Dottie Ardina, Bianca Pagdanganan gear up for tough Q-Series

MANILA, Philippines – Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan brace for a grueling two-week campaign leading to LPGA Tour cards next year as they compete in the LPGA Q-Series beginning Thursday (Friday, Manila time) at the Magnolia Grove Golf’s Crossing and Falls courses in Mobile, Alabama.

A total of 110 players will dispute the Top 45 plus ties slots for LPGA status for the next season, guaranteeing a fierce battle of shotmaking and endurance in the two-part series with the Highland Oaks hosting the last tournament on Dec. 9-12 at Hybrid and Marshwood layouts.

Organizers said a cut after Week 1 will be made although the number has yet to be determined. Players who complete the first tournament but do not advance to Week 2 will receive 2022 Symetra Tour status.

Ardina and Pagdanganan, whose campaigns are backed by ICTSI, finished way below the rankings after the 2021 season with the former ending up at 109th, marked by a best joint 12th finish in the Women’s PGA Championship, in 14 events and the latter posting a No. 125 finish, matching Ardina’s best effort at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, in 12 tournaments.

Yuka Saso finished No. 16 in the Race to CME Globe Season but the 20-year-old Fil-Japanese has secured a five-year membership status by virtue of her historic major victory in the US Women’s Open last June.

Ardina and Pagdanganan, however, are in for a tough two-week grind with a slew of aces leading the LPGA hopefuls, including Thai Atthaya Thitikul, already a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, LPGA Q-School Stage 1 medalist amateur Gina Kim, Stage 2 winner Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Taiwanese sisters Yu Chiang Hou and Yu Sang Hou, WAPT (Women’s All Pro Tour) topnotchers Kaitlyn Papp and Sophia Garcia and Malaysian Kelly Tan

Spicing up the cast are LPGA campaigners Hinako Shibuno, Alena Sharp, Linnea Strom and Kristy McPherson and Symetra Tour stalwarts Beth Wu, Bally Tardy, Prima Thammaraks and Isi Gabsa.