THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Jennifer Kupcho had one request for renowned chef Thomas Keller: her favorite food, macaroni and cheese.
The Champions Dinner at the Chevron Championship is a swanky affair as Keller, owner of The French Laundry and once named the Best Chef in America, curates a menu in honor of the previous year’s champion.
Kupcho’s favorite mac ‘n’ cheese is the iconic blue box Kraft variety, but she gave Keller’s version high marks.
“I would say most of the time like fancy mac and cheese is a little bit too rich for me,” said Kupcho, “but he did an amazing job. It was not too rich. It was obviously not Kraft mac and cheese, but it was amazing.”
She also appreciated the Regiis Ova Ossetra Caviar starter, a potato and toasted onion blini, Vidalia onion crème fraiche.
“I probably would never think to order it,” she said, “but it was absolutely amazing.”
Past champions on hand included Amy Alcott, Juli Inkster, Stacy Lewis, Dottie Pepper, Brittany Lincicome, Sandra Palmer, Morgan Pressel, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Pat Hurst.
“Juli Inkster spoke and talked about how it was so special to see everybody again,” said Kupcho. “So I’m looking forward to that in the future, just being able to catch up every year like that. It’s really special.”
Kupcho, of course, was the last player to win at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, making the final champion’s leap into Poppie’s Pond.
Last year, she remembers calling her swing coach in a panic on Wednesday morning trying to work out what was wrong with her swing.
“Miraculously, turned around really good,” said Kupcho, who won three times last season.
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