Forty years ago, second-year LPGA Tour golfer Lauri Merten, then Lauri Peterson, waged a duel with veteran Nancy Lopez, winning the inaugural Jamie Farr Toledo Classic by a two-stroke margin. She earned a first-place check of $26,250. In this 1984 Blade archive photo, Merten waves her left hand to the crowd after sinking her putt. She told The Blade that day, ‘When Nancy tied me, I started thinking I can still finish second in the tournament. But then I said to myself I’m GOING to win. I wasn’t going to finish second.’ That first tournament played at the Glengarry Country Club went on to become an important stop on the LPGA Tour, and now is the Dana Open, played at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania. This year’s Dana Open starts July 15 with the Kickoff Pro-Am. The first round tees off on Thursday, and the final round will be played Sunday. In four decades the purse has grown from $175,000 to $1.75 million. This year’s winner will earn $262,500.
