The second stage of LPGA Q-School, now known as the Qualifying Stage, gets started on Tuesday after Hurricane Milton postponed the Florida event by one week.
There are 195 players in this week’s field, and those who finish in the top 35 and ties will advance to Final Qualifying.
The 72-hole tournament, held Oct. 22-25, is once again being contested at Plantation Golf and Country Club (Bobcat and Panther Courses) in Venice, Florida. Players who complete all four rounds of this week’s event will earn 2025 Epson Tour status based on their finish. There is no cut.
This week’s field includes 19 amateurs who, if they advance, must turn professional before competing in December’s Final Qualifying tournament. If a player chooses not to compete in Final Qualifying, her vacated spot will not be allocated to another player.
Here are 13 players to watch at this year’s second stage, including Hailey Davidson, who looks to become the first transgender player to earn an LPGA card:
Amari Avery
Former USC standout turned professional after the NCAA Championship. Avery first made a name for herself on the Netflix series “The Short Game” when she was 8 years old.
Matilda Castren
Former European Solheim Cup player and LPGA winner finds herself back at qualifying school after making only seven cuts in 18 starts this season.
Sandra Gal
The 39-year-old German made a return to the LPGA this year after a years-long battle with Lyme disease and recent hip surgery. The former Solheim Cup player won her first and only LPGA title at the 2011 Kia Classic.
Rachel Kuehn
After five seasons at Wake Forest, Kuehn looks to extend her amateur success at the next level. Kuehn and her mother, Brenda, became the first mother-daughter duo to both claim an ACC title. Kuehn won eight times for the Demon Deacons.
Megan Schofill
The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster and comes into this week No. 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Christina Kim
A three-time winner on the LPGA, the now 40-year-old Kim has made five starts on tour this season, making one cut. Kim represented the U.S. on three different Solheim Cup teams from 2005 to 2011.
Sophia Schubert
It wasn’t all that long ago that Schubert nearly won a major. Two years ago, to be exact, when she finished second at the Amundi Evian in France. It’s been a boatload of missed cuts since, dropping to 518th in the world.
Latanna Stone
This former LSU standout looks to join former teammate Ingrid Lindlbad on the LPGA next season. Stone played five seasons for the Tigers, winning three times. She was runner-up at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Bobbi Stricker
The former Wisconsin golfer and daughter of PGA Tour/Champions player Steve Stricker first played in Stage II two years ago with dad on the bag. Bobbi currently competes on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour.
Hailey Davidson
Davidson, who played men’s college golf at the Division II and III levels, advanced through the LPGA’s pre-qualifier by taking a share of 42nd. Davidson had primarily competed on NXXT Golf until the Florida-based mini tour announced in March that competitors must be a biological female at birth to participate. The LPGA is in the midst of reviewing its Gender Policy and will make any adjustments prior to the 2025 season.
Yana Wilson
Wilson turned professional last month at the LPGA’s Kroger Queen City Championship. The 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion opted to forgo college golf at Oregon to join the play-for-pay ranks. Wilson won the 2023 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
Mariah Stackhouse
For a while, Stackhouse was the only black player on the LPGA, first qualifying for the tour in 2017. The former Stanford star teed it up in 13 Epson Tour events this season, making the cut four times.
Adela Cernousek
Texas A&M senior won the 2024 NCAA Championship and made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open shortly thereafter. The Frenchwoman is currently No. 7 in the WAGR and is playing this week as an amateur.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Players to watch at LPGA Qualifying: Former Solheim Cup players, a Ryder Cup captain’s daughter, transgender athlete Hailey Davidson
