Maude-Aimee Leblanc clinches top 10 spot for her 2022 LGPA Tour card
Golf Canada
Greensborough, N.C. – Quebec native Maude Aimee Leblanc received a pleasant surprise on Thursday morning – notice that she had clinched a top 10 spot on this year’s Symetra Tour standings, gaining playing privileges for the 2022 LGPA season. The news reached Leblanc at Forest Oaks Country Club where she is currently competing in the second annual Carolina Golf Classic.
“I am glad they told me, it took a big load off. That was my goal all year so to make it happen is really great,” said Leblanc. “[Golf] is a love-hate relationship. It’s tough and really hard to describe.”
Just three seasons ago Leblanc announced her decision to step away from golf professionally. It was the unprecedented year of 2020 that brought her back to the links and the Symetra Tour with a fresh perspective and a reignited passion for the sport.
“I just felt like I had more to accomplish golf wise. I feel like there are still things that I want to achieve and goals for myself that I set way back then and that are still in the back of my mind. It was hard to come to stop completely,” said Leblanc. “I want to thank my wife. She has been a big part of supporting me getting back into golf. And I started working with a new coach about a year and a half ago and he has helped my putting a lot which has made a huge difference in my game.”
With 18 tournaments already in the books on the Symetra Tour, the top 10 underwent some shifting after the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout which wrapped up Sept. 26. Leblanc is the fifth golfer to secure her spot, with five additional cards remaining to be claimed.
After the conclusion of round 1, Leblanc sits T4 at a score of six under par. Round 2 of the 72-hole stroke play tournament continues today.
For updated scores from the Carolina Golf Classic, click here.
DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – The second round of the Symetra Tour Championship was suspended at 1:50 p.m. EDT on Friday due to severe weather in Daytona Beach, Fla. near the Jones Course at LPGA International. Five groups from the morning wave have yet to finish, while the entire afternoon wave at least started the second round.
Race for the Card hopeful Brittany Marchand finished her second round at 10 under, moving up into 5th from her round 1 position of T64.
“It was great to have a bogey-free round and see a lot of putts drop today. Great confidence going into the weekend. I definitely feel like I’m going off momentum from [the T3 finish] last week. My game is in a good place right now and it’s helpful that I’ve played this course multiple times. Today, I just hit a lot of shots close and made a lot more putts compared to yesterday.”
Maude-Aimee Leblanc is sitting at 9 under after completing her round with an eagle on 18. The Sherbrooke, Que. native has already secured her LPGA Tour card sitting 5th on the Symetra money list. Additional Canadians in the field include Maddie Szeryk and Jaclyn Lee at T47, Selena Costabile at T61, and Rebecca Lee-Bentham at T81. Lee-Bentham completed the first hole before play suspended and will finish her round tomorrow when play resumes.
Competition is set to resume tomorrow at 8 a.m. and the third round will begin no earlier than 1:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Brittany Marchand finishes T3 at Carolina Golf Classic
Brittany Marchand (Zhe Ji/ Getty Images)
LPGA Tour Communications
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Coming into the first round, Sophia Schubert was No. 9 in the Race for the Card. She had already claimed eight top-10 finishes, five of which came in the last five events, but a win could help her do it all.
Playing the last 18 holes with Fatima Fernandez Cano, who has already clinched her card, as well as Amanda Doherty, who entered the week at No. 10, competition was high all day long. Fernandez Cano and Schubert dialed throughout the day and both birdied No. 18 to finish at -18 and head to a playoff. Three playoff holes later, Schubert rolled in an eagle putt to win a trophy, a check, her first win and clinch her spot in the Race for the Card top 10.
“I have so many emotions right now and I’m just so happy and so grateful to have been in this position this week. I’ve worked really hard leading up to this season and I had a lot of expectations for myself, I was able to accomplish all of my goals this year and so I’m just really happy,” said Schubert. “I wouldn’t have been able to do without my support team back home my family my friends my coaches trainer sponsors and I’m just so so grateful I think is the biggest thing I’ve worked really hard for this and just to finally be able to have it not only a win but also get my LPGA card just means so much.”
The University of Texas alumna can now add professional winner to her resume along with 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and 2018 Curtis Cup and Arnold Palmer champion. But even prior to nationwide amateur events, Schubert started her career as a little girl and participated in the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program. When she saw 2020 U.S. Kids World champion Adelyn Rosago and Autumn Solesbee with all eyes on her, Schubert’s career came full circle right in front of her eyes.
“I can remember when I was their age out there watching and we would go to professional events and I’d always say I want to be out there one day it was always a dream of mine since I was 4 or 5 years old,” said Schubert. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I’m actually there now but to be able to see them and talk to them just brought back so many memories.”
Determined to tie a bow on the season with a win, Fernandez Cano was frustrated with today’s outcome. Despite the loss, she was happy to see a fellow competitor claim her spot and join her in this year’s graduating class from the Symetra Tour.
“It is frustrating, but it was good. I honestly was playing really well. I gave myself I think the first 7 holes I had it maybe 4 or 5 inside 6 feet that I just couldn’t make so that was kind of frustrating, but I stayed with it,” said Fernandez Cano. “I was so close, but it just wasn’t for me out there. I am really happy for Sophia; I mean she is clearly a really good player and she had a great day out there today.”
Canadian Brittany Marchand finished T3 alongside Emilia Migliaccio, each sitting at -17.
#TeamCanada's Brittany Marchand finishes strong with a T3 performance on the @ROAD2LPGA – her best finish this season 💪🐲
With only one tournament left for the season and four spots left to claim in the top 10 of the Race for the Card, take a look at the current standings:
1. Lilia Vu (Fountain Valley, California) - $156,615
The Symetra Tour is the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour and enters its 41st competitive season in 2021. With the support of entitlement partner Symetra, the Tour’s mission is to prepare the world’s best young women professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour. Since Symetra’s inaugural sponsorship year in 2012, the Symetra Tour has grown from 16 tournaments and $1.7 million in prize money to $4.0 million in prize money awarded in 2019 and 2021. With more than 600 alumnae moving on to the LPGA, former Symetra Tour players have won a total of 445 LPGA titles. Follow the Symetra Tour on the web at www.SymetraTour.com, as well as Facebook.com/Road2LPGA, Twitter.com/Road2LPGA and Instagram @road2lpga.
Golf Canada Foundation Announces Bursaries for 2021-2022 Q-School
CP Womens Open at Magna Golf Club on August 23 2019 in Aurora, Ontario.
(Photo: Gary Yee)
Golf Canada
The Golf Canada Foundation has opened applications for bursaries to provide Canadian professional golfers with financial assistance for upcoming Q-school tournaments in support their journeys to the LPGA and PGA TOUR.
These bursaries are being made available this year in recognition of the increased travel expenses that many players have incurred due to the impact of COVID-19. For example, host family housing has not been available at many events, thus creating increased expenses for players.
Canadian professional golfers who anticipate expenses attempting to qualify for the 2021-2022 season on any tour that is affiliated with the PGA TOUR, European Tour, or LPGA tour are welcomed to apply through this link.
The application will be open until Monday, September 20 at 5pm ET. Bursaries will be awarded by mid-October in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $7,000, depending on a player’s competitive results and projected expenses.
Maude-Aimee Leblanc finishes second at Symetra Tour event
ANN ARBOR, MI - MAY 25: Maude-Aimee Leblanc, of Canada, watches her tee shot on the fifth hole during the second round of the LPGA Volvik Championship on May 25, 2018 at Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
(Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Canadian Press
HARRIS, MICH. – Canadian golfer Maude-Aimee Leblanc posted her third second-place finish of the season at the Symetra Tour’s Island Resort Championship on Sunday in Harris, Mich.
Leblanc, from Sherbrooke, Que., led by three entering the third and final round before finishing one stroke behind Morgane Metraux of Switzerland.
Metraux fired a 5-under 67 in the the final round to improve to 17 under overall, while Leblanc settled for a 71.
The top 10 at season’s end earn LPGA Tour cards for next season.
Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont., tied for 40th, Valerie Tanguay of Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., tied for 49th and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., was 67th.
Maude-Aimée Leblanc ties career-best T2 on Symetra Tour
Maude-Aimée Leblanc (Symetra Tour)
LPGA Tour Communications
The final results were not what 18-hole leader Maude-Aimee Leblanc (Sherbrooke, Quebec) had in mind, but the Purdue University All-American remains optimistic. An even-par 72 final round in Riverside County for the 10-year professional put her at 7-under overall, good for a tie for second.
“It feels good to be back in the swing of things. My game is in the good place and my mental game as well, that is more important to me,” said Leblanc.
“Overall good week. I know that I can win out here. I just need to keep doing what I did this week because it seems to be working.”
Schubert starts the 2021 season with back-to-back top-10 finishes and is eager for the rest of the season, yet happy to see two weeks off before the next event. She plans to take the break ahead of the inaugural Casino del Sol Golf Classic to fine tune parts of her game she feels need some help after the opening weeks.
“I am going to take a couple days off and go and see my coach, just tweak a few things and focus on a few things that I want to work on,” said Schubert. “I would just say that I was really proud of myself in my patience. Today for example I wasn’t putting very well. I was hitting the ball well, but I tried not to get too emotional try not to get too upset and just stayed patient in there at the end they fell.”
Canadians Brittany Marchand and Maddie Szeryk eager to be back on Symetra Tour
Brittany Marchand (Getty Images)
John Chidley-Hill/ Canadian Press
Brittany Marchand felt like her career was on an upswing after tying for eighth at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in early March. It was the first tournament of the Symetra Tour season and was Marchand’s best finish in more than a year after she muddled through the 2019 LPGA Tour schedule.
A week later and the Symetra Tour, like the rest of North America’s professional sports, was on indefinite hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Let’s just say it was 100 per cent a momentum killer if I’ve ever seen one,” Marchand said with a laugh. “I’d already had quite a long off-season and then to have another off-season, essentially, it was like ‘OK, I’ve already worked on everything I wanted to. I’m ready to go.”’
Marchand, from Orangeville, Ont., is one of four Canadians in the field at this week’s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Mich., a three-round tournament that tees off Friday morning. She’s still eighth in the tour’s rankings thanks to that strong finish in March.
“Little did I know that that finish at the beginning was actually going to be a huge help,” said Marchand. “Normally that would have been great but it wouldn’t have determined much of anything over the course of a season.”
It’s the first tournament to be played by the LPGA Tour family following the three-month hiatus. The shortened Symetra Tour schedule is now 10 events.
The Symetra Tour will still award LPGA Tour membership to the top players on the money list at the end of the year. However, five cards with partial status will be available instead of the 10 that have been distributed each year since 2008.
“A full LPGA card is off the table,” said Marchand, who added that in some ways it creates a pressure-free situation. “I have to wrap my head around the fact that I won’t be starting next year on the LPGA, no matter what, even if I finish at the top of the money list.”
Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., is also eager to get back to work at the FireKeepers. Her only competition during the pandemic break was a 16th place finish at the Texas Women’s Open and playing with her sister Ellie, a Texas A&M prospect.
Like Marchand, Szeryk said she’s pleased to be playing competitive golf again but has mixed feelings about the limited exemptions available for the next LPGA Tour season.
“It’s a bummer that you don’t even really have a chance this year,” said Szeryk, who is No. 41 on the tour’s money list. “There’s nothing we can do about it so I just have to look at is as a growing experience and I’m really going to be ready for (the LPGA) when I get up there.”
Josee Doyon of St-Georges, Que., and Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., round out the Canadian contingent at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship.
The LPGA Tour resumes its schedule next week with the Drive On Championship, which Hamilton’s Alena Sharp has already declared she will play in.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Symetra Tour announced today that it will resume the 2020 season with the seventh annual FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship at Battle Creek Country Club in Battle Creek, Mich. from July 24-26.
This event will mark the first tournament to be played by the LPGA Tour family following a three-month hiatus. It is also the first of nine tournaments on the remaining 2020 Symetra Tour schedule, making an even 10 tournaments for the 2020 campaign.
“We are extremely grateful to our partners and host venues for continued flexibility and support,” said Mike Nichols, Chief Business Officer of the Symetra Tour. “They have worked tirelessly to keep all hopes and dreams alive for the next generation of LPGA Tour stars. In addition to Symetra Tour sponsors, the ANNIKA Foundation recently showcased an unparalleled form of generosity with their Crisis Relief Fund providing $50,000 in grants to Symetra Tour players financially affected by the coronavirus.”
Two Symetra Tour events have changed dates, including the Founders Tribute in Mesa, Ariz., at Longbow Golf Club, a recent addition to the schedule. Originally set for Aug. 27-29, it will now lead the West Coast swing from Aug. 14-16, followed by the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa from Aug. 21-23. Meanwhile, the Four Winds Invitational at Blackthorn Golf Club in South Bend, Ind., will now be played Sept. 4-6 instead of July 31 through Aug. 2.
The Symetra Tour will conclude the season in the southeastern United States, starting Sept. 18-20 with the Guardian Championship in Prattville, Ala., at the Capitol Hill Senator Course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. The Tour will then head to Florida for two weeks, competing at the IOA Classic brought to you by RP Funding from Sept. 25-27 in Longwood at Alaqua Country Club, followed by the Symetra Classic from Oct. 1-4 on the Jones Course at LPGA International in Daytona Beach. The 2020 season will then conclude with two weeks in North Carolina, with the Carolina Golf Classic from Oct. 28-31 at Pinehurst No. 9 in Pinehurst and the season-ending Symetra Tour Championship from Nov. 3-6 in Davidson at River Run Country Club.
Purses are still being finalized, but players on the Symetra Tour will be competing for greater than $1.5 million during the season. Additionally, the Symetra Tour will once again award LPGA Tour Membership to the top players on the Volvik Race for the Card money list at the end of the year. However, five cards will be available instead of the 10 that have been distributed each year since 2008.
Below is a revised look at the 2020 Symetra Tour schedule, as of June 17:
July 24-26
FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club; Battle Creek, Michigan
Aug. 14-16
Founders Tribute
Longbow Golf Club; Mesa, Arizona
Aug. 21-23
IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa
Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon; Beaumont, California
Sept. 4-6
Four Winds Invitational
Blackthorn Golf Club; South Bend, Indiana
Sept. 18-20
Guardian Championship
Senator Course at Capitol Hill (RTJ Golf Trail); Prattville, Alabama
Sept. 25-27
IOA Classic brought to you by RP Funding
Alaqua Country Club; Longwood, Florida
Oct. 1-4
Symetra Classic
Jones Course at LPGA International; Daytona Beach, Florida
She was worn down and frustrated after a disappointing sophomore season on the LPGA Tour. Marchand didn’t touch her clubs for three weeks after the final event in November and spoke with family and friends over the off-season about what she should do next.
“I came off of a really tough year and I was not in a very good place after the end of last year,” said Marchand, who missed all but one cut in 2019, tying for 55th at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in July.
That meant if Marchand was going to return to pro golf it would be on the second-tier Symetra Tour and she would have to earn her way back on to the top-flight LPGA Tour for the 2021 season. After some soul searching, the native of Orangeville, Ont., decided to give it another try.
“I wanted to give it my all this off-season and putting in the work and then actually seeing it pay off in the first event is definitely a good feeling,” said Marchand, who finished in a tie for eighth at the season-opening Florida’s Natural Charity Classic last weekend. “I feel like Brittany again. It’s nice to feel that again and remember that, you know, I do like golf.”
One of the people Marchand consulted with was fellow Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Anne-Catherine Tanguay, who herself is on a one-year leave of absence from the LPGA. Tanguay encouraged Marchand to take another run at it and, if necessary, end her career on her terms.
“It’s a long year, and it’s a grind, especially if you have to play on the Symetra Tour,” said Quebec City’s Tanguay, who is pregnant with her first child. “It’s a commitment to do. It’s a life choice to travel and live in your suitcases and I think to do it you have to have the passion for it.
“That’s also something that we touched upon. You just have to want it so when it’s not there anymore, maybe you need to ask yourself other questions. But if you still feel like you have some great golf in you and you still have the passion, I think you should go for it.”
Marchand, who is based outside of Raleigh, N.C., plans to play in the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Beaumont, Calif., starting March 27. It’s the second event of the Symetra Tour season and, on the way out there, she’s going to try the Monday qualifier for the LPGA’s Volvik Founders Cup in Phoenix.
“I obviously know that I can play on the LPGA. It was tough to not believe in myself last year,” Marchand said. “It’s worth giving myself another shot. To be out there and no matter how the year ends, I think I’ll feel better if I walk away from golf next year.
“I think I’ll feel like it was the right way rather than if I left last year, I think maybe down the road I would have regretted it.”
Team Canada’s Maddie Szeryk leads Symetra Tour opener
Maddie Szeryk (Symetra Tour)
With the first 18 holes of the 2020 Symetra Tour season in the books, it is Texas A&M University alumna Maddie Szeryk (London, Ontario, Canada) alone atop the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic leaderboard courtesy of a 5-under par 67 performance.
“It was good to come out and play again,” said Szeryk, who recorded six birdies around the Country Club of Winter Haven this afternoon. “I was not putting too much pressure on myself, just going to play and whatever happens, happens. Shake off the rust a little.”
The second-year professional finished tied for 71st at the second annual LPGA Q-Series in November and then recharged the batteries. Szeryk traveled to Rosemary Beach in the Florida Panhandle with several former college teammates to “do nothing and just hang out.”
“I took most of November and part of December just completely off, needed a break and a restart,” said Szeryk.
“The first tournament of the year, you never know what to expect. I didn’t drive it super well last year, so that was a big focus for the offseason and I only missed two fairways today, was always in play.”
One shot back of the lead is three-time Symetra Tour champion Daniela Iacobelli (Melbourne, Florida), who found her way to six birdies this afternoon to sign for a 4-under par 68.
“It’s very homey to me, there’s a lot of similarities to my home course [Suntree Country Club],” Iacobelli said. “Plus, I love Bermuda and fast Bermuda. I’ve also played here since 2009, back when the Symetra Tour had a Q-School.”
Iacobelli has competed in this tournament at the Country Club of Winter Haven in each of the last three years. Her best finish of runner-up came a season ago while she has never finished outside the top-18 during that span. Even so, Iacobelli pointed out aspects that make her excited for a season opener other than getting off to a fast start.
“It’s cool to see it kind of come together a little bit,” said Iacobelli. “You’ve been practicing for however many weeks and kind of fighting things, or not necessarily scoring how you want to at home. The scoring out here matters. I’m just overly ecstatic to not be sitting on my couch for another week, so happy to be working.”
