Recap of Stage II
I know it’s been some time since I posted an update but I’ve got an update about Q School and my upcoming season .
Q-School Qualifying Recap
In mid-October, I traveled to Venice, Florida to compete in the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School. I earned this opportunity based on my performance at Stage I, last August in Palm Springs, where the top 95 players advanced.
At Stage II, there are more than 200 players from every corner of the world coming to compete. Many show up weeks before the tournament to learn the course, adapt to the different grass, get used to the weather, wind and time zone, and prepare themselves for tournament week. Some players have full support systems including coaches, trainers, caddies, parents, partners etc. Some spend hours drawing the slopes of every single green on all 36 holes. Each player is spending a minimum of $5,000 for entry fees, travel, lodging, meals and caddies. And once again, the tournament was postponed due to a hurricane, so that was somewhat stressful too, because we didn’t know until the last minute when or where it would be held.
It is a high stakes, high pressure environment to say the least.
The reason everyone is so laser focused is that these four days of golf determine everything about the coming year: what tour you will be on and which tournaments you can play in. How you play determines if you’ll be on the LPGA tour, the EPSON tour, or have no status at all and participate on a mini tour such as the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour like I did last year. The pressure of Q School is like nothing else. When you have that thought in the back of your mind, it is very difficult to think about anything else. You want to do so well and it makes it hard to just play golf like it is a “normal” round or tournament.
I felt a lot of pressure. I felt pressure from myself. I felt pressure from wanting to prove to my supporters, friends, family and myself that I belong out there and that I could perform well. I also felt pressure being at that level and knowing that my first year on EPSON was not my best. I unfortunately did not have four good rounds, which is what I needed to advance to the final stage. I shot 75-76-79-71 and finished T176. This was very frustrating especially after having played so well at first stage and leading up to it. Despite my scores, I still earned partial status onto the EPSON tour, similar to my placement my first year as a professional.
Something that I am extremely grateful for every day is my support. I know that how I play golf and perform does not reflect who I am as a person. So when I play poorly, I know that my supporters still care about and love me the same. Both my parents were in Florida with me during this tournament and I am so incredibly thankful for that. Having them there did not entirely relieve the pressure of this tournament but it reminded me of their love and support for me no matter what. My dad was able to caddie and my mom was cheering me on from the cart path all week.
Post Qualifying School and 2025
Since Q-School, I have been able to focus on my swing and get in lots of practice. I was fortunate enough to go on a couple road trips, start shadowing physical therapists in San Diego for future endeavors and visit my family in Oregon for most of the month of December. I am back in San Diego, enjoying the sunshine and working hard at my game to prepare for this upcoming season. I am really looking forward to another year on the EPSON tour and feel good with where I am at with my game.
The 2025 Schedule has been released and although I am unsure the timeline for when I’ll get into EPSON tournaments, I am excited about the events and golf courses on the schedule. (As a reminder, how you finish in Stages II and III creates a priority list for who gets into tournaments. I am lower on the list because of my finish at Stage II, so I may not get into Epson Tour events right away. I’ve learned a lot about how this works the last two years and have FAQs here.)
Patience with entry into events is big when you have partial status as I learned during my rookie year. So while I wait to see what EPSON events I will get into, I am going to play Annika Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) events again. You can see a tentative schedule for 2025 here.
I appreciate everyone’s support and encouragement as I start my third year on tour. I will continue to keep updates on here as well as on my @ellieslamagolf Instagram page. Thank you all for all the love and kind words after Q School and I can’t wait for a good year of golf. If you wish you donate and help me throughout this year, please contact me. Happy New Year!
