The Gauntlet of the LPGA Tour Q-Series Experience

Young women dreaming of the LPGA Tour can picture the realization of their quest. They can envision joyfully hoisting up the U.S. Women’s Open Trophy, proudly representing their country at the Olympics, and traveling wide-eyed around the world playing the game they love, embracing every moment.

To get there is no easy path. Players sacrifice with thousands of hours spent honing their craft on the range, playing amateur tournaments, working into the collegiate golf ranks and establishing themselves as one of the top players in the world. Those dreams of the LPGA Tour serve as fuel throughout the journey.

When the light arrives at the end of the tunnel and dreams are within sight, there’s one final checkpoint to pass. Q-Series and it’s three stages of qualifying guard membership to the LPGA Tour like Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology, guarding Hades. It tests not only a player’s golf game, but their mental fortitude and self-belief.

It happens once a year, with Stage I in late August and Stage II and Q-Series in October. Jaclyn Lee, a current LPGA Tour member who went through qualifying in 2018 while a junior at Ohio State University, explained the reality to her professors.

“This is essentially my job interview,” Lee said. “This isn’t like any other job interview where if you don’t get the job, you can go and apply for a new job with another company. Qualifying school happens once a year, and if you don’t get it, you have to wait another year to even apply again.”

The process doesn't come without cost, either. While it's difficult to put a price on chasing dreams, the four-figure charge is told upfront for those aspiring to get an LPGA Tour card.

Those who take the opening step and pay the LPGA Tour $2,500 for their first entry to Stage I find themselves surrounded by history and the heat of the Coachella Valley at Mission Hills Country Club.

Surviving the Jitters in the Palm Springs Desert

Stage I's biggest shadow isn't cast from the looming Mt. San Jacinto mountain range, or the historic Poppie's Pond, but rather from the number of golf bags scattered across the course, all looking for the first sunrise of their professional golf careers.

“That was the most intimidating part,” Lee said. “Going into the event, it was like wow, only 100 make it through, and there's like close to 400 girls here. That number is intimidating when you kind of look at it."

Since Stage I moved to Palm Springs, California from LPGA International in 2013, the tournament has hosted an average of 317 players vying for 100 spots and ties to get into Stage II. Those outside of the top 125 on the Symetra Tour money list, and all amateur and professional players not already members on the LPGA Tour or Symetra Tour ranked outside the top 400 on the Rolex World Rankings, form the field.

The players get a slight break from August's relenting heat in Palm Springs by the tour allowing players to use carts as they navigate three courses: Marriott's Shadow Ridge Golf Club, and Mission Hills Country Club's Gary Player and Dinah Shore courses. The melting 100-degree heat doesn't match the internal temperature for those experiencing professional first-tee jitters for the first time.

"I looked over at my coach and said, ‘This is my journey into professional golf,’” said Maddie McCrary, who went through Stage I in 2017 and currently plays on the Symetra Tour. “I was so nervous that I remember that first tee shot, I was shaking in my boots. I was like, let's just have some fun."

Those 317 pairs of boots not only shake, but walk on hallowed LPGA Tour history. For those that make the 54-hole cut, the players get a second round at the Dinah Shore course. It's the home of one of the LPGA's five majors, the ANA Inspiration. Players can dream beyond just getting their LPGA Tour card navigating the well-photographed palm trees and envision taking a jump into Poppie's Pond.

“Being at Dinah Shore, you kind of think like, ‘Wow, I could be doing this on the LPGA later on in my career at the ANA, not just at qualifying school,’” Lee said. “I think it's really cool that we actually get to play a major course as part of qualifying school because it gives you a sneak peek."

Playing the fourth round guarantees limited Symetra Tour status for those that don't advance to Stage II. The 100 and ties that advance then pay $3,000 to move on to Venice, Florida, in early October, competing against more than just the dreamers of the first 72 holes of the journey.

The 100-plus players from Stage I move from qualifying in the desert of the West coast to the western part of Florida in early October. Awaiting them are those who have already made it to the biggest stage of professional golf.

