The Symetra Tour event runs Thursday through Sunday at Brook-Lea Country Club.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Symetra Tour, the official qualifying Tour for the LPGA, returns to action after a week off with the third annual Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic at Brook-Lea Country Club in Gates. The 2017 tournament marks the 41st year of women’s professional golf in Rochester. The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic is the 14th tournament of the season. There are now just nine remaining.
The 72-hole tournament begins on Thursday and concludes on Sunday. Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all four days of the tournament. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second-round play on Friday.
Rochester native Jenna Hoecker (a) tees at 9:09 am off the first tee on Thursday.
The field of 144 players from the United States and 30 countries around the globe will compete for a total tournament purse of $150,000 and the winner will earn an all-important $22,500. With only nine events left in the year, the chase for an LPGA Tour card is really starting to heat up and each dollar earned is critical to move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 earners at the end of the season (Symetra Tour Championship, October 5-8) will receive LPGA Tour membership for the 2018 season.
No. 10 on the money list, Daniela Darquea (Quito, Ecuador), has just a $5,197 cushion on No. 11 Sophia Popov (Heidelberg, Germany). The winner’s payout this week could move anyone inside the top 30 into the top 10.
ROOKIE TALKS CONTRACTING MONO AND MORE: It was a simple thing that teenagers do all the time. Lori Beth Adams (Burlington, N.C.) was a junior in high school when she contracted Mononucleosis and was basically forced to stay off the golf course for six weeks and was mostly bedridden. She believes she caught it by simply sharing a drink with a friend. Suffice it to say, she never shares anymore.
“It set me back in the recruiting process, it set me back for six weeks,” said Adams. “I could only putt after the six weeks, I couldn’t even stand up and sing songs at church.”
Adams eventually recovered and got a scholarship to play college golf at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
“I broke out during my junior year of college and that is when I thought I could compete on the LPGA,” said Adams.
She was the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Player of the Year as a junior and was an All-CAA selection three times. Her play in college has translated well to the professional ranks. She has two top 10 finishes this year and ranks 45th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
“I’m really just trying to get comfortable out here,” said Adams. “It’s a different lifestyle than college and junior golf. I’m just enjoying it, I get to play golf for a living.”
Beth Adams was introduced to the game by her father, Steven, who brought his daughter to the range at Indian Valley Municipal Golf Course, where she still works in the offseason. She spends mornings in the pro shop to supplement her income in the winter months.
With nine events left, Adams is hoping to move up the money list and find her way into the top 10.
“It’s the home stretch, you just have to dig deep,” said Adams. “We are all tired, so you just have to play your best at this point of the year.”
JULIA ROTH SELECTS LOCAL “HOST SISTER” AS CADDY: Julia Roth (Karlskrona, Sweden) walked into her host families living room in Rochester this past weekend and asked her “host sister” – who has become closer to an actual sister after three years – if she would caddy for her this weekend at the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic.
Claire Yioulos, 15, is a sophomore at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School and will be Roth’s caddy this weekend.
“We’ve formed a really strong relationship and she has become a real role model for me,” said Claire, who literally started crying tears of joy when Julia asked her to caddy. “I’m just really happy that we got her as the girl to stay at our house. I was just hyperventilating when she asked me and I was sitting on my couch in a ball and was so happy.”
Claire’s mom, Linda, was also around when Julia made the ask.
“It was almost like Santa Claus was coming,” said Linda. “The little girl in her just came out and her face lit up.”
Julia just wishes she had the reaction on camera.
“It was so cute, I know she is excited,” said Roth. “I don’t think we realize the impact we can have sometimes on kids. They get to hang with us and talk to us and realize that we are all just humans. It’s not like we are from a different planet just because we are professionals. It’s great to see people love the game as much as we do and it’s important to help grow the game.”
Before the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic and the unique Monday pro-am where area high school golfers get to play with the pros, Claire only played because her father, Ernie, is an avid golfer and the family has a membership at Oak Hill.
“I never thought about even playing college golf, but I’ve talked to Julia a lot about college and what she did after and I realized that I have a lot of work to do, but I’m not that far off,” explained Claire. “She has that drive and I want to be like her.”
Slowly but surely, Claire has gone from barely on the fence about the sport to someone that recently broke 80 for the first time.
“She actually really enjoys golf now, the other day she was asking me questions about the sport,” said Roth, who remembers the time when Claire just played to tag along with dad. “Her game is really getting there. I practiced with her last week and we did some putting drills together.”
For Roth, the Yioulos family has become her second family. She has even celebrated holidays with them.
“There was something special about this family, we really clicked,” said Roth, who stays with host families weekly on Tour. “Two years ago, they were celebrating Easter in Tampa and I drove over to celebrate with them and last summer, I came here three or four times. I’ve been here so often that the members at Oak Hill now know me so it’s nice to feel like I have a second home.”
Ernie and Linda are just thrilled that they’ve had an opportunity to be part of Julia’s journey and are appreciative of the mentorship that she’s provided for Claire.
“She’s (Julia) a mentor to Claire, a friend, she’s really just part of our family,” said Linda.
“It’s more than just the golf, Claire has learned so much about personal behavior and her maturity has accelerated from being around Julia and the rest of the players,” said Ernie. “Her interest in the sport has grown immensely over the last three years.”
Now, Claire will get the ultimate experience: inside-the-ropes as a teammate with her role model.
“Just to have her ask me means so much to me,” said Claire. “I’m just going to try to keep her positive the whole time.”