My first event of August was the WAPT Season Championship in Wichita, Kansas. The event was held at Rolling Hills Golf Club, which is the birthplace of the LPGA. It was a great experience from start to finish. All the players were treated so well during the week. Most girls got to stay with host members at the course. My hosts were lovely and were one of the many highlights of the week. There were many activities to support the tour put on by the members, from pro-ams to putting contests, and food trucks each night. Not only was the off-course experience one of the best thus far, but it was also one of my most solid weeks of the year on course. I really enjoyed the golf course, but swing wise I wasn’t feeling great after practice rounds. It had been a tough season on WAPT for me this year and I really wanted to finish on a high note. My mindset going into the week was clean golf and to enjoy the process. I was very happy to shoot my low competitive round of the year the first day with a 68 and follow it up with solid rounds the rest of the week to finish in the Top 35. WAPT has been my main tour over the last two years, and I was so happy to finish this season strong. This tournament was one of my favourites so far and I would try my best to play it again no matter what tour I’m on next year. This event also gave me a boost of confidence I needed going into Stage 1.
Stage 1 was potentially the most important week of my season, because it really determines what tour I will play next year. The qualifying process for tour cards is broken up into 4 stages. Stage 1 is the first stage and is basically the way to earn EPSON status if you don’t have it or have not made enough money to carry over status from the previous season. In Stage 2 you are playing for full time EPSON status. The girls that advance out of Stage 2 move onto Q-Series which takes place over 6 rounds and is where LPGA cards can be earned. At each stage about one third of the field will advance on to the next stage. If you don’t make it through Stage 1 you will not have any EPSON status for the next year and will be on WAPT the next year. Stage 1 takes place on three different golf courses: Dinah Shore at Mission Hills, the Arnold Palmer Course at Mission Hills, and the Classic Course at Indian Wells Country Club. Each player will play on each of the three courses over the first three days, there is then a cut to the top 125 and one final round on Dinah Shore. After the final round the top 95 will advance to Stage 2. You can see why Stage 1 can be such a stressful week.
This year I was feeling very unsure about Stage 1. I had been successful in advancing out of Stage 1 last year, but I wasn’t as confident in my game this year. Although I feel technically much stronger in my game this year the results really hadn’t reflected my progress. I also knew that being even or around even par was what was required over the four days to advance. I had done that for two or three rounds this year but had not been able to put in four solid rounds together in one week. Although I was uneasy about my game, what did help boost my confidence was my love for the two golf courses. Dinah Shore and the Palmer course are two of my favourite courses we play all year round and I had previously played quite well on both courses. I also love being in Palm Desert, be it August is a bit toasty there at an average temperature of 45 degrees.
All in all, I was feeling optimistic but nervous for the week. I felt that I put in a really good four days of prep and practice rounds. I set a game plan for all three courses, I knew that Palmer and Dinah were both gettable and that the Indian Wells course had the most potential trouble. I was ready to go. I started on the Palmer course and got off to a nice start at -1. I have never shot over par on that course and was happy to get off to a good start before moving onto Indian Wells and Dinah Shore.
I played solid over the next two days and made the cut on the number. I was +2 over for the week and knew that I would need an under-par round on Dinah Shore to advance to Stage 2. It was an intense day on day four, I was so nervous that I struggled to eat my breakfast in the morning. I got off to a really steady start and was -3 through 12 holes, then the nerves really hit. It is hard to just keep playing golf when there is so much riding on the week and one shot could literally make or break next season. I made a very shaky but very gritty finish and signed for a -2 round, that got me back to even for the tournament. Being even for the tournament meant that I was in by 1 shot no matter what happened with the afternoon wave. It was an incredible feeling to advance out of Stage 1 again! After what has been a very challenging season, I was overwhelmed to be going to Stage 2 again and give myself the opportunity to play for full EPSON status. After all of the tough moments this year I am now looking forward to the rest of the season and giving myself the best opportunity to be better next year. I will be practicing away in preparation for Stage 2 which will be in Venice, Florida in October.