By Rich Addicks
It is nice to be your best when you need your best.
After four days in brutal triple-digit heat at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, CA., Dorsey earned herself a ticket to the second stage of LPGA Q School by tying for 70th in Stage 1 of the LPGA’s annual three-month, three-stage journey to earning full LPGA status.
This was the largest and most competitive Stage 1 ever, a testament to the growth of women’s golf. It started out with 362 of some of the best amateur and professional players from 42 different countries. For three days, players competed to make the cut of the top 125, followed by one more round to determine the top 90 who would advance to Stage 2 next month in Venice, FL.
It is hard to put in perspective the high level of competition that entered Stage 1, but this LPGA pre-tournament story helps.
After three days of play on three different courses, Dorsey made the cut of 125 with an outstanding score of 5-under (22nd), including a spectacular 3-under round on the Dinah Shore Course (6,610 yards), home to the LPGA major, the ANA Inspiration. Dorsey would later say it was probably her best round ever.
On the final day, Dorsey didn’t play her best (nerves mostly), but it was enough to advance with a final score of 2-over. By making the cut, Dorsey gets status on the Symetra Tour, the LPGA’s version of AAA Major League Baseball.
Dorsey is still playing as an amateur, having just graduated last June from Seattle University, but will start playing as a professional soon.
Prior to Stage 1, Dorsey played in two “prep” tournaments at two of the three Stage 1 courses at Mission Hills. In the first event on the Arnold Palmer course, she finished tied for 28th out of 48 players with a score of 11-over for three days. It was there that her turnaround began. On Day 1, she went 10-over followed by a confidence-boosting 2-under round on the second day. After that round, Dorsey was off playing at a much higher level.
At the second prep event, on the famed Dinah Shore Course, Dorsey finished tied for 33rd out of 115 players with a respectable score of 7-over for the three-day event.
Prior to her month in Rancho Mirage, Dorsey played in two highly competitive and long-running amateur events…the 115th North and South Women’s Amateur Championship on the brutal and diabolical Pinehurst #2, and the 104th Canadian Women’s Amateur outside Toronto. Although she missed the cut at both tournaments, the experience helped as she set her sights on peaking for Q School.
Enjoy a few pictures I took along the way. And if you want more, here is a great article from Dorsey’s alma mater, and another in the Big Sky local paper.
