Runner Up at United Way Classic
After two weeks off, I traveled to Arkansas for a new Annika Women’s All Pro Tour event, the United Way Classic, May 6-9. Hardscrabble Country Club is a beautiful, tree-lined, hilly golf course in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
I played a practice round Monday, followed by the Pro-Am on Tuesday morning. We finished just in time to escape the first big storm. My parents also arrived in Fort Smith Tuesday, in time for a late Cinco De Mayo dinner. Caddying for the week was my dad, Doug, and my mom, Leilani, took over my dad’s camera duties and spectating.
Round 1
My tee time was off #10, the second group out, at 8:01am. I played some really solid golf, the best I’ve played in a competitive tournament in a while. Among the highlights, I holed out for eagle, had five birdies and one bogey to shoot 6 under par (a 64 on this golf course because it was a par 70). Following the round, I was leading the tournament by two shots.
Round 2
On Thursday, I was in the afternoon wave at 12:26pm. The weather stayed away, but the course was extremely wet from another big storm on Wednesday night. I played steady golf again, but the ball didn’t seem to drop for birdie as much as Round 1. I still managed to score pretty well, shooting 1 over par (71) and stayed at the top of the leaderboard, tied for 1st place with Jackie Lucena. This put me in the final group for the third round.
Final Round
Friday morning I teed off in the last group with Jackie and Jean Reynolds at 9:17am. Jean was one stroke back of Jackie and me. This was only the second time I’ve been in the final group as a professional golfer, but I do feel like my experience in college and amateur golf prepared me well for this. I felt very comfortable with the position I was in, the golf course and my game. My dad being on the bag was helpful for staying steady, but my group was also incredibly friendly and chatty all day.
I started with a bogey and lipped out for birdie on my second hole. But I managed to make an 18-footer for birdie on number 3. After another bogey on number 5 (the most difficult hole for me visually all week), I finished the front nine with birdies on 7, 8 and 9. This gave me the push I needed to know I was still in it. Jean and I were tied for the lead going into the back nine and Jackie was three strokes back. Ahead of me, Megan Osland was making a move up the leaderboard as well. I played a more aggressive approach on number 11, a par 5, going for the green in two but hit it just over, and rolled into a hazard. A bogey there and another bogey at 13 dropped me to third on the leaderboard.
I knew I needed to get a couple strokes back coming down the stretch. In the group in front of us, Megan had double bogeyed 16. Jean had also struggled on the same holes as me, but Jackie had made a few birdies. As we came into the last few holes, all three of us birdied number 16, one of the most difficult holes all week. At this point, Jackie was leading by one stroke over Jean, and two on me. Hole 17 was a par 3 where we all made clutch putts for par.
On the last hole, a 402 yard par 4, Jackie and I hit good drives and had 8 footers for birdie, but Jean’s drive found the trees, causing her to bogey. Jackie and I both made our putts, so Jackie finished in first place, winning by two strokes. I took solo second place, my top finish as a professional golfer.
Copper Rock by way of Fort Smith
Although I did not quite have what I needed to clinch the title, I’m still very proud of the golf that I played all week. I feel great about where my game is at and mentally how I dealt with the pressure of being in the final group. Finishing in second place changes my plans and potentially the rest of my season.
Here’s how:
On the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour, the top 2 places in each tournament receive an exemption into the next Epson Tour Event. In my case, the next Epson Tour event is in five days in Hurricane, UT at Copper Rock Golf Course, May 15-17. I played in this event two years ago as my second Epson event ever and loved the course and spending the week in the red rocks.
My original plan this coming week was to drive to Tulsa to play the next Annika Women’s All Pro Tour event, the FCA Women’s Championship at Indian Springs Golf Club. I had arranged to stay with my same host family as last year and share a car with Olivia. I have a flight booked home out of Tulsa for next Friday night. My position with the WAPT also improved from #18 to #6. If I finish in the top 20, I’ll win a sponsorship to pay for Q-School. Leaving the play on a different tour means other players could pass me on the points list. So it was a really hard decision. But overall, getting full Epson Tour status (and then LPGA, of course) is the goal, so I am going to Utah. Friday evening, I changed my flight to leave out of Fort Smith and my parents dropped me at the airport the following morning.
This event is the final tournament before the Epson Tour reshuffles* everyone’s placement as well. Since I have partial Epson Tour status, this is a huge bonus that I get to play in one event before the reshuffle. There is no exact way to predict what will happen, but playing well in this event could potentially improve my status and bump me into the rest of the Epson Tour season.
I am excited to head to southern Utah on Monday. I’m planning to drive, and my dad is flying into Las Vegas to caddie for me again.
Thanks for following along and for all the support this week. Looking forward to a great week in Utah.
*What is a reshuffle?
(See also question #9 in the Q-School FAQs “Could this get any more complicated?”)
At the start of the season, each player with LPGA or Epson Tour status is assigned a number, based on how they played on tour or how they finished in Q-School the previous year. (Reminder, to earn any status at all, players must advance to Stage II of Q-School or finish in the top 125 of their respective tour.)
For simplicity’s sake, let’s just focus on the Epson Tour priority list. This number indicates the order in which athletes are prioritized for entry into tournaments. As the season goes on, that order gets shuffled based on who is playing well or not playing well. For example, it wouldn’t be fair if an athlete who started the season with a much higher (and therefore less likely to gain entry) number, was playing well and had a few good finishes, continued to struggle to get into tournaments all season long. Likewise, a player who had success last year, but wasn’t playing well in the current season should not continue to have priority over an athlete who is playing well. The reshuffle takes all this into account, moving players in and out of priority levels based on the quality of their play. It’s really important because you can’t move up the priority list if you can’t play, and you can’t play if you can’t even get into the tournaments.
I have not been able to get into any Epson events so far this season because there are too many players ahead of me with better standing. Earning an exemption gives me the opportunity to change that by playing well this week at Copper Rock. Any player who has made a cut on the Epson Tour this season will get points, allowing them to pass players who have not made a cut. This includes all the players ahead of me who also have not been able to get into an Epson event. If I have a good tournament, it could mean I would have the status to get into Epson events the rest of the season.
