Australia’s Robyn Choi topped the field with a 29-under total over the course of six rounds.
A total of 50 players earned LPGA status for the 2024 season at Q-Series. Australia’s Robyn Choi topped the field with a 29-under total over the course of six rounds, earning $15,000.
This year’s event, cut down from the traditional eight rounds, was held at Robert Trent Jones’ Magnolia Grove Golf Course in Mobile, Alabama. A field of 104 players began the week and a cut was made after 72 holes. Players who finished in the top 20 and ties earned Category 14 status, while those who finished from T-23 to T-45 earned Category 15.
The big move of the day belonged to Lauren Hartlage, who skyrocketed from T-60 to 16th with a closing 63.
“The last two years I had to come back to Q-School to earn my card back,” said Hartlage. “This time I feel like I’m getting better in learning the ropes of how the LPGA works, so I’m super excited to get back out there.”
LPGA veteran Jennifer Song had good friend Amy Yang on the bag this week. Yang, of course, won the CME Group Tour Championship last month and a $2 million first-place prize. Song finished tied for 17th to earn her card back.
“I think I got like 200 percent confidence from her,” said Song. “You know, just having a close friend, it’s a long week, and I knew I had the game to play well, but I just needed to feel relaxed out there, and then a friend was just what I needed out there.”
Added Yang: “You know, Jennifer, she prepared everything. Her game was so ready to go already at home. I just needed to carry the bag and just talk other stuff and make her feel comfortable.
“I really didn’t do enough other than that.”
Here’s a closer look at the 50 players who earned LPGA status for 2024:
These golfers will soon have to make a decision about turning pro or go back to school.
The second stage of LPGA Q-School took place last week in Venice, Florida, and of the 188 who started the week, 41 advanced. Among those 41 were nine amateurs, including LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, who topped the field by four strokes with an 18-under total.
Lindblad, a fifth-year senior who is currently No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, shot 67-66-70-67 at Plantation Golf and Country Club’s Bobcat and Panther courses.
Last year, the LPGA changed its Q-Series criteria, requiring players to turn professional before they can compete for an LPGA card. The deadline for players to sign up for Q-Series as a professional is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, November 17.
Lindblad said she’s decided to go back to school for one more semester.
“At the beginning of the year I’m like I am probably just going to go through the whole Q-Series and like peace out,” said Lindblad, “but I was talking to my coaches, and I really like it at LSU. Like, our coaches are awesome. This year we have a really good team, so I just want to give it a chance to get another SEC and maybe a national championship.”
Lindblad left Venice with Epson Tour status for 2024.
Ingrid Lindblad from LSU plays her tee shot on the 10th hole during the first day of stroke play competition at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic)
Notable amateurs who missed the cut include Southern Cal’s Amari Avery and former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle.
This year’s LPGA Q-Series takes place Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 in Mobile, Alabama, at the Magnolia Grove Golf Course.
Here are the eight other amateurs who will soon have to make a similar decision about turning pro:
The first full-field LPGA event of the season is in March in Arizona.
Charlotte Thomas described this week as a “do or die” chapter of her professional career. Six years into the play-for-pay ranks, Thomas felt that whatever happened at Q-Series over the last eight rounds could be a sign.
In the end, the sign read: Back to the LPGA.
“I’m exhausted and ready for a drink,” said Thomas, who tied for 28th to earn back her tour card for 2023. A total of 46 players earned LPGA cards at Q-Series, a 144-hole grind that takes places over a fortnight in Alabama.
“I think when I look back on last year, I initially was disappointed that I lost my card and had to come back here,” said Thomas, “but I think the fact that I didn’t play golf for 16 months was – I kind of don’t give myself enough credit sometimes I don’t think.”
Thomas missed the 2021 LPGA season while struggling to find a treatment for chronic eczema.
Everyone in the field in Dothan has a story. Some have been toiling in the professional ranks for years, while others, like Michigan State’s Valery Plata, turned pro just before Q-Series. Plata tied for third with recent Stanford grad Aline Krauter.
Tournament winner Hae Ran Ryu, a KLPGA veteran, is ranked 50th in the world. (Epson Tour photo)
South Korea’s Hae Ran Ryu, currently No. 50 in the Rolex Rankings, topped the field at 29 under, clipping Bailey Tardy by two strokes.
Two years ago, Tardy missed out on earning her LPGA card through the Epson Tour by $343. Once again, Tardy finished 11th on the money list this year, missing the 10th spot by $1,765.
“I actually told my caddie just walking down, I think 15, and really anybody close to me knows that I wasn’t even going to sign up for QII,” said Tardy. “I think I signed up 15 minutes before the deadline, and that was because my coach told me to and was like, this is your opportunity, you can’t give that up.
“And I didn’t want to come to Q-School at all. Even at the beginning of the year I told everyone, I’m not going to Q-School. I’m not doing it. That’s not what I want to do.
“And I’m so happy I did.”
The top 20 players and ties earn category 14 status on the LPGA, while those who finished 21-45 and ties earned category 15 status. Players who finished outside the top 45 and completed all four rounds before the cut earned Epson Tour status for 2023.
“Feels good, especially since our first event of the year would be my home course in Phoenix,” said Dana Finkelstein, who tied for 15th.
“Superstition Mountain is kind of where golf started for me. The Safeway Open out there, I was like 12 or 13 and I went to go watch Annika [Sorenstam] and Morgan [Pressel] and all them. I have pictures of my awkward 12-year-old self at the golf course, and now it’s cool that I’m going to be playing and some other 12-year-old is going to be watching me. It’s pretty cool.”
The first full-field LPGA event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will take place March 23-26, 2023, in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
Finkelstein, an LPGA veteran, shared 15th with 2022 Alabama grad Polly Mack, who held on despite a closing 76. Mack played the first 72 holes without a caddie but employed a good friend for the second week.
Alexa Pano, the 18-year-old who starred in the Netflix series “The Short Game,” shot 68-67 over the weekend yet missed the top 20 by one stroke. Pano turned professional in the spring and finished 13th on the Epson Tour money list this season.
Jaravee Boonchant was one of three former Duke players who finished in the top 45. Boonchant had former Blue Devil teammate Gina Kim on her bag for Q-Series. The pair, along with Ana Belac (T-38), helped Duke win the 2019 NCAA title. (Kim earned her LPGA card earlier this year via the Epson Tour.)
Lindy Duncan, a former NCAA Player of the Year at Duke, shot three consecutive 73s to also take a share of 38th.
“I keep asking Gina questions that probably shouldn’t be asked on the course, but she was really helpful and very supportive,” said Boonchant, who tied for 21. “And she honestly was like the one who kind of put me in place and shape my thought and my mental game.
Stage II of Q-School will return to Florida in November.
The LPGA has postponed Stage II of LPGA Q-School due to the impact of Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Florida on Sept. 28. Stage II will remain at the Plantation Golf and Country Club’s Bobcat and Panther Courses in Venice, Florida. The dates, however, have been adjusted from Oct. 18-21 to Nov. 17-20.
The LPGA reported in a release that while the club did not endure catastrophic damage, the storm knocked down a significant number of trees and washed out many bunkers. Many Venice area hotels and restaurants face extended closures due to lack of power.
“We are so thankful that our friends at Plantation Golf and Country Club survived the hurricane and are all safe,” said Kathy Lawrence, vice president of Tour Operations and Q-Series. “Now that they have had time to survey the course, we agree that we need to make the difficult decision to postpone Stage II of Q-School.”
Entries for Stage II closed on Aug. 8. The 72-hole tournament will not have a cut. Those who complete 72 holes and do not advance to Q-Series will earn 2023 Epson Tour status. A minimum of top 30 and ties will advance to Q-Series. The final number will be determined prior to the start of competition.
Q-Series, the final stage, takes place over the course of two weeks (Nov. 28-Dec. 11) at Magnolia Grove and Highland Oaks Golf Course in Mobile and Dothan, Alabama, respectively.
Stricker was one of 106 players to advance to Stage II of LPGA Qualifying.
Former Wisconsin player Bobbi Stricker, daughter of Steve Stricker, was one of 106 players to advance to Stage II of LPGA Qualifying. Bobbi closed with a 69 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to finish in a tie for seventh at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
Steve Stricker, a 12-time winner on the PGA Tour and the winning captain for the U.S. squad at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, caddied for Bobbi, who didn’t begin playing competitive golf until after high school. Emily Lauterbach, a Wisconsin senior, also advanced to Stage II with a share of 25th.
Italian amateur Alessandra Fanali, who played collegiate golf at Arizona State, topped the field with back-to-back 69s over the weekend. Fanali, 23, finished at 14 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of two more amateurs, Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (67) and Valery Plata (68).
“It feels good,” said Fanali, who didn’t have a caddie this week. “I still don’t really realize it, but it’s good. I’m so excited. This is what I’ve been waiting for since I was 12.”
The second stage of Q-School will be held Oct. 18-21 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida. From there, players will advance to Q-Series, a two-week contest in Mobile, Alabama, and Dothan, Alabama, where LPGA cards will be handed out.
At this week’s event in blistering Rancho Mirage, 311 hopefuls teed it up in carts on three different courses: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore and Palmer Courses) and Shadow Ridge.
The youngest player in the field, 16-year-old Holly Halim, finished in the top 100 as did Shuangshuang Fan (17) of China, Ting-Hsuan Huang (17) of Taipei, Yunxuan Zhan (17) of China and Bailey Shoemaker (17) of the United States.
Shoemaker, a rising high school senior and USC commit who recently advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, finished T-67 to advance to the second stage of Q-School. Shoemaker said she has no plans to turn professional this year.
Hailey Davidson, 29, a transgender woman who first competed at Stage I last year, was among those who missed the cut after rounds of 70-76-73.
Davidson became the second transgender golfer to compete in the event after Bobbi Lancaster, a 63-year-old physician from Arizona who earned Epson Tour status in 2013, but ultimately spent her time traveling the country as a human rights advocate.
Davidson earned a scholarship to play on the men’s team at Wilmington University, an NCAA Division II school in Delaware, before transferring to the men’s team at Christopher Newport, an NCAA Division III school in Virginia.
Davidson began undergoing hormone treatments on Sept. 24, 2015, a date that’s tattooed on her right forearm, and in January 2021, underwent gender reassignment surgery, a six-hour procedure that’s required under the LPGA’s Gender Policy.
Players who completed 54 holes without a score of 88 or higher earned 2023 Epson Tour status.
Get to know a little more about the players in Stage I of LPGA Q-School.
For those wondering, it’s too hot for the scarf. Kim Welch, a 39-year-old pro who has competed only a handful of times in the past few years, is known for her trademark head scarf. The 2008 “Big Break” winner came back to Stage 1 of LPGA Q-School this year in the California desert because her heart told her head she wasn’t done.
Meanwhile, for Bailey Shoemaker, a 17-year-old who competed last week in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, everything is new this week. The rising high school senior and University of Southern California commit wanted to give Q-School a test drive. Shoemaker said she has no plans to turn professional this year.
“I just wanted to test myself a little bit this week,” said Shoemaker of her first time to Mission Hills. “I feel like the more rounds I have the better chance I’ll have in the future.”
Bailey Shoemaker plays her tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the 77th U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club on June 03, 2022 in Southern Pines, North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
A field of 311 hopefuls will tee it up this week for the chance to compete for an LPGA card later this year. Stage I is held over three different courses: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore and Palmer Courses) and Shadow Ridge.
Players who complete 54 holes without a score of 88 or higher will earn 2023 Epson Tour status. Any player who shoots 88 or higher in any of the first three rounds will be withdrawn from the event and not be eligible to receive any tour status for 2023.
The top 100 and ties will advance through to Stage II in October. There are a total of three stages.
The youngest player in the field is 16-year-old Holly Victoria Halim of Indonesia, and the oldest is 41-year-old Constanza Jofre of Argentina.
Welch, who won 11 times at Washington State, can’t even remember her first trip to Q-School.
“Were some of these kids not even alive?” she asked with a laugh. “It’s actually a really legit question that I don’t want to know the answer to.”
Welch has 23 career starts on the LPGA and won on the Epson Tour more than a decade ago. She spent most of 2020 volunteering at Los Angeles food bank during the pandemic and later started a small charcuterie business. She even worked as Kenny G’s moving coordinator during her break from competitive golf. She and her fiancé have known the famed musician for years.
Kim Welch in action during the Mission Hills Celebrity Pro-Am on 26 October 2014, in Haikou, China. (Photo by Power Sport Images/Getty Images)
Before COVID, when Welch was competing full-time on the Epson Tour, she felt pretty good about her game as she climbed the money list in 2017. But with four events left in the season, Welch found out that her father, Pete, had Stage 4 prostate cancer and he died within two months.
She had already signed up for Q-School that year and decided that he would’ve wanted her to play.
“I literally could not tell you what I shot, how I played, how I felt,” she said. “I was just kind of like a zombie that week.”
It was at a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier this year that Welch really felt the competitive juices start to flow again. She wanted to give the LPGA another go because deep down, it doesn’t feel over yet. And she felt it was a way to honor her dad.
There’s also the fact that the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open will be played at Pebble Beach for the first time, a special place for the Welch family. As a junior, tournament winners in Northern Cal gathered on Dec. 26 at Pebble Beach for the annual Tournament of Champions.
Welch remembers packing up Christmas day to head to Pebble with her parents – the ultimate present.
As a pro, Welch was invited to play in the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational and had the chance to invite her parents.
“It ended up being my dad’s last 18 holes of golf,” said Welch, “which is pretty epic.”
Left to right at Pebble Beach in 2017: Dad Pete Welch, Kim, fiance Bret and mom Kazuko (courtesy photo)
There was a time when Welch, a former bomber, would look up and down the range at Mission Hills and compare herself to other players in the field. She doesn’t feel the need to do that anymore.
“I think I used to carry around a lot of self-doubt and needing validation,” said Welch, “and now it’s like I have that internally.”
Welch competed on the Ladies European Tour at the same time as Ashleigh Buhai, and said the 33-year-old’s breakthrough success at the AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield certainly serves as inspiration. Even teeing it up in a Women’s British for the first time, for Welch, would be a thrill.
Welch played a practice round this week on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course with a “Big Break” super fan who peppered her with questions. It was a fun trip down memory lane.
Shoemaker, a semifinalist at Chambers Bay, is at the start of her memory-making journey. The highlight of her summer, she said, was making the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles. She loved playing in front of a crowd.
Shoemaker said she plans to take classes next summer to get a jump on her college degree and hopes to graduate in three years. There are 23 teens in the field this week.
“I feel like the window for women’s golf is a lot smaller,” said Shoemaker.
Because an eight-round tournament isn’t difficult enough, Q-Series happens to collide with the last two weeks of the semester for Florida State senior Beatrice Wallin. Thankfully, the humanities major reports that her professors have been supportive.
Wallin is one of eight amateurs in the field of 110 this week, and she’s currently the highest in the World Amateur Golf Ranking at No. 5.
“It’s legit,” said Wallin of the vibe so far at Q-Series. “It’s very different to what I’m used to, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Wallin was able to skip Stage I of qualifying thanks to being awarded a spot in the field at Stage II as a top-5 player in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings at the time of the entry deadline. Both Linn Grant of Arizona State and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of South Carolina advanced into Stage II this way but have turned professional. Roussin-Bouchard medaled at second stage.
The first week of Q-Series takes place Dec. 2-5 on the RTJ’s Magnolia Grove (Crossings and Falls Courses) in Mobile, Alabama. There will be a cut to low 70 and ties.
Scores will carry over from the first week to the second. 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.
College players who enter the field as amateurs can defer LPGA membership and accept at any point until July 1, 2022.
Both Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi chose to defer after earning their LPGA cards. Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur the next spring and Fassi won the NCAA Championship.
Wallin said she isn’t yet sure what she’ll do.
“I’ve been telling everyone that I’ve been in college for 3 ½ years, I might as well just finish it off,” she said. “You know, it can be tempting to turn professional because that’s what you’ve been practicing for your whole life.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
Among the seven college players in the field are sisters Yu Chiang Hou (who goes by Vivian) and Yu-Sang Hou. The Taiwanese pair play for Arizona and are both ranked in the top 30 in the world.
Yu-Chiang Hou, from Chinese Taipei, smiles after defeating Cara Heisterkamp 4 & 3 in the quarterfinal match at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Harrison on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Rounding out the college players in the field are U.S. Curtis Cup players Gina Kim (Duke) and Brooke Matthews (Arkansas) as well as Polly Mack (Alabama) and Karen Fredgaard (Houston).
In addition, Hyo Joo Jang, 18, of South Korea, is a 2022 high school graduate who attends a golf academy in Florida.
A three-time winner at Florida State, Wallin ranks second in career scoring for the Seminoles at 71.94. It was her brother Richard who got Wallin and her parents into the game after a neighbor first invited him to play. Richard, who works back home in Sweden, is on the bag this week.
“There’s a lot of Swedes playing,” said Wallin, who went to dinner at Bonefish with four of her compatriots on Tuesday night.
“Just talking about normal stuff, trying to have some fun off the golf course.”
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.
Arkansas has a College Player of the Year contender in Brooke Matthews, but she could be a card-carrying LPGA member by Christmas.
It’s that time of year again, when college coaches hold their breath to see what kind of team they’ll have in the spring. Right now, Arkansas has a College Player of the Year contender in Brooke Matthews on the roster. But she could be a card-carrying LPGA member by Christmas, which would be akin to losing the star quarterback right before the bowl game.
Matthews, 23, made the cut on the number last week to advance to LPGA Q-Series in December, where 45 players will earn LPGA status. She flew straight from Florida to Mississippi to compete in The Ally for the Razorbacks, wrapping up seven consecutive days of competition.
“It’s kind of a win-win for me,” said Matthews, “that’s how I look at it. Either I come back to Arkansas where I’m really happy, or I live out my dream playing professional golf.”
Matthews grew up with the LPGA playing almost quite literally in her backyard. Wendy Ward and Vicki Goetze-Ackerman stayed with her family when the tour first came to Rogers, Arkansas, and set up shop at their home course, Pinnacle Country Club. Matthews was a dedicated gymnast at the time but said that week left a huge impression.
“I really wanted to be out there,” she said. “I couldn’t understand why.”
By age 12, Matthews had given up gymnastics and started playing tournament golf, outdriving most kids from the start. At Stage II of Q-School, Matthews made a pair of eagles in the third round on two par-5s, hitting an 8-iron into one for her second shot.
When she arrived at Arkansas as a freshman, Matthews’ swing speed hovered around 101 mph. Now as a fifth-year senior, she’s comfortably up to 107 but can push it to 110/111 on TrackMan.
Even so, it would take a special wallop to get one past former teammate Maria Fassi.
“I’m fine with admitting that she would outdrive me,” said Matthews with a laugh.
Aug 30, 2020; Rogers, AR, USA; during the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship golf tournament at Pinnacle Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Gunnar Rathbun-USA TODAY Sports
In figuring out what to do next, Matthews can look at the blueprint of two former Razorbacks. Gaby Lopez left early her senior year to pursue the 2016 Olympics (where she finished 31st); Maria Fassi chose to defer until after she graduated, becoming a bona fide star at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and winning the NCAA individual title in her final spring at home in Arkansas.
Matthews’ situation is different in that, because the pandemic cut her junior season short, she stayed on for a fifth year. She’ll graduate with a degree in marketing in December and would have to start a new major if she comes back in the spring, taking 12 hours.
Matthews won the first two events of the fall, shooting 63-64-64 at the Cougar Classic in South Carolina. Her 25-under 191 total crushed the NCAA’s previous 54-hole scoring record of 19 under.
She then enjoyed back-to-back events on home tracks, making the cut in Rogers at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and then winning the Blessings Intercollegiate on Arkansas’ home course.
Matthews knows that LPGA road life is hard, to the extent that she can anyway. In college, everything is booked by someone else, paid for by someone else and organized by someone else. All she has to worry about is getting the grades, keeping her game in order and showing up on time.
“You kind of get your hand held throughout (college),” said Matthews, “which is probably something I take for granted more than I realized.”
Arkansas legend Stacy Lewis has given Matthews a bit of advice and finds the amateur’s outlook refreshing. The fact that Matthews has slowly worked her way up – cracking the Curtis Cup team this year – and is just now starting to ask questions about tour life, reminds Lewis of herself.
