My Decision to Skip Stage III

Stage III of LPGA Q-School is fast approaching, but I will not be teeing it up.  I would like to explain why I have chosen to not play in Daytona next week.

My number one priority right now is to graduate from Nebraska.   I am still enrolled in 12 credits, and Stage III falls just a few short weeks before final exams.  If I were to attend, I would miss 7 days of school at a critical time in the semester  When you add that to the 2 weeks of class I missed in September and October for Stages I and II, you get a lot of unhappy professors and one stressed senior.  I am not willing to risk putting anything before my degree right now. 

Second, the weather in Lincoln, Nebraska in late October and November simply does not allow me to practice and prepare like I need to for a tournament of this magnitude.  Plus, school has kept me from traveling to any tournaments during the last month.  This means I would be attending Stage III after more than 6 weeks without a tournament and limited practice time- not the way I want to approach an event where I have to place in the top 20 of approximately 150 girls to progress my career. 

When I add all of these hurdles to the high cost of the tournament week ($4,000), playing in Stage III is simply not the right business decision for me this year.  Instead, I will stick with the 2013 Symetra Tour Status that I earned by passing Stage II.  The Symetra Tour is just what I need to develop my game as a professional in 2013.   My goal will be to finish in the top 10 of the 2013 year-end money list, thereby earning my 2014 LPGA Tour Card. 

After graduating from UNL on December 15th, I will return to Boise for Christmas and then move to Scottsdale in early January.  I am incredibly excited for the next chapter of my life to begin and will keep you all informed once my tournament play resumes.  As for right now, I am relishing every last day I have as a college student :)