[ColoradoTree]

Nice post ColoradoTree; in addition, by playing the q school rounds, presumably the two opened up two spots for other players to compete and gain experience, which would be valuable for this year if Lee and Valenzuela go pro, and valuable (for next year) if they don't.

BC

Thanks! And yeah, it has worked out all the way around so far. 

The timing of all of this isn't ideal, but where the collegiate calendar and the pro calendar don't align, golfers have to go through qualifying during their senior years if they don't want to have to support themselves for several months after graduation before qualifying happens. The rule change to let golfers delay turning pro until after they're done with NCAAs is a great one, but it still makes players pick between a full year of earnings (and critically, the spot on the money list that lets you keep your tour card for the next year) and a half-year, probably needing to go through qualifying again to earn a spot the year after that. 

It's a frustrating predicament in which to place senior golfers who feel a commitment to their school but who are also trying to make a clear-eyed assessment of what will best set them up in the future. The LPGA could fix it by allowing a player who wins a card to be able to defer it to the following year (so, for example, Valenzuela could say she's coming back, but have full LPGA status in 2021), perhaps with Symetra Tour status for the half-year following graduation. I'd be grateful for Valenzuela or Lee deciding to come back, but if I were facing the choices they are, I'd be hard-pressed to say that I'd decide to come back this spring.

[ColoradoTree]

Nice post ColoradoTree; in addition, by playing the q school rounds, presumably the two opened up two spots for other players to compete and gain experience, which would be valuable for this year if Lee and Valenzuela go pro, and valuable (for next year) if they don't.

BC

Thanks! And yeah, it has worked out all the way around so far. 

The timing of all of this isn't ideal, but where the collegiate calendar and the pro calendar don't align, golfers have to go through qualifying during their senior years if they don't want to have to support themselves for several months after graduation before qualifying happens. The rule change to let golfers delay turning pro until after they're done with NCAAs is a great one, but it still makes players pick between a full year of earnings (and critically, the spot on the money list that lets you keep your tour card for the next year) and a half-year, probably needing to go through qualifying again to earn a spot the year after that. 

It's a frustrating predicament in which to place senior golfers who feel a commitment to their school but who are also trying to make a clear-eyed assessment of what will best set them up in the future. The LPGA could fix it by allowing a player who wins a card to be able to defer it to the following year (so, for example, Valenzuela could say she's coming back, but have full LPGA status in 2021), perhaps with Symetra Tour status for the half-year following graduation. I'd be grateful for Valenzuela or Lee deciding to come back, but if I were facing the choices they are, I'd be hard-pressed to say that I'd decide to come back this spring.