Symetra Tour teeing off Friday
The Symetra Tour kicks off a new leg this weekend in Windsor, when LPGA hopefuls line up to improve their standings in the hopes of a ticket to the “big show.” Similar to the minor leagues in baseball, the Symetra Tour provides proving ground for up-and-coming golfers. Each tour stop offers a chance at purse money, and at the end of the year, the top ten money earners on the tour will gain an invitation to the LPGA tour season for 2018.
The Windsor stop will feature a 54-hole tournament played over three days featuring 144 golfers from 29 countries for the inaugural POC Med Golf Classic at Windsor Golf Club. The tournament purse will be $100,00 with $15,00 going to the winner. Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all three days of the tournament and a split tee format will be used. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second round play on Saturday.
Lauren Kim graduated from Stanford in June 2016 and has been working feverishly to compete in the LPGA circuit ever since.
“I’m playing as much as I can without getting burned out,” she said in an interview with The Windsor Times from Mesa, Arizona where she was competing in that leg of the Symetra Tour. Kim typically gives herself one day a week without playing right now, she said.
Usually, that’s Sundays, but on tour, Sundays are a tournament day, so Kim has been taking her travel days off. Flying between Florida, southern California and Arizona has also taken its own toll on the 22-year-old, but she said she’s been having a lot of fun, too.
“It’s been great,” she said, adding that the first leg of the Symetra Tour at Winterhaven, Florida had been a learning experience.
“Being on the road, I was a little rusty, I hadn’t competed in three months,” she said. At Beaumont, California, Kim placed 6th out of the 144 competitors on the tour.
“That was a confidence booster,” she said. “It was great to see my hard work pay off.”
But there have been highs and lows on the road, so far.
She suffered from back spasms last week and had some difficulty with her swing. Kim said she’s been gratified by the crowds who’ve come out to see the pro-level golf played in their backyard.
“It’s cool to have spectators,” she said. “The goal of the tour is to grow women’s golf, so the more who see us play, the better.”
It has also been a novel experience for the young professional, travelling to new parts of the U.S.
“We get to go to some cool little towns off the beaten path,” Kim said, adding that the weather conditions have been an interesting element to the competition. “It was pretty hot and humid in Winterhaven.”
The golfers also had to contend with some alligators on the course there, but nothing too big, she said.
Most of all, Kim, who’s from Los Altos, said she was excited to play in Northern California.
“I’m biased because I’ve been there all my life, but I think we have the best weather,” she said, adding that another big pro is only having to drive two hours to get to the competition in Windsor, instead of flying across the country.
Highlights for her experience so far have been relationships she’s been making with players from all over the world and the challenges of life on the road. Last week the handle on her suitcase fell off and started to roll away while she was trying to make a connecting flight.
She’s befriended other players from Hungary and Scotland.
“It’s really cool to see golf bring us all together from different backgrounds,” she said. “We’re all into the same thing and we’re both the best of friends and also the fiercest competitors.”
Kim will be practicing and researching the Windsor golf course between now and the start of the tournament on Friday. She’s also hoping to qualify for a Ladies Professional Golf Association tournament in Hawaii from April 9-10, or barring that, she’ll be flying back to Florida for the next leg of the Symetra Tour at Sarasota on April 21.
