The LPGA is about to shake up women’s golf with a game-changing plan for college stars and top amateurs.
The tour will soon unveil two new pathways to pro golf, similar to what the men’s game already offers through PGA Tour University. The announcement is expected just before next week’s CME Group Tour Championship.
Here’s what’s coming: First, there’s a fast track to the LPGA Tour for exceptional players who rack up enough achievements. It doesn’t matter if they’re in college or not – they just need to hit certain milestones over a three-year period.
Just how tough is this fast track? Only three players in recent history would have made the cut: Lydia Ko, Leona Maguire, and Rose Zhang. That’s pretty exclusive company.
Florida State’s Lottie Woad is currently closest to qualifying, with 16 of the required 20 points.
The second program focuses on college seniors, ranking them based on their final two years of play. While it won’t hand out LPGA Tour cards directly, it’ll give top performers a shot at the Epson Tour – think of it as the minor leagues of women’s pro golf.
This is huge news for college coaches, who’ve been begging for change. They’re tired of losing their best players mid-season to qualifying school.
“Whatever the LPGA is doing with college right now is not a good system,” Arizona coach Laura Ianello said back in 2021, after watching two of her stars leave mid-year for the pros.
The current setup has been really tough on college programs. This year alone, five college players made it through to final qualifying, and most are likely turning pro instead of finishing school.
Ole Miss coach Kory Henkes puts it simply: “It’d be nice to give the players a better option to finish college.”
The LPGA’s been working on this problem for a while. Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan promised to “evaluate it and see if there’s a better way than what we’re doing.”
While some details are still under wraps – like how many Epson Tour cards will be available and when exactly this kicks off – it’s clear the LPGA is finally addressing one of women’s college golf’s biggest challenges.
This could be the solution that helps talented players balance their college careers with their pro golf dreams. And that’s something the sport’s been needing for a long time.