The Funnel Feeds to the Neck

Since 2011, the 72-hole Stage II averages 193 players at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida, which hosted qualifying of some level for the LPGA Tour every year since 1988.

LPGA Tour members who finish outside of the top 150 on the LPGA Tour money list, along with Symetra Tour members who finished 36st to 125th on the Symetra Tour Money List, join at Stage II. Other professionals also start here, as those inside the top 400 on the Rolex World Rankings who aren't already qualified for Q-Series get to pass Stage I.

The top five players in the Golfweek/Sagarin Women's Individual Collegiate Rankings and the top five in the Women's World Amateur Golf Rankings are also exempt into Stage II.

“I was talking with Bianca (Pagdanganan) about this through a practice round together,” Lee said. “We both thought stage 2 was quite difficult. Just because there actually isn’t a lot of spots to get through to stage 3. That felt like it was the toughest and most stressful to get through.”

One of the most notable changes with the update of Q-School to Q-Series impacted the funnel of players from Stage II to Q-Series. In 2017, the top 80 players and ties advanced from Stage II to Q-School. In 2018, with a similar-sized field, the neck shrunk. Only the top 25 finishers guaranteed their spot at Q-Series. Those finishing outside of the top 25 advanced to Pinehurst as long as the last Stage of qualifying field did not exceed 108 players.

The 108 player limit brought the Tour closer to field sizes it saw in the early part of the 2000s. The field size significantly jumped in 2013, going from 122 in 2012 to 153 in 2013, and the increase wasn’t a one off. From 2013 to 2017, all Q-schools saw over 150 players battling for an LPGA Tour card, with 2017 seeing the most of 165 players. The tour addressed this by lowering the number of players qualifying out of Stage II.

The funnel’s shrinking has held steady so far. Thirty-eight and 40 players advanced in 2018 and 2019, respectively, averaging under half of what previously moved on to the final stage of qualifying. McCrary finished outside of the top 150 on the LPGA Tour money list in 2019 after getting through Q-Series in 2018, is an example of being affected by the rule changes.

She believed she needed just a par on the last to advance to Q-Series. She cleaned it up on the par four 18th at the Bobcat course, walking the tightrope along the water draping the final hole to a Q-Series bid. The rope snapped beneath her feet after signing her scorecard.

“I wish they would've had the opportunity for us to play off for those last couple of spots because they only had so many players in third Stage and they didn't want to go over that number, unfortunately,” McCrary reflected. “It was tough to swallow that and not have LPGA status this year, but it is what it is. You have to be OK with the circumstances that you're in and fight for your opportunity on the Symetra Tour."

McCrary was one of ten players who finished at (-3). Based on Q-Series' total commitments, those ten ended their qualifying tenure early, taking a disappointing trip home with Symetra Tour status instead of heading to Pinehurst and an opportunity for an LPGA Tour card for the next two weeks.

The 144-Hole Marathon

The increase to eight rounds is the first adjustment to the final stage's length since 2004 when it went from four to five rounds. Paula Creamer took home the victory from the five-round tournament at LPGA International that year, and that's how Q-School stayed until 2018.

101st to 150th on the LPGA Tour money list and 11 th to 35th on the Symetra Tour money list get a slight discount on Q-Series' entry fee, paying $3,000 for their entry fee. Players inside the top 75 in the Rolex World Rankings are also exempt directly into Q-Series, but pay $5,500 for their entry fee. Those who started at Stage II pay $1,500, and anyone from Stage I pays nothing. Outside of those coming to Q-Series from the LPGA Tour or Symetra, everyone pays $5,500 for a chance to qualify.

"I sent that money out; I can't do anything about that now,” said Christina Kim, a three-time LPGA Tour winner and 19-year professional. “All I can do is focus on making sure I give this shot everything that I have and walking away at the end of the tournament, whether it's after Stage I, or after the 144th hole of Q-Series, knowing that you gave everything you could. Then $5,500."

It's challenging to make such a quick turnaround only a few weeks after the season's conclusion before fighting for your status for the next year.

"First off, it sucks. Because it was indicative of how poorly I had played in the 2019 season," Kim said. "I was a little pouty for the first couple of days after the season. After that, I said, ‘Now it's time to buck up, strap on your boots, and get going.’"

For those making the journey to Q-Series after a lengthy season, they join the players flying from Florida five nights before the start of the tournament. The scent of pines greets the field, along with the expanse of nine championship golf courses and the historic Payne Stewart fist-pump statue. Stewart's powerful emotion is the opposite of what many initially react as they strap on their boots, the shock to the system of frigid morning temperatures in North Carolina.

The weather at Pinehurst is in the 30s in the morning, causing players to change their warmup routines. Running up and down the range, sitting in the car blasting the heater, wearing cart mittens while getting loose, and hitting more golf balls than usual were all remedies to the frigid temperatures at Q-Series.

This scene is the opposite of most LPGA Tour warmups. The LPGA Tour sets its calendar up so tournaments are primarily in warm temperatures throughout the year. Stage I and Stage II are also in warm locations to minimize the possibility of rain delays during play in a compressed schedule.

Compounding the cold is the difficult walk Pinehurst presents. “Pinehurst isn’t an easy walking golf course either. It’s just, let’s make it up this hill half the time,” McCrary said.

The move to North Carolina also took an advantage away from those on the Symetra Tour. The Symetra Tour Championship, held at the beginning of October, was held at LPGA International from 2008 through 2019, except for 2016, when the tournament had to go to another course due to Hurricane Matthew's damage. With Q-School only a couple of weeks later, it gave the Symetra Tour players extra tournament repetitions on the course.

Amelia Lewis, a nine-year LPGA Tour veteran, was able to use that to her advantage and advanced out of Q-School successfully three times in three tries. Her trip to Q-Series in 2018 was a very different flavor.

"It's a lot of golf. It's a lot of pressure-filled golf,” Lewis said. “I feel like five rounds, definitely a lot of pressure, but you got in, did your job, and left. With the two-week, eight round-thing, it feels like it never ends. It's pressure round after pressure round after pressure round," Lewis said.

Lewis’s resume already includes performances under pressure at Pinehurst. Her name is on the winner’s wall in the clubhouse from her win at the 107th North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship. She arrived in 2018 nursing a nagging wrist injury and started Q-Series with rounds of 80 and 78.

Those scores in a four-round tournament cause a player to pack their bags for the next event. With Q-Series being eight rounds, it's not a death sentence, and her coach reminded her of that in the evening.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to get that out of the way, you need to focus on one shot at a time. Don’t think about all these distractions with your wrist, the weather, with where you are in Q-School, and know you can play the golf you can play,’” Lewis said.

Following the advice of her coach and a motivational quote from The Wedding Crashers in her scorecard holder: “No excuses, play like a champion,” Lewis rebounded with a 68 in the third round to put herself back in the mix.

Lee went from aspiring professional on the course to student off the course during the 2018 Q-Series. The Canadian was in her senior year at Ohio State as a finance major, and the Final Stage of qualifying took place when final projects were due for her. Lee was up until 11 o’clock to midnight each night working on those assignments.

"As much as I had done my work ahead of time, questions come up from group members all the time, so there was a lot to deal with, and it felt stressful in that way," Lee said. "It's like dealing with stress on the golf course and coming home and not being able to relax because you still have assignments to complete."

It proved to be no hindrance to her initially, as Lee was in second place through the first 72 holes.

After the first four rounds, the other wrinkle of Q-Series pops up. It's three off days as the field transitions from one Pinehurst course to another for the final 72-hole dash. It's like having all the runners in the Boston Marathon halfway through the race to freeze, go back to their hotel rooms, and then start back up in a few days. The momentum pauses, and plenty of thoughts can creep in.

Lee was contacted by multiple media outlets for interviews during that time, fueling her mind to imagine what could be.

