Monika Poomcharoen, a former Great Oak standout, advanced through LPGA Q-School Stage 1 in Palm Springs last week by a comfortable three shot margin. Valley News/Courtesy photo
— By Derryl Trujillo
— PALM SPRINGS — Monika Poomcharoen had tried LPGA Q-School Stage 1 in Palm Springs once before and failed to advance. That was in 2018 after she had just qualified for the United States Women’s Amateur and the Great Oak/University of Iowa standout wanted to test herself. She found that at that time her game was not ready.
Flash forward four years to a weekend with heat in the triple digits and this time Poomcharoen passed the test. She shot rounds of 68-73-73-73=215 (-1) to finish T67 and advance by a comfortable three shot margin to October’s Stage 2 qualifier in Venice, Florida.
Coming into the event she logged just five competitive starts in 2022, four on the Cactus Tour and the California State Women’s Open where she finished T22.
When reached by phone Poomcharoen said, “I was working up to this tournament and practicing every single day for hours at a time. I knew I could do it, but I just had to perfect my craft. I didn’t play very well in the earlier events until the Q-School prep tournament (T2nd) when I started to see my hard work pay off.”
Q-School, unlike a regular tour event, does not have hole by hole scoring so players have no idea of their relative position in the field until they turn their scorecard in. Poomcharoen’s fiancé was following scores as they came in and said to her “You did it” as she came off eighteen, but she was cautious in believing it until all the scores were posted.
By advancing to Stage 2 she earns 2023 Epson Tour playing privileges and when asked about that perk of moving on she remarked, “It hasn’t hit me that I earn Epson Tour status just by getting through to Stage 2 but it’s nice to know I’ll have a place to play next year (with an opportunity for family and friends to come watch me play in Beaumont). The ultimate goal is, of course, to earn LPGA Tour status and that’s what I’m working towards.”
Coming into the event Poomcharoen said she had been battling tendinitis, so she plans to take a few days off to get that under control before beginning preparations for Stage 2 in Florida, Oct. 18-21. It’s her first time advancing through Stage 1.
Derryl Trujillo has been a local sportswriter since 2018 and is the 2019 IEBCA Supporter of the Year award winner. He can be reached at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
