Judy Rankin made the debatable point that by growing a bit more rough and narrowing the fairways a smidge, the course was worthy of hosting a U. S. Open.

Player after player also mentioned the size of the galleries. The combination of chamber-of-commerce weather and the ultra-popular Thompson’ s display of brute strength and diamond-cutter’ s precision drew crowds that had exceeded Escalante’ s goal for ticket sales by the third day.

Corny as it sounds, what the men take for granted— a pristine course, Southern hospitality, courtesy cars, even fans who high-five players as they make their way around the layout— seems to resonate deeply with the lady pros.

The fact that children were in abundance everywhere wasn’ t lost on Thompson, who

pointed out that Kingsmill had managed to create exactly the type of vibe the LPGA has been seeking“ to grow the game.”

But, wait. What about that lack of a title sponsor? You can’ t stage a tournament without one, right? Why not? Hilker replied.“ Where we’ re positioned now, in a partnership with the LPGA Tour, is that this is all about Kingsmill,” he said.“ We have complete control over it. It’ s all us. The [ Golf Channel ] telecasts have been two-hour commercials for Kingsmill— and there’ s tremendous value that goes with that.”

That doesn’ t mean he wouldn’ t like to have some help, and he is open to some creative bargaining to get it. But a title sponsor? I’ m not so sure; no potential partners were invited to witness this year’ s tournament.

Hilker’ s vision for the tournament extends past the Colonial Capital. He cited the Portland Web. com event in which numerous charities are selected to receive any profits earned over operating expenses. Knowing that was the charge, he said, enticed more corporate participation and contributions.

Future Kingsmill Championships would pinpoint charities from Richmond to Virginia Beach as recipients. Hilker admits that to make that model work, every city will likely need a little piece of the pie. Would there be enough support from the community to make that an option? He’ s hopeful.“ We think that this tournament needs to continue for a long time,” he said.“ It’ s good for the resort but, more importantly, it’ s good for Williamsburg and the entire Hampton Roads community. There’ s so much value in it for all of us.”

The LPGA has no deadline by which it needs an answer about Kingsmill’ s future. Does Hilker have one?

“ No,” he said, smiling, as final-round play unfolded,“ because we have already begun preparing for next year.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS