Category: Symetra Tour

Meet the 10 Epson Tour players who earned LPGA cards for 2023

The top 10 players on the Ascensus Race for the Card earned LPGA status for the 2023 season.

Hyo Joon Jang, a 19-year-old rookie from South Korea, entered the Epson Tour Championship ranked 11th on the money list with $74,202, just $1,076 behind No. 10 Alexa Pano. Jang’s T-11 finish was enough to push her into the 10th spot, forcing Pano to head to Q-Series to earn her LPGA card.

The top 10 players on the Ascensus Race for the Card earned LPGA status for the 2023 season. The top three players – Linnea Strom, Xiaowen Yin and Lucy Li – had their cards locked up coming into Daytona Beach, Florida.

For the second time in three years, Bailey Tardy missed her card by one spot. In 2020, Tardy missed her card by $343. She held the lead on Sunday at the Tour Championship on the strength of five birdies in six holes on the front nine. A back-nine 37, however, dropped her down to third place. This time, the former Georgia standout missed the 10th spot by $1,765.

Jaravee Boonchant birdied the 18th to win her first Epson Tour title at LPGA International and moved up to 12th on the money list. While it wasn’t enough to earn her LPGA card, the former Duke player will get to skip the second stage of Q-School.

Find out more about the card winners for the 2022 Epson Tour season:

Tour pros Laura Restrepo, Trevor Sluman return to work after wedding engagement on Amen Corner at 2022 Masters

Pro golfers Laura Restrepo and Trevor Sluman had a life-changing experience at Augusta National.

Epson Tour player Laura Restrepo had a life-changing experience at the Masters two weeks ago.

As Tiger Woods made his way to the 14th tee, Restrepo and longtime boyfriend Trevor Sluman were among the few patrons who remained around Amen Corner.

While a Woods sighting in 2022 is particularly unforgettable, it paled in comparison to the events that followed.

“You’re not allowed to have a phone [on the grounds] but you can bring a camera on practice days,” Restrepo told epsontour.com. “We asked a guy that was standing nearby if he could take our picture. He said, ‘Of course. It’s a good thing you asked me because I’m a photographer.’ After taking it, he wandered down about 15 yards and Trevor thought that was a perfect in.

“He told me, ‘I’m going to ask him to retake it so you can see the green better.’ And I was like, ‘Sure.’ Trevor went over to the guy and must have told him that he was about to propose and if he would take pictures. I was standing by the green ready to take another picture and Trevor pulled out a ring. I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe it.”

2022 Masters
Laura Restrepo and Trevor Sluman celebrate their engagement on Amen Corner during the 2022 Masters. (Photo: Laura Restrepo)

The couple met while playing collegiate golf at Louisville and started dating in 2014. Trevor, whose uncle Jeff Sluman won six times on the PGA Tour and competed in 17 Masters, won the 2019 Sanya Championship on the PGA Tour Series-China, months before Restrepo won her first Epson Tour title at the Guardian Championship.

Restrepo, 28, is one of 120 players in the field for this week’s Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah. She tied for second last month at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. Sluman is back to work competing this week in Brazil.

“I couldn’t think of a better place for Trevor to propose,” Restrepo said. “It was incredible. Every time we were watching after on TV and they showed 13 we were like, ‘That’s where it happened.’

“The Masters is always going to be very special to us. Trevor was on the Korn Ferry Tour the last two years and now he’s playing the PGA Tour Latinoamérica. Hopefully one day when Trevor is playing in the Masters, it’ll take on even more of a special meaning.”

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Shaquille O’Neal teams up with pro mom Rachel Rohanna to help promote Epson’s title sponsorship of LPGA qualifying tour

Epson has a new five-year agreement to be the title sponsor of the LPGA’s official qualifying tour.

Three years ago, Epson partnered with Shaquille O’Neal to help save the world from the hassle of constantly changing printer ink cartridges. O’Neal became the face of the game-changing EcoTank, cartridge-free printers with supersized ink tanks.

That’s how a supersized O’Neal eventually found himself in Atlanta taping a video with the petite Rachel Rohanna to help announce Epson’s new five-year agreement as title sponsor of the LPGA’s official qualifying tour.

“I was a good 2 feet shorter,” said Rohanna. “I’m kind of used to looking up to people, but he held my golf club and it looked like a toothpick in his hand.”

The online commercial will be released on Wednesday across Shaq’s social channels. The former NBA superstar and TV regular has 24 million followers on Instagram, 15.6 million on twitter and 9.2 million on Facebook as well as his own reality show called “Shaq Life.”

Rachel Rohanna hangs out with husband Ethan Virgili and daughter Gemelia at an Epson Tour event. (Courtesy photo)

So far everything about the Epson Tour’s relationship with the LPGA has been next-level – from the little things like lowering the cost of entry fees by 10 percent ($50), to bigger things like guaranteed purses of at least $200,000 and $10,000 sponsorship opportunities for tour graduates. And, of course, Shaq.

Celebrities aren’t often associated with qualifying tours.

“I’ve been thinking about how we could get involved in golf for a long time,” said Keith Kratzberg, CEO, Epson America, Inc.

“There’s a lot involved with the various aspects of sponsorship. The charity aspect is a really important aspect of professional golf. … As a qualifying tour, we asked ourselves the question: What’s really important here?”

Players certainly appreciate the extra mile.

“I thought it was incredible that a global brand like Epson was kind of putting the money into the tour,” said Epson graduate Fatima Fernandez Cano, “and not only just saying, here’s some money, now you’re on the tour, go on with your life.

“They’re actually supporting us, supporting women’s golf.”

Rachel Rohanna and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal (courtesy of Epson)

Rohanna, the first mother to graduate from the Epson Tour, said it was intimidating to test out her acting skills for the first time in front of Shaq, but that he made their hour together “chill.”

“It always blows my mind that people have never heard of the Epson Tour,” said Rohanna, “formally the Symetra Tour. To have someone like Shaq … he’s a great guy in general, to have this many followers, and announce it and actually be enthusiastic about it, I think it’s great for everyone.

“It’s going to be huge.”

Rohanna invited Shaq to a pro-am and to visit the family farm in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.

“The way I’m thinking about it,” said Kevin Garton, Epson’s Head of Brand Strategy and Marketing, “is it’s just the beginning.”

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Arizona State’s Olivia Mehaffey set to make 2022 debut on Epson Tour while holding her father’s memory close

“The reason I play golf is because of him,” she Mehaffey.

Philip Mehaffey hadn’t gotten out of bed in months, but that didn’t stop him from having a motorized scooter delivered to his house in the small village of Scarva, Northern Ireland. His only daughter, Olivia, was set to make her LPGA debut at the ISPS Handa World Invitational about 50 minutes away, and he wasn’t going to miss it. Never mind the terminal cancer diagnosis.

Philip put on six layers and a wooly cap and embarked on what he’d later call the best week of his life.

Olivia, 24, thought she might see her father on the first tee, and maybe a few of the finishing holes at Massereene Golf Club. But every time she looked outside the ropes, there he was.

“He did not miss one shot,” marveled Olivia, who tied for 17th at her home LPGA event.

Olivia Mehaffey
Olivia Mehaffey’s cheer squad at the ISPS Handa World Invitational. (courtesy photo)

Father and daughter were partners in mixed events at their golf club, Tandragee, and often had to tell mom to keep the Sunday roast warm because they had to stay longer for the prize-giving ceremony. Philip was a big believer in his daughter’s talent, and while she rarely made a decision without him, Olivia said he was never a pushy parent.

She began to understand the true depth of her father’s love and pride when she held his hand day after day in the final months of his life.

“The reason I play golf is because of him,” she said.

Olivia, one of three four-time All-Americans to come out of Arizona State, makes her first start of the 2022 season at this week’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic on the Epson Tour, where she’s competing close to her second home on a sponsor exemption. The top 10 on the Epson Tour at season’s end earn LPGA cards for 2023.

A strong finish this week would go a long way toward better status after the tour’s first reshuffle. She tied for sixth at the event last year.

Olivia was in the U.S. when her father was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2020. The surgeon said it was the worst tumor he’d ever had to remove. Her mother Evelyn asked head coach Missy Farr-Kaye to deliver the news so that Olivia, a fifth-year senior, wouldn’t be alone.

In November of 2020, Farr-Kaye, who had twice battled breast cancer, received her own colon cancer diagnosis.

“The last person I wanted to tell was Olivia,” said Farr-Kaye, who is like a second mom to the Irishwoman.

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 03: Olivia Mehaffey of Northern Ireland plays her shot from the 12th tee during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2021 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

At the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Olivia found out from her mom that the cancer had spread, and that her father’s condition was terminal. She cried for about an hour, and then decided that she needed to play her best golf so that he could see her on TV. She finished ninth.

Mehaffey struggles being vulnerable, calling herself a closed book. Last season, she said, was mentally the worst year she’s ever had.

Rounds of 80-74-72-78 put her toward the bottom of the field at Stage II of LPGA Qualifying School in October and miles away from an LPGA card. She immediately went home to Northern Ireland to be with her dad.

“I knew she was devastated,” said Farr-Kaye, “but looking back on it now, she was supposed to be home.”

Mehaffey stayed by her father’s bedside for weeks.

Philip had plans for her though, and he told everyone who would listen that she was going to Spain for Ladies European Tour Qualifying School.

“He looked me in the eye and said, ‘You’re going to Spain,’ ” said Olivia, who insisted that she couldn’t leave him.

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Philip died on Friday, Dec. 3 at age 59, and the family held his funeral service that next Sunday. Olivia honored her father’s wishes and flew to Spain on Monday. Few people outside of Northern Ireland knew of her loss. Olivia just wanted to go out and play for dad.

“I think it taught me how strong I was,” she said. “To be in the space I was mentally and kind of it aside and try to hit shots.”

A tough Mehaffey secured Category 15 membership on the LET for 2022.

Earlier this year, Leona Maguire became the first Irish player to win on the LPGA. The pair are close friends and talk to each other most days. After Maguire won, she told Mehaffey that her LPGA title will come “sooner than you think.”

“That meant a lot to me,” said Mehaffey. “We go so far back.”

2021 ISPS HANDA World Invitational
Olivia Mehaffey gives her ball to a girl on the 18th hole during the final round of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort in Ballymena, United Kingdom. (Photo: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

Farr-Kaye calls Mehaffey one of the hardest, if not the, hardest-working players she has ever coached. One of her strengths is being able to put up a solid score even when she’s not playing well, a strong recipe for a tour player.

Mehaffey returned to Arizona on Jan. 7 and tried to immerse herself into practice and not think too much about the pain.

In time, however, she realized that wasn’t a healthy approach. She talks to Farr-Kaye every day and sometimes practices with her old Sun Devil team. In Farr-Kaye, she has a warm and compassionate confidant. Swing coach Jorge Parada tackles things logically and calmly. They are people she can open up to and unburden herself.

Farr-Kaye said the best advice she can give Mehaffey is to embrace the present, even when it doesn’t look like what anyone wanted.

“Sometimes when you have to work a little harder for something,” said Farr-Kaye, “it means a little bit more.”

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Meet the former USGA champion who quit golf, won LET Q-School and then started a GoFundMe to get back out there

“My ability is better than it’s ever been in my career. I feel like I could be playing up there with the best.”

Gabriella Then didn’t know much about the Ladies European Tour when she signed up to go to Q-School in Spain at the request of a friend. This was, after all, a second act of sorts. She’d already quit tour life once. Why not try something totally different?

Then, 26, actually won Q-School at the La Manga Club, and then got the shock of her life when she realized that much of the Ladies European Tour isn’t actually staged in Europe.

“I literally thought it was Europe, plus Dubai,” she said.

The questions flew about after she won, most notably: Are you going to stay in Europe? How are you going to pay for all of this?

Before getting into the financial aspect of flying from California to Saudi Arabia and Africa for the first three starts of her season (the LET kicked off earlier this month in Kenya), it’s worth noting how Then got to this point.

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She was a dedicated golfer almost from the start, picking up the game at age five, recording her first birdie at age eight, qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at age 12, competing in her first U.S. Women’s Open at age 14. Then won the 2013 U.S. Girls’ Junior just weeks before starting classes at USC, where she set the school record for rounds played over the course of her four-year career.

USC head coach Justin Silverstein calls Then “a worker,” and that dedication extended beyond the practice tee. Then’s parents funded her junior and amateur career, but she knew that to get to the next level, she’d need to start making money herself.

Throughout her time in college Then worked a host of jobs, stashing away money for Q-School and the Epson Tour (formerly Symetra).

In 2019, after she missed out on advancing to Stage II of LPGA Qualifying School by a single stroke, Then decided it was time to do something else. She’d been out on what’s now known as the Epson Tour for three seasons and found both her bank account and drive running low.

She took a job in marketing and sales at Le Mieux skin care, and became a spectator of the game, following boyfriend Eric Sugimoto, who played at USC at the same time, to the Japan Golf Tour.

USC’s Gabriella Then during the Annika Intercollegiate.

After a while outside the ropes, Then started to wonder if she’d quit pro golf too soon.

Her close circle chipped in some cash to get her started again on the Cactus Tour, where she feared she might have forgotten everything she’d known in her 18 months away from the game.

Instead, she won three times in four months on the Cactus and Women’s All Pro Tours, reigniting her passion in the process. Then had emptied her savings account to go all-in on herself for a second time.

“I feel like I’m playing for my own personal goals and my own love of the game,” she said of how this time feels different.

It was Kaley In who first suggested LET Q-School. The two friends practice together at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, California. Then knew she’d have some Epson Tour status from her finish at Stage II of LPGA Q-School last year, but Europe offered a whole new experience.

“I was very overwhelmed when I saw the schedule,” said Then after she won the qualifier. “Wow, these are places I never thought I’d touch in my entire life.”

Then she started to budget for the year and realized that her expenses would be double and triple what she needed for the Epson Tour.

Then has a handful of sponsors in Dave’s Hot Chicken, Konnect Resource, and goodr sunglasses. But she knew she’d need more help to get started on the LET, a route very few Americans take.

“Since I’ve been a professional golfer for five years, I am kind of used to it,” said Then of asking for money. “I’m kind of used to this constant fundraising, this constant networking, which I love to do.”

Though starting a GoFundMe page, however, was new to her and took some convincing from friends. She went live with her GoFundMe page at 8 p.m. three weeks ago, first sending a note privately to those she thought might support before going public on social media.

“In that alone I had 15 different people donate right away,” she said, “in amounts that I never could’ve even imagined. I was so shocked I was tearing up that night.”

To date, Then has raised just over $16,000 on the GoFundMe platform and is nearing the halfway mark of her $40,000 goal.

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Then’s time at USC overlapped with AIG Women’s British Open champion Sophia Popov, and the two friends have been in contact quite a bit of late as Then prepares for a year of golf that will likely be split between the LET and Epson Tours. Popov’s story of nearly quitting the game, winning on the Cactus Tour, and then, months later, winning a major is one that continues to inspire.

Silverstein describes Then as an eternal optimist, the kind of person who has time for everyone and sees the glass half-full. That mentality will continue to serve Then well as she chases the dream of the LPGA a second time.

“My ability is better than it’s ever been in my career,” said Then. “I feel like I could be playing up there with the best.”

She’s willing to go to the ends of the earth to make it happen.

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LPGA Q-Series: Eight-round grind features a major champ, college stars and two Solheim Cup players

The top 45 players and ties will receive LPGA status for the 2022 season.

With no LPGA Qualifying School in 2020, the depth of this year’s Q-Series is particularly strong. Consider that there are six players in the top 75 of the Rolex Rankings in the field, including No. 14 Ayaka Furue, No. 18 Atthaya Thitikul, No. 38 Hinako Shibuno, No. 53 Hye-Jin Choi, No. 67 Na Rin An and No. 71 Emily Kristine Pedersen (pictured above).

The field of 110 players will play eight rounds over the course of two weeks at two courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The first week (Dec. 2-5) will take place at Magnolia Grove (Crossing and Falls courses) in Mobile, Alabama, followed by a hybrid course at Highland Oaks Golf Course in Dothan (Highland and Marshwood courses) on Dec. 9-12.

The top 45 players and ties will receive LPGA status for the 2022 season. Those who do not receive LPGA status will have Symetra Tour status for next year.

Scores will carry over from the first week to the second. There will be a cut after the first week to 70 and ties. College players in the field who enter as amateurs can defer LPGA membership and accept at any point until July 1, 2022.

Players who finished in the top 45 at Q-Series in 2019 were seeded Nos. 129 to 174 on the initial LPGA Priority List. Most full-field events range from 120 to 140 players.

Here’s a look at some of the key players.

First mom to graduate from the Symetra Tour overcomes four-stroke penalty for having daughter’s U.S. Kids club in the bag

Rachel Rohanna ultimately finished 10th on the Symetra Tour money list to once again earn the last card.

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The first time Rachel Rohanna graduated from the Symetra Tour in 2015, she squeaked in the final card by $284. It was a valuable every-shot-counts lesson.

Earlier this year during the final round of the Copper Rock Championship, Rohanna reached into her bag to pull out a club and discovered that daughter Gemelia’s 23-inch club had slipped to the bottom. She called over a rules official and received a four-stroke penalty for having a U.S. Kids 7-iron as her 15th club.

Rohanna, 30, couldn’t help but look at the money list to see how much the oversight had cost her. Could that $900 be what keep her from earning back her LPGA card?

“That was haunting me the entire time,” said Rohanna, who ultimately finished 10th on the Symetra Tour money list to once again earn the last card. This time, however, $4,429 separated her from No. 11 Beth Wu.

Rachel Rohanna celebrates graduating from the Symetra Tour with daughter Gemelia. (courtesy photo)

Rohanna, who won the 2017 Symetra Tour Championship when she was six weeks pregnant, is believed to be the first mom to earn LPGA status through the developmental tour. With no daycare available on the Symetra Tour, Rohanna spent about half the season on the road with 3-year-old Gemelia – with help from family – and half the time traveling on her own. She and husband Ethan Virgili own ERV Cattle Co. in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, and lead jam-packed lives.

The family butcher shop opened back up last month and now that she’s home, Rohanna will help out there from time to time. There’s a big cattle sale coming up, and the couple hope to soon have 90 calves born on the ranch.

Farm life feels an awful lot like being a tour professional at times – long hours, varying paydays, nothing happens overnight and it often feels like a 24/7 job.

There are times when Gemelia goes to practice with her mom, and times she’s up at 4 a.m. with dad checking on the cattle. The couple has a tremendous support system of grandparents and great-grandparents.

“I guess (Ethan) and I never really went into marriage or parenthood with some type of assumed roles with things,” said Rohanna. “We just both knew we were teammates in this, and we were both willing to work extremely hard with our careers and do the best that we can to raise a human.”

While support from her community and sponsors has been terrific, Rohanna said, there have been enough negative comments along the way that have spurred her on.

“It’s really hard, isn’t it?

“You’re probably going to give up soon.”

“You’re not going to be able to do this.”

“Who’s watching your daughter?”

“It blows my mind that people actually have the nerve to say that your face,” said Rohanna.

Ethan has actually flown on his own with Gemelia more than Rachel – coming out to meet her on the road – and she marvels at the number of women who go out of their way to help him on the plane.

She often feels judged for continuing to pursue a career as a touring pro, while at the same time, some assume her husband can’t take care of the family while she’s gone.

“I get frustrated on his behalf,” she said.

Rachel Rohanna poses with husband Ethan and daughter Gemelia. (courtesy photo)

Two big keys to the consistency of the season, Rohanna said, involved changing from an interlocking to overlap grip at the start of the year, and working with Callaway’s Barry Lyda to change the lie of her clubs from standard to three degrees flat.

“Honestly, without his suggestion,” she said, “I know I wouldn’t have been scoring as well this season.”

During a two-week break in the schedule with three events left in the season, Rohanna and Gemelia tested positive for COVID-19. It worked out well that they could quarantine on the ranch while they recovered and practice in the front yard. The closest neighbor resides a half mile away.

Rohanna felt weaker as the season wound down and dealt with cramps. She ultimately tore a muscle near her rib cage and felt the most pain when she tried to sleep. Rohanna wasn’t sure how much of her troubles could be attributed to end-of-season wear and how much to COVID-19, but she knew there was no choice left but to grind.

“I told myself I’ve made it this far,” she said. “I’m not going to let anything get in my way at this point.”

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Meet the 10 Symetra Tour graduates who earned LPGA cards for 2022

This group includes a U.S. Women’s Amateur winner, an NCAA champ and a certified yoga instructor.

Heading into the Symetra Tour Championship, the 20th event on this year’s schedule, six players had already wrapped up LPGA cards for the 2022 season. Four more followed after the 72-hole event at LPGA International.

From 1999-2002, the official qualifying tour of the LPGA handed out three cards. Then from 2003-2007, that number increased to five before 10 were distributed starting in 2008.

Here are the top 10 players from the 2021 Money List:

1. Lilia Vu, 23, Fountain Valley, California, $162,292 ­– A three-time winner in 2021, former UCLA standout also notched five additional top-5 finishes this season on the Symetra Tour to win Player of the Year honors. Won eight titles as a Bruin. Wasn’t all that long that Vu considering quitting golf, but mom kept her going.

 2. Fatima Fernandez Cano, 25, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, $119,180 – Didn’t win on the Symetra Tour but posted seven top-5 finishes. Came into the final event leading the tour in birdies. Won eight titles at Troy University.

 3. Casey Danielson, 26, Osceola, Wisconsin, $114,534 – A two-time winner this season, Danielson wrapped up the season with a runner-up showing at Tour Championship. Member of the 2015 NCAA-winning Stanford team. Certified yoga instructor.

 4. Sophia Schubert, 25, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, $101,163 – Won first Symetra Title in penultimate event to secure her card, capping a stretch of six top-10 finishes. Texas grad won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

5. Ruixin Liu, 22, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China, $95,281 – Two-time winner this season who played in only 13 of the tour’s 20 events. Boasts six career victories on the developmental tour. Won the 2018 Symetra Tour Player of the Year Award. Made three starts on the LPGA this season, finishing T-16 at the Pure Silk.

6. Maude-Aimee Leblanc, 32, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, $94,188 – Three runner-up showing in 2021. Came into the final event leading the tour in scoring at 70.13. Top five in both putting categories. Helped Purdue win the 2010 NCAA title.

7. Amanda Doherty, 24, Atlanta, $90,921 – Florida State grad finished the season in a share of third at the Tour Championship for her eighth top-10 finish. Leads Symetra tour in putts per greens in regulation. Named Gaelle Truet Rookie of the Year.

8. Allison Emrey, 28, Charlotte, $82,644 – Won once to go along with five additional top 10s. Wake Forest grad earns her card after six seasons on the Symetra Tour. Best previous finish on the money list was 14th last year.

9. Morgane Metraux, 24, Lausanne, Switzerland, $75,771 – Notched her first Symetra victory in June at the Island Resort Championship to earn a spot in the Amundi Evian. Chose to play skip the Tokyo Olympics to fulfill a dream of playing the Evian. Sister Kim, who also played at Florida State, competes on the Ladies European Tour.

10. Rachel Rohanna, 30, Marianna, Pennsylvania, $75,608 – Busy mom to daughter Gemelia makes her way back to the LPGA thanks to a hot stretch in July that included three top-three finishes. Ranks first on tour in eagles. Family runs a cattle ranch in Pennsylvania.

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It’s Lilia Vu all over again: Former UCLA star captures Four Winds Invitational for third Symetra victory

Vu used a 60-yard chip-in for eagle 3 on the 495-yard, par-5 12th hole to pull away to victory No. 3.

SOUTH BEND, Indiana —To paraphrase the late sports philosopher, Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, it was Lilia Vu all over again in Sunday’s final round of the Symetra Tour’s $200,000 Four Winds Invitational at South Bend Country Club.

Vu, a former UCLA All-American and 2018 U.S. Curtis Cup team member and the tour’s leading money winner with two victories coming into this week, used a 60-yard chip-in for eagle 3 on the 495-yard, par-5 12th hole by railroad tracks to pull away to victory No. 3.

“I know it’s really important to hit the fairway on that hole so I have a good angle to the green,” Vu said. “I had 230 (yards) to the pin. The hole does play longer (into the wind) so I ended up just short on the fringe. My caddie (Don Bavaro) and I were thinking (the chip) was going to be left to right, but for some reason I wanted to hit it straight. Deep down, I wanted to make this chip because I was hearing the cheers (from the other holes). I hit the chip and it went in.”

Bavaro, a long-time professional caddie from Chicago who has been carrying Vu’s clubs the last two years, said the chip was hit hard and fortunately hit the flagstick and dropped for the eagle which gave Vu the lead for good.

“It was pretty assertive,” Vu quipped.

Vu then added a 33-foot birdie putt on the 388-yard, par-4 16th hole which plays over South Chain Lake and parred Nos. 17 and 18 to finish off her five-under 67 – her 11th straight sub-par round in Symetra Tour events – and a 12-under winning total of 204.

“I’ve just been trying to have fun; Don and I are a good team,” Vu said after finishing two strokes ahead of China’s 22-year-old Ruixin Liu, who closed with a 67 which included eight birdies, four on each nine, to offset three bogeys. Liu, who started the season with a pair of victories, earned $19.363 for second place and moved into second place with $95,281.

Third place at nine-under 207 went to Australia’s 23-year-old Robyn Choi, who closed with a round of 68 that included seven birdies and three bogeys. Choi earned $14,102 for her first Top 10 finish of the year. Last season, she finished three times in the Top 10, including a runner-up to Kim Kaufman at the Four Winds Invitational last September when it was held at Blackthorn.

Neither Liu nor Choi were made available to the local television and print media by tournament officials following their rounds.

Vu began the round in third place at seven-under 137 behind 29-year-old Demi Runas of Torrance, California, a Symetra journeywoman looking for her first-ever tour victory, and France’s 21-year-old Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who was playing in her first tournament as a professional after giving up her amateur eligibility at the University of South Carolina. Runas started at nine-under and Roussin-Bouchard was one stroke back.

But both Runas and Roussin-Bouchard struggled from the start, opening the door for Choi, Liu and Vu to make up ground. Runas bogeyed four of her first six holes before righting herself with birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. She finished with a closing 75 that left her tied for eighth.

Roussin-Bouchard bogeyed three of her first five holes but countered with three birdies on the back nine to close with an even-par 72 and eight-under 208 total which left her tied for fourth with Sweden’s Elin Arvidsson, earning $9,906 for her first professional check.

Meanwhile, Vu began making her move after starting with four straight pars. She then birdied the par-5, 513-yard fifth that doglegs right around South Chain Lake, the first of three birdies on the front that helped her offset a bogey at No. 6.

“The course was super difficult today,” Vu said of South Bend Country Club, which got firmer each day of the tournament after Mother Nature dumped more than eight inches of rain on its turf. “The greens dried out pretty well. We had to really focus on hitting to the front yardage or short of the pins.”

Vu was tied at 9-under with Choi when she came to the 12th hole and made the shot of the day.

“I hit the chip, it went in, and the rest is history,” said Vu, who was as calm in the post-tournament interview as she seems to be on the golf course this year. “I think I keep telling myself there’s nothing you haven’t done already, and I just move forward.”

Vu has now won $140,607 in 14 events on the Symetra Tour this year thanks to the three victories and eight Top 10s. In her last five tournaments, she has finished tied for fourth at the Donald Ross Classic at downstate French Lick July 8; was third at the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic outside Rochester, New York, July 15; won the Twin Bridges Classic in Albany, New York July 23; and finished tied for second at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek Aug. 6. Her other victory this season came at the Garden City Charity Classic in Kansas back on April 30.

In addition to Sunday’s victory, Vu also pocketed $8,000 in bonuses from the Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi, the event sponsor. That included a check for $5,000 for winning the Potawatomi Cup for accumulating the most points in the three tournaments sponsored by the Potawatomi Nation – the Island Resort Casino Championship in Harris, Michigan, last week’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship and the Four Winds Invitational.

Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Beacon Children’s Hospital.

FOUR WINDS INVITATIONAL RESULTS

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Results and money earnings after Sunday’s final round of the Symetra Tour’s $200,000 Four Winds Invitational played at the par-72, 6,430-yard South Bend Country Club.

204 (-12) $30,000 — Lilia Vu, Fountain Valley, Calif., 68-69-67.

206 (-10) $19.363 — Ruixin Liu, China, 71-68-67

207 (-9) $14,102 — Robyn Choi, Australia, 69-70-68

208 (-8) $9,906 — Elin Arvidsson, Sweden, 73-68-67; Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, France, 67-69-72

209 (-7) $6,707 — Savannah Vilaubi, Downey, Calif., 70-68-71; Kum-Kang Park, South Korea, 69-69-71

210 (-6) $4,546 — Haylee Rae Harford, Leavittsburg, Ohio, 70-72-68; Katelyn Dambaugh, Charleston, S.C., 69-72-69; Min-G Kim, South Korea, 71-68-71; Sophia Schubert, Oak Ridge, Tenn., 67-71-72; Demi Runas, Torrance, Calif., 67-68-75

211 (-5) $3,644 — Fatima Fernandez Cano, Spain, 70-68-73

212 (-4) $3,172 — Yaeeun Hong, South Korea, 72-72-68; Dorsey Addicks, Big Sky, Montana, 72-70-70; Soo Jin Lee, Australia, 72-69-71; Lauren Coughlin, Charlottesville, Va., 67-71-74

213 (-3) $2,707 — Karen Chung, Livingston, N.J., 71-74-68; Taylor Totland, Tinton Falls, N.J., 74-71-68; Amy Lee, Brea, Calif., 68-71-74

214 (-2) $2,366 — Hexi Yuan, China, 75-70-69; Sophie Hausmann, Germany, 72-73-69; Julie Aime, France, 71-71-72; Kendra Dalton, Poughquag, N.Y., 67-75-72; Lucy Li, Redwood Shores, Calif., 71-68-75

