Ana Dawson’s Qualifying School Update

Qualifying school 2023 was a completely different test compared to last year. I was going into the event with a lot more experience behind me, but with that came its own pressures. 

I knew it was going to be a long couple of weeks with the new format that was implemented last year. With women’s golf getting more popular, the Ladies European Tour had to add in two new pre-qualifying venues to accommodate the growing interest in women’s professional golf, each field was made up of 75 girls at each stage with the top 26 advancing to the next stage. 

After a stressful experience last year to make it through to final, I started the day in 10th place with an enjoyable day ahead of me, especially after starting birdie, birdie, birdie! I qualified into final stage in 7th position on a total of -4.

With no time to rest, I had to start my prep for the final qualifying stage the next day. I played two practice rounds on the different courses the final stage was going to be played at, and had a card in my hand again for round 1 on Saturday, 16 December. 

The beginning of the final stage didn’t start quite as smoothly. I started hitting my first shot into the trees, followed by hitting it into more trees before finding a bunker and a bush all on the first hole! I started the day with a 7, but after a lot of work on the mental aspect of the game this year, I didn’t let it phase me. I was 3 over through 5 but I finished well with a 3 under back 9 to shoot level.

The following 4 rounds went well with solid shots but unfortunately, I didn’t get the points needed to finish in the top 20 and earn my full playing rights on the tour next year. However, I finished 39th out of over 300 players, placing me in the second-best category you could achieve and giving me the same status that I earned last year, category 16.

While I feel slightly disappointed to not have earned my full card, I am also extremely proud to see how much I have improved since Qualifying school last year. In the 8 rounds, the worst I shot was level par and I feel like I dealt with the pressure of the situation really well. I am excited to get back to work in January and work hard to re-rank well in May.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year!