By Rich Addicks
“Dad, you might want to look into flights!”
That excited call came shortly after Dorsey finished her first LPGA Monday Qualifier on May 14, where she was seeking entry into the popular LPGA Kingsmill Championship in Williamburg, VA against 37 players for two available spots. Her score was good enough to get excited, but not yet a done deal. Plenty of players were still on the course.
Time can be painfully slow when you want it to move fast, but after a long hour of waiting, it was official…Dorsey’s 1-under 70 held up! The text message, “I’m in 100 percent!” is without a doubt one of the best text messages ever received. Time to book that flight.
Golf has a way of rewarding you for all your hard work when you least expect it.
Up until that moment, Dorsey had been playing mini tour events in Florida since February while waiting for the chance to get into her first Symetra Tour event (the LPGA’s version of AAA baseball), of which she is a rookie member. Her early season results were mixed, but she remained confident that good scores were just around the corner.
By early April those good scores showed up. Prior to Kingsmill, Dorsey had finished in the money in two consecutive tournaments on the National Women’s Golf Association Tour, including a -4 round on her final day of her last tournament before Kingsmill.
Although Dorsey didn’t make the cut in her first LPGA event, shooting +10 for two rounds, she still considered it a success by getting the opportunity to play in the LPGA so early in her young professional career.
Her take on what it was like to play in an LPGA event. With a laugh she said, “Honestly, it felt like just another golf tournament, but with more rope and spectators.”
Kingsmill provided Dorsey with plenty of memories but a few stand out.
- Her two eagles on the same hole both days (the 510-yard 7th).
- That she successfully navigated her first-tee nerves with a “bomb” in the fairway.
- That she played in an LPGA event before a Symetra event.
- And with a grin, she can say she played on a Sunday in her first LPGA event (weather pushed her second round to Sunday morning).
If you want to read more, here is a great article from the local Newport News Daily Press, one by the Seattle University Athletics Department, and a Q&A from the hometown newspaper in Big Sky, MT.
The following week, Dorsey played in her first Symetra event, the Valley Forge Invitational in Pottstown, PA. Although she missed the cut (+10 for two rounds), she headed back home excited about the future.
