By Rich Addicks
It took Dorsey most of the year to finally get comfortable calling herself a “professional golfer,” but by the time her rookie season was over, she had driven an incredible 16,000 miles and played in 24 tournaments. Sounds professional to me.
Dorsey’s season ended slightly better than last year, and in golf, small steps matter.
As a rookie on the Symetra Tour, she was able to play in five tournaments, and three times she just missed getting in as the #1 alternate on their waitlist. Although no cuts were made, she would tell you she learned a lot about her game, herself, and what it takes to play at the next level. Most of all, it just made her hungrier.
Aside from playing in her first LPGA event (see previous post), the other highlight of the 2018 was finishing tied for 20th (out of 340 players) in August at Stage 1 of LPGA Q School at Mission Hills CC in Rancho Mirage, CA with a score for the four days of one under. It was an improvement over the previous year, showing consistency with a 71-72-72-72-287.
At Stage 2 of Q School in Venice, FL in October, Dorsey finished slightly better than in 2017, but not good enough to celebrate with a leap. In 2019, her Symetra Tour status will be a few spots higher, which she hopes will mean a few more events than last year.
Dorsey would be the first to say it wasn’t the season she imagined when it came to scoring, but she saw improvement.
” The scores might not have showed it, but as a golfer I improved last year. Golf can be funny that way,” she said. “I now know what I need to improve on to start making cuts and playing at a higher level. In 2019, I hope to continue my driving accuracy, but like most golfers, I need to make more putts and improve my iron accuracy.”
In 2019, Dorsey plans to continue to play as many Symetra events as possible, some LPGA Monday qualifiers, and several mini-tour events, including the new Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT).
More adventures ahead!
