Ladies' Tees

Meet Chris de Vries, an up and coming lady pro. Follow her as she takes goes through her first season on the Ladies European Tour

One tournament determines what your season will look like

Qualifying School Adventures

Every year many aspiring professionals decide to play the Qualifying School as it is their only chance to get a tour card for the following season. A few weeks ago I was one of them: at La Manga, in Spain, I attended the Qualifying School for the Ladies European Tour, with thirty cards available for 2012. In this article I would like to share my adventure with you.

Stakes

This year the qualifying was split up into two stages, with three days between the two competitions. After about 200 players compete in the four rounds of golf in the first stage, 60 players go through to the Second Stage. In the second stage they will be joined by players who are exempt based on their ranking on the Tour. After five rounds of golf, the top thirty earns a ‘full card’ and players between the thirtieth and fiftieth place earn a ‘half card’. The difference between those two is the number of tournaments you can get into the next year, thus the number of experiences you can learn from and the number of chances you have to show your game.

Pre-Q

There is obvious pressure on those playing Qualifying School because the outcome determines what your season will look like. Going into the tournament I was pretty nervous and the night before the first round I was to even a little too preoccupied to sleep. But on the day, on the spot, the pressure was gone. I started with a great round of 4 under par, 69 and was leading the tournament! Usually I am a bit of a slow starter and need some time to find my game, but this week something was different.

Final-Q

With the great opening round and solid golf after that I got through to Final Stage in 5th spot. Because I hadn’t booked a house yet for the second week, my caddie John and I had to look for another apartment and a change of scenery, to keep our spirits up. This proved to be a good move, because after the first round I was leading the field again, this time with a 5 under par 66 and a birdie – eagle finish! A great experience and boost of confidence, but there were four more rounds to go and a lot of pressure to be dealt with. Especially on the last day the pressure was high, but I was able to control my thoughts and focus on the shots. With John by my side to keep me relaxed and help me make good decisions, I played good rounds of golf but did not score as well as the first day. However, my total score of 5 over par for the tournament put me in 22nd place and was good enough for a full card in 2012. I am now looking forward to playing on the Ladies European Tour and to have many more exciting adventures!