Relationship Increases Weekly Tournament Qualifying Positions
and Now Offers Spots in LPGA Q-School’s Stage II
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Ladies Professional Golf Association’s Epson Tour and the Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) announced today the extension and enhancement of their relationship that was established starting in the 2019 season.
In 2021, each WAPT tournament will award spots into a corresponding Epson Tour event for the top two finishers. Additionally, the top five players on the season’s WAPT Player of the Year program will receive exemptions into Stage II of LPGA Q-School. Both opportunities will be available up to Stage I of LPGA Tour Q-School, which is scheduled for August 19-22 at Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
“Just as the Epson Tour serves as the ‘Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA Tour’, the WAPT provides aspiring professionals the opportunity to play in quality tournament competition and be ready to compete at a high level when the opportunity presents itself,” said Mike Nichols, Chief Business Officer of the Epson Tour. “The depth of talent in women’s worldwide professional golf has never been higher, and this enhanced relationship will allow players who may not currently have access to Epson Tour events to earn their way into our tournaments.”
The success story of the Epson Tour-WAPT was partnership highlighted this year by the performance of Sarah White (Kentwood, Mich.) who parlayed her exemption from the WAPT Texarkana Children's Charity Classic to compete and win at the Epson Tour’s Founders Tribute at Longbow in Mesa Ariz., earning her Epson Tour Membership for the 2021 season.
“It was a great opportunity to show the other girls competing on the WAPT that it is possible to make it”, White said. “The WAPT truly prepared me for this opportunity.”
“We are excited to provide a clear path for those ladies dreaming of playing the Epson and LPGA Tours”, said WAPT President Gary DeSerrano. “The WAPT not only provides more playing opportunities but a true path to the Epson and LPGA Tours.”
The 2021 WAPT season will begin in Alexandria, LA at the Coca-Cola Open March 10-13. The tour will conduct 12 events through July. Purses are expected to be $50,000 each week with the winner taking home $10,000 and an exemption to a Epson Tour event. The 2021 Epson Tour schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
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