Recap: LPGA Q-School Stage I
I have spent the past 10 days in Palm Springs, California, getting ready for and competing in Stage I of LPGA Q-School. The overall experience was incredible. I am so grateful for the generous support I received in this first stage of qualifying. I have many, many people to thank, but first let me tell you about the tournament!
Stage I logistics
This first stage had a total of 312 players, and the field was divided into three waves. Each wave played 18 holes at three different courses over three days – Thursday through Saturday – at Shadow Ridge, and Mission Hills Palmer and Dinah Shore courses. The pin placements and tee boxes were the same for all three days to make it consistent between waves of players. After Round 3, the field was cut to 125 players (and ties). This first cut was 2 over. Only those players who made the cut competed on the fourth day and the top 100 (and ties) qualified to advance to Stage II after the final 18 holes.
My rounds and finish
My wave of players started at the Mission Hills Arnold Palmer course on Thursday afternoon. I started the tournament off strong with a birdie on my very first hole. This round was fairly steady with only two bogeys and four birdies. I finished the day at 2 under par.
Round 2 was Friday morning at Marriot’s Shadow Ridge course. This round was similar to my first, very steady golf and I finished very strong with 3 birdies in my last 6 holes. I ended the day at 1 under par, and 3 under for the two rounds.
My third round was at the famous, Mission Hills Dinah Shore Tournament course where the LPGA Major ANA/Chevron has been hosted for over 50 years. This was the course I was most excited to play having watched the ANA on TV growing up. My tee time was Saturday afternoon. There was more pressure going into this round because of the severe cut of more than half the field made after round 3. I started the day with three birdies in a row which took a lot of pressure off. I had just one bogey, 12 pars and five birdies for a 4 under par finish on the day and a three day total of 7 under. This put me in 17th place and advanced me to the fourth round on Sunday, which was played again at the Dinah Shore Tournament course.
Round 4 was my final round and I teed off at 12:10. This might have been the hottest day because the humidity was high and there wasn’t any breeze. I played very steady golf, with a lot of tap in pars and a couple really good par saves. I ended up at 1 under for the day and a four day total of 8 under par, which gave me a T18 finish. The final cut was at 2 over and 106 players advanced to Stage II. You can view the leaderboard here if you’re interested.
I am very pleased with my performance this week at Stage I. The weather all week was between 104-108 degrees with heat indexes of 114 degrees. As an Oregonian, I was not excited for this component of the event, but I managed to play well and stay hydrated throughout three afternoon tee times and 9 rounds of golf in the desert. I am looking forward to Stage II in Venice, Florida in mid-October. Stage II will have even more difficult of competition and another cut that I will need to survive in order to advance to Q Series (aka Stage III).
So much gratitude!
Now for all my thank yous! Ken and Joan Forster graciously allowed me to use their home at Mission Hills, which meant I was just minutes away from the first tee every day. Ken also connected me with two of his friends who are members at Mission Hills and Shadow Ridge, Arne Helmersen and Bill Stark. Thanks to them, I was able to play an extra practice round at two of the three courses. Bill stayed in touch with me all week, asking for updates and encouraging me and Arne braved the heat to watch three of my rounds! My brother, Tim, was on the bag and was a phenomenal caddie. We had a great time. Both my parents were there and two of my former OSU teammates, Nicole Schroeder and Chayse Gomez came out to watch. And congrats to my other former teammate, Olivia Benzin, who also qualified for Stage II!
The support from the Mission Hills community was fantastic. There were lots of people watching. A very special spectator who came out to watch parts of my rounds on both Saturday and Sunday was Mary Budke. Mary played golf for Oregon State University before women’s golf was a sanctioned NCAA sport. She won the AIAW national championship in 1974 after winning the US Women’s Amateur in 1972. Mary is one of, if not the best, amateur golfer ever to come out of Oregon. She was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. Mary and I have been compared in the past, but we had never met. It was really special seeing her there.
I want to thank everyone who reached out, supported me and watched me this week. I felt so much love out there. I am very grateful for everyone who has helped me get to this point and can’t wait to continue the journey to the LPGA.
Next up… the PDX Amateur Open at Langdon Farms – qualifier for the Portland Classic!
