WA’s Jess Whitting and Jennifer Herbst were amongst the six Aussies to successfully negotiate the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School.
In total, 325 players competed in the 72-hole qualifier at Mission Hills Country Club, with only the top 95 and ties moving on to Stage 2 of qualifying in October.
With so much potentially at stake, Q-School is always a case of survival of the fittest, and Whitting (above right), in particular, rose to the occasion.
The 26-year-old Perthite – who won the WA Women’s Amateur Championship in 2016 – was under par in three of her four rounds, eventually returning a 10-under-par total to finish in a tie for 8th position.
Former WA state junior representative Herbst, meanwhile, produced a sublime final round when it mattered most to fly up the standings and book her place in Stage 2.
The Lake Karrinyup product (above left), who has spent the past four years on a golf scholarship at Sam Houston State University in Texas, was outside the projected cut line after three rounds but served up a five-under-par 67 around Mission Hills’ Dinah Shore course to safely progress in T49th place.
Whitting and Herbst join fellow Aussies Kelsey Bennett (T22nd), Lion Higo (T49th), Sarah Yamaki Branch (T60th) and Caitlin Peirce (T80th) in reaching the Q-School Stage 2, which runs from October 15-18 at Plantation Golf & Country Club in Florida.
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