LPGA Symetra Tour announces Monday qualifier for Sara Bay event
MANATEE -- One lucky amateur female golfer is going to get a crack at the pros when the 2016 Guardian Retirement Championship takes place in April.
That's after surviving a Monday qualifier to open the tournament week.
The LPGA Symetra Tour announced a new twist to the annual tournament at Wednesday's press conference at Sara Bay Country Club.
That wrinkle is a Monday qualifier open to female amateur golfers with a United States Golf Association handicap index of 4.0 or less.
"I would have loved to have had a chance to play in a Symetra Tour event as an amateur," said Bradenton's Ginger Howard, who has LPGA Tour and LPGA Symetra Tour status this year. "It's a great opportunity, especially to understand more of the professional life out here."
The tour stop in southern Manatee County has boasted several amateurs in the field in the past by way of a sponsor's exemption and direct qualifying through the IMG Junior Golf Tour's points race.
What hasn't happened before is holding a Monday qualifier full of amateurs with the chance to snag one berth into the 54-hole main event.
The tournament, which is scheduled for April 22-24, plans to have a $110,000 prize pool with the winner claiming a $16,500.
The event also serves as a pre-cursor to punching a ticket to the LPGA Tour: All four past winners ended up qualifying for the main circuit either through the automatic three-win promotion or through the season-ending official money list.
"It is a test that some of our best players are probably going to be the ones that overcome it," tournament director Ryan Ronk said. "So the champions have gone on to have great years. It's also a momentum builder, I think, because it's early in the year. So you can get a win under your belt and it takes the pressure off."
Bradenton's Jennifer Neville, a Manatee High and
St. John's University alumnus, played in last year's event during her rookie season on the Symetra Tour.
Neville, who plays out of the Donald Ross-designed Bradenton Country Club, has previous success at Sara Bay -- another Ross design.
In 2014, Neville reached the semifinals of the Florida State Golf Association's Women's Amateur. She was one of three Symetra Tour players, along with Howard and Californian Selanee Henderson, that were in attendance for Wednesday's announcement.
"Coming here is like being home for me," Neville said. "It gives everybody an opportunity to come around and watch me play. My parents get to come. A lot of people that grew up supporting me get to come, so I just love being here."
One player that will not be back is defending champion Rachel Rohanna, who earned her LPGA Tour card through last year's Symetra Tour money list.
However, she kept ties with the course that hosts the Guardian Retirement Championship by purchasing a heifer (a young female cow that hasn't borne a calf) with her first-place winnings and named it, "Sara Bay."
"She's a character and she's a great player," Ronk said.
Ronk said interested amateur golfers can visit GuardianRetirementChampionship.com for details and directions in contacting Sara Bay Country Club for an application into the Monday qualifier.
Ronk also said the contract extension with Guardian as a title sponsor ends after another year. But that will not alter the tour's plans for golf at Sara Bay.
"We love playing here, but a big part of our goal is to really increase the level of golf courses on our schedule," Ronk said. "We've done that the past few years. This one automatically ranks up there as one of the best courses we play."
This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "LPGA Symetra Tour announces Monday qualifier for Sara Bay event ."