by Nancy Duncan

One recent event was the As an LPGA Amateurs member you have many events open to you other than our regular play days and tournaments.

2023 LPGA Amateurs Scramble Open held at the Indian Wells Golf Resort in Indian Wells, CA. close to Palm Springs. If you like to travel and play golf at your destination, you might want to consider this tournament for next year.

Three teams from the Dallas and Fort Worth Chapters entered the tournament.

Texas Party of Fore: Cindy Schroeder, Jeