Anyone who followed the 2018 Curtis Cup Match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., saw just how much talent the USA Team possessed. The group produced a historic 17-3 victory over Great Britain and Ireland to reclaim the Cup.
Next year, half that squad, including two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kristen Gillman, will be playing on the LPGA Tour after ranking among the low 45 scorers and ties in the newly created Q-Series, conducted the past two weeks at Course Nos. 6 and 7 of the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
Instead of one 72- or 90-hole event to determine cards for the upcoming season, the LPGA Tour created the Q-Series for its third and final stage of Q-School. It consisted of two consecutive 72-hole events with no cut for the 102 competitors. The cumulative scores from the eight rounds determined each player’s final standing.
Reigning NCAA champion and 2018 McCormack Medal winner Jennifer Kupcho, of Westminster, Colo.; Lauren Stephenson, of Lexington, S.C.; Gillman, of Austin, Texas; and Lilia Vu, of Fountain Valley, Calif., were among the eight amateurs to earn full playing privileges for 2019. Interestingly enough, they are the Nos. 1-4 players in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (Vu is 1, followed by Kupcho, Gillman and Stephenson).