Since Matthews will have her degree by year’s end, Lewis said her decision on whether or not to turn pro should come down to how many events she’ll have to compete in early next year. If she finishes in the top 20 at Q-Series and earns her full card, “then yes, it’s worth it,” Lewis said.
If she’s 45th on the list and won’t get in many events until the summer, then staying in school and deferring might be the best route.
“Can you build a schedule with the status that you get to continue to improve?” asked Lewis.
That’s the question Matthews will need to answer. And that can be difficult to project because it largely depends on the decisions of those higher on the priority list. Player 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.
Should Matthews decide to defer, she can accept LPGA membership at any point until July 1, 2022. Her position on the priority list would be held until that point.
If she finishes outside the top 45, she’ll have full Symetra Tour status.
What A Fall Season It Was 🙌
◼️ Two Team Titles 🏆🏆 ◼️ Two Individual Titles 🏆🏆 ◼️ No. 1 National Ranking #️⃣ ◼️ 1️⃣9️⃣ Rounds Under Par
Head coach Shauna Taylor knows that what’s best for Matthews might not always be what’s best for the Arkansas program. If she earns a fully-exempt card, Taylor agrees with Lewis that Matthews should turn professional.
“You’ve got to capture the moment,” Taylor said.
It gets murky, however, when conditional status is involved.
Both player and coach agree that course management has been the area in which Matthews has improved the most in her time at Arkansas. Some of the decisions she made at the Blessings to play away from certain hole locations made Taylor beam with satisfaction.
Has Matthews played her last event as a Razorback? That’s the strange thing about this time of year.
“I feel like loneliness is something that people don’t really talk about when you turn pro.”
Gabriela Ruffels has heard about the pressures of Q-School from friends and notably older brother Ryan, who earned status for the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 through Q-School Finals.
Stage II of LPGA Qualifying begins this week in Venice, Florida, and Gabi, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, is among the headliners in the field of 179. The 72-hole, no-cut event is being held Oct. 21-24 on both the Panther and Bobcat Courses at Plantation Golf & Country Club.
The top 45 players and ties will advance to Q-Series, held Nov. 29-Dec. 12 on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. Everyone in the field will receive varying levels of Symetra Tour status.
Australia’s Ruffels, 21, left USC a semester early to turn professional and officially graduated in August. She has spent 2021 bouncing around tours. Ruffels received six LPGA sponsor exemptions and Monday-qualified for the Cambia Portland Classic. She played her way into the ANA thanks to a T-15 at the 2020 event and followed it up with a 13th-place finish in 2021.
Another highlight, she said, was carding at 65 at Atlanta Athletic Club en route to a 25th-place finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA.
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“If I went back and started the year knowing how many events I get to play,” said Ruffels, “I think I’d be pretty satisfied.”
Early in the year she picked up a new coach in Grant Price, who like Ruffels is a member at Isleworth, and feels that every part of her game has improved, including an extra 10 to 15 yards off the tee.
The former tennis player, who didn’t take up golf until age 15, has enjoyed an up-close look at Nelly Korda’s ascension to the top of the game. From Korda’s ball-striking to her level-headed approach, Ruffels has taken mental notes all year.
“It’s super simple in how she approaches the game,” said Ruffels. “It seems like she just steps up and hits it.”
One area that Ruffels didn’t feel prepared for was the loneliness aspect of professional life. It didn’t help that she was a bit of a visitor all year, bouncing back and forth between the LPGA and Symetra Tour. Last week she finished 20th at the LET’s Aramco Team Series in New York.
“I feel like loneliness is something that people don’t really talk about when you turn pro,” said Ruffels.
Veteran LPGA pro Amy Olson once said she felt that far more people struggle on tour because of a lack of community and loneliness than from a technical problem in their swing or putting stroke.
Ruffels has a dozen rounds of golf left before she can possibly secure LPGA status for 2022. One thing she’d love to have is the stability that full status offers. Simply put: It would be nice to plan out a schedule.
Ryan told his sister that coming down the stretch on Sunday at the final stage of Q-School was the most nervous he’d ever been.
“That’s basically what I’ve heard and what I’m expecting,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