215 (-1) $2,060 — Linnea Johansson, Sweden, 73-71-71; Rachel Rohanna, Marianna, Pa., 72-72-71; Allie White, Lancaster, Ohio, 71-71-73

216 (E) $1,756 — Gabby Lemieux, Caldwell, Idaho, 72-73-71; Isi Gabsa, Germany, 68-74-74; Laura Restrepo, Panama, 73-68-75; Gigi Stoll, Beaverton, Ore., 66-75-75; Tess Hackworthy, Madison, Wis., 70-70-76; Fernanda Lira, Mexico, 69-73-74

Meet the former mini-tour players whose exploding golf event company helps fund LPGA dreams

McKenzie Lyng and Amanda Robertson don’t play pro golf anymore but their company funds the careers of dozens who still do.

McKenzie Lyng and Amanda Robertson first met on the Cactus Tour, an Arizona-based mini tour that gives winner’s checks of up to $4,000. As their friendship blossomed, they started traveling together on the Canadian Tour and in state opens, spending as long as nine weeks in a row on the road together chasing an LPGA dream.

Along the way, however, something else happened: The pair started a business together.

Lyng and Robertson no longer play golf professionally but their company, Backswing Golf Events, funds the careers of dozens of players who still do.

The idea for the company came from a Las Vegas pro-am attended by 25 young female pros – most of whom, like Amanda, were former cast members on Golf Channel’s Big Break series.

Being paid to eat dinner and play golf with clients? The two friends got the idea to take that concept nationally and put together their first event in 2015.

They started by searching online for existing events and cold-calling to ask if they’d like to hire a group of touring professionals to help raise more money for charity – beat the pro closest-to-the-pin contests, long drive pro, roaming pros who play 1-3 holes with each group and then move on.

McKenzie Lyng and Amanda Robertson.

“It was just Amanda and I and two other people,” said Lyng, “and then it kind of blew up.”

In 2016, the Scottsdale-based company did 62 events. The number increased slowly to 85 the following year, but by 2019 they’d done 450 events in one year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, they were projected to reach the 700 mark.

Still, they managed to do 300 events last year.

“It was kind of a blessing for our company,” said Lyng of the 2020 break. “We were in really deep with where we were at and we were exploding really fast.”

As the mother of two young kids, Lyng felt like she wasn’t giving enough to either role – CEO or mom. The pandemic taught her to ask for help.

“It almost forced us to kind of stop for a second,” said Robertson, the company’s COO/CFO. “We had three to four months where we could actually work on our business development and prepare for a really big fall and big 2021.

Lyng with daughter Peyton, husband Jonathan and son Brayden. (courtesy photo)

There are three sales reps and 75 women on their roster of playing professionals. They can work as much or as little as they want. Pros make anywhere from $400 to $700 at a local event and up to $1,300 at corporate outings on the road on top of their expenses.

Backswing does five Southwest Airline events per year, which are two-day events with 288 players. They’ve worked with the American Cancer Society, the National Kidney Foundation, hospitals and construction companies.

Madison Frerking started working with Backswing right out of college and worked 20 events in two months earlier this year.

“They don’t have to question if they’re going to play the WAPT,” said Lyng, referring to the Women’s All Pro Tour. “For me, it was like, ‘Well, I don’t have another $600 bucks lying around, so I’ve got to go find a sponsor or work at the restaurant.”

The job keeps players on the golf course with a club in their hand, engaging with clients as they’d do every week on the LPGA any given Wednesday.

Backswing jobs have funded Q-School entry fees and taken off some of the pressure many pros face out of college with no status and no financial backing. The flexibility makes it easy to work around tournament schedules, too.

Amanda Robertson (left) and McKenzie Lyng of Backswing Golf Events (courtesy photo)

Both Lyng and Robertson picked up the game in high school, making the switch from softball to golf at age 16. Lyng walked on at Kent State and eventually earned a scholarship. Robertson didn’t play golf in college, graduating with a degree in psychology from Pepperdine in 2011. She instead got really hooked on the game while competing on the Golf Channel Amateur Tour, where she was the only female on the national winning team in 2008.

They could’ve never imagined that they’d one day run a golf company averaging 50-plus events a month. And it’s not just the pros who are benefitting financially, of course. It’s the charities, too.

“I don’t think we realized how much of an impact we were making at these tournaments,” said Lyng. “I’ve had people crying because we raised so much money.”

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