Editorial: Westfield makes impressive host of LIV Golf Indianapolis tourney

Congratulations to the city of Westfield, The Club at Chatham Hills and club owner Henke Development Group for hosting a LIV Golf tournament last weekend that was so well-attended, well-organized and well-played that the organization announced it will return next year.

That’s exciting for Westfield, of course, but also for all of Hamilton County and central Indiana.

So often in this editorial space, we focus on the health of the city of Indianapolis and downtown. It is, after all, the hub of much of the region’s tourism and hospitality, thanks to the Indiana Convention Center, convention hotels and big sports events at Lucas Oil Stadium and Gainbridge Fieldhouse. We have always echoed the sentiments of former Mayor Bill Hudnut who said “you can’t be a suburb of nothing” as he worked to strengthen Indianapolis.

We agree with that. A strong central city is crucial in the development of a thriving metropolitan area.

But while Indianapolis might be the important hub, suburbs are the spokes without which the region’s economic wheel can’t turn.

And so it is with excitement that we also encourage and support the growth of sports, conventions and the arts throughout the suburbs—and there has been lots of it.

Westfield, of course, is also home to Grand Park Sports Campus, which last year drew more than 1.3 million people to Hamilton Country for youth sports. The Fishers Event Center is home to the Indy Fuel hockey team, the Fishers Freight indoor football team and Indy Ignite professional women’s volleyball team. The just-opened Arena at Innovation Mile is home to the Noblesville Boom, the Indiana Pacers’ G League team. And that’s just Hamilton County.

But the LIV Golf event stands out as an especially important and substantial event for the entire region. The tournament was named LIV Golf Indianapolis, and that was the labeling used throughout the broadcast on Fox and Fox Sports.

For those watching from outside Indiana and for those who traveled here for the event, there is no Westfield or Hamilton County or Marion County. It’s Indianapolis. It’s all the Indianapolis region. And that’s a good thing.

It’s the reason Indianapolis needs to root for the suburbs, and why the suburbs need to root for Indianapolis. It’s easy sometimes, as people are choosing where to live and companies are deciding where to locate their offices, for communities to be competitive. And that’s understandable when tax revenue and reputations are at stake.

But as many of our suburban mayors often say, regionalism is key to central Indiana’s larger success.

So we offer a hearty congratulations to the folks in Westfield for the fantastic job they did hosting LIV Golf Indianapolis. We’re thrilled the tournament will return in 2026. And we can’t wait to see how the region might be able to roll that success into the next big thing.•

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