When offered, I jumped at the chance to play in the Florida's Natural Charity Pro Am as part of the Symetra Tour of the LPGA at Lake Region Yacht and Country Club in Winter Haven, Florida.
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After that, I was literally counting down the days until my "Road to the LPGA" began.
Come on, you know all of you Michigan golfers would be doing the same given the chance to play golf in Florida in March.
As I prepared for the big day of playing in the Pro-Am event held on Thursday before the tournament starts, I thought this would be my "road to the LPGA." But, my biggest impression is that the Symetra Tour is the place where there is a lot of excitement and where my interests lie, and, maybe, eventually the LPGA Tour.
As a reader you may be thinking to yourself this gal has lost it, why does she think the place to be is the "Road to the LPGA" versus the LPGA?
I developed this opinion while playing with our assigned professional, Nicole Vandermade, from Canada and a former Texas Longhorn.
Spending the day with Nicole gave me some insight into the life of an up and coming lady making her own "road to the LPGA" followed by the first day of the tournament.
My morning on Friday, day one of the tournament, was filled with the ladies pulling up in cars with out-of-state plates, unloading their own clubs and getting their focus for the day's events.
The flags were flying around the putting green and the ladies were there in full force working on putt after putt.
Some of the ladies in the tournament had caddies available, and often those caddies were a family member, fathers, husbands, and even some mothers.
From the putting practice area, the ladies would move over to the driving range working on their wedge shots and gunning their drives to remarkable distances. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not like ladies' golf of yesteryear!
Most of the ladies I witnessed can drive the ball 300 plus yards, all are consistent and accurate.
Another soon-to-be familiar sight was girls humping their own clubs around or the push cart in front of them as they made their way around the course from tee to green.
This is grass roots golf at its best paired with the ladies' drive and focus to score their way into the Volvik Race for the Card.
The Volvik Race for the Card places the top 10 point qualifiers from the Symetra Tour onto the LPGA Tour the following season.
This is a talented group of ladies that are all working their way maneuvering through the "Road to the LPGA."
Deanna Alfredo is the owner/founder of TeeToTable, Inc.
Her focus is today's ladies' golf and how lady golfers are more prolific than ever.
Her site www.TeeToTable.com focuses on golf, travel golf, her creative outlet of cooking and teaching others helpful hints. Join her this year on ClickonDetroit as she ventures through her golf season and much, much more.
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