Sara Bay's Symetra Tour is 'The Road to the LPGA'

Signs decorating the grounds at the Sara Bay Country Club were direct and to the point: Road To the LPGA.

For the 144 golfers representing 28 countries this weekend, it is the way to their dreams -- and that's never an easy course to navigate.

There is a saying if you perform well here, you go there. And "there" for the women is the LPGA, the world's largest tour for female golfers.

Blustery winds at a steady 21 mph mixed with gusts of 26 mph made play more challenging Friday in opening day play of the Guardian Retirement Championship, which is in its fifth year at Sara Bay.

This is part of what the Symetra Tour is all about, and excitement is running high for the three-day tournament.

Many competitors are a step away from earning a LPGA card, and the pressure can make the distance feel like miles. Competition is fierce. The weather added another opponent forcing many players to change their strategy.

The field will compete for a $110,000 tournament purse with the winner to earn $16,500 and move up the Volvik Race for the Card Money list. The top 10 on the end-of-the-year money list earn LPGA Tour memberships for 2017. The players in this year's Symetra Tour will be competing for about $3.5 million in 23 tournaments.

The field includes the current top 10 in the Volvik race for Card Money along with 32 LPGA Tour members and 10 players who competed in the LPGA last week at the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii. Also participating is Marissa Steen, who won the Symetra Player of the Year award in 2014.

This is the fourth Symetra Tour stop of the season and the third consecutive event in Florida. The tour started a three-week Florida swing two weeks ago in Lake Wales with the Natural Charity Classic, and concluded last Sunday with the Chico's Patty Berg Memorial in Fort Myers.

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Sara Bay's Symetra Tour is 'The Road to the LPGA' ."