"I was just plugging along doing my own thing for the first four days. I think that those couple of days kind of presented the opportunity for overthinking on the situation which doesn't always help," Lee said.

As the second leg of the tournament begins, the game within the game of Q-Series starts to emerge. While the top 45 players and ties all get Category 14 status on the LPGA Tour, the difference in opportunities between the top finisher and those at the bottom is stark. In 2018, Q-Series winner Jeongeun Lee6 was 125th on the LPGA's season opening priority list. Before the first reshuffle in May 2019, Lee6 had eight starts. The four players tied for 45th, Karen Chung, P.K. Kongkraphan, Robyn Choi, and Louise Stahle, started 172nd through 175th on the priority list, averaged two starts each before the reshuffle.

The priority list reshuffles based on money made during the season. The fewer starts for a player, the fewer opportunities to earn money, and a lower chance of getting better status for the rest of the season. The trickle-down effect of not going back to Q-Series the following year begins at the Q-Series lying at the player's feet.

At the 2019 Q-Series, Kim did not consider any of that, focusing on coming out on top of the field.

“If you're thinking you want to finish in the top 45, I don't know if that's really a mindset I would recommend. Why are you going to a golf tournament and not trying to play your best, period? Why are you going to a golf tournament and not trying to win? Because good golf fixes a lot of things,” Kim said. “If someone were to say, ok let's get in the top 45, if my caddy told me let's get in the top 45, I would fire them on the spot. Because it's not about top 45, it's about playing your very best and your very best, in theory, should win."

After the fifth round, Kim needed her best when she carded a 74, sitting on the outside looking in on the top 45.

"I had the option to tell myself realistically, this tournament is going to have the potential to break my entire career,” Kim said. “I had the option to tell myself that, but at the end of the day it's just golf, and you’re good at golf. So just do what you do, and knowing that I was there and that I had support back at home, I loved and relished the challenge.”

Kim answered the bell with three straight rounds under par to finish T24, keeping the sun from setting on her career for another year. But not all players advance, as Lewis couldn't make her way through in 2018 and tried to keep perspective.

"It's not like I choked or was playing great and bogeyed the last hole to miss out by one,” Lewis said. “I didn't play well, and you just have to accept that and focus on your next event and look at the positives and remember that there will always be another chance.

“I probably stayed in my room and watched movies and ate unhealthy food for a couple of days because I was upset, but then I flew to Spain a week or two later and played in a LET event over there."

Lee pushed through in 2018 to get her LPGA Tour card and ended up playing six weeks in a row from June through July in 2019. Lee was more exhausted after the three straight weeks of playing at Stage II and Q-Series than those six consecutive weeks. The result of earning her tour card was pure joy, and she elected to turn pro.

But with that comes the start of applying her finance major to her professional career, as she had more than just the $5,500 spent on entry fees over the four weeks of qualifying from Stage I to Q-Series.

"It's a really expensive process,” Lee said. “You have the entry fees, plus the car rentals, plus the hotels for the week. I honestly don't know what that all added up to; I just expensed everything and didn't bother to add it up altogether. I just knew that it was a decent chunk of money, so I tried not to think about that because I knew thinking about how much it cost wouldn't do me any good."

Failing to conquer the Cerberus of qualifying doesn’t make players have to endlessly toil away from the LPGA like Sisyphus. Capturing those dreams can be just a blink away, like a recent major champion who finished T46 at the 2019 Q-Series, a shot away from her LPGA Tour card.

“If you don’t make the cut into the stages, It’s really disappointing, it’s unsettling. But this year, I feel like I keep getting punched and punched and punched. There are girls who are so much older than me who keep going back, because we have dreams, we have goals and we want to keep fighting for that. Because, example A, Sophia Popov. She’s been out there so long and she just won the British,” McCrary stated.

“Every girl and every woman has a chance to advance and they just have to believe.”

For more on qualifying for the LPGA Tour through Q-Series, listen to The 9th Tee Podcast Special Episode discussing Q-Series on iTunes here and Spotify here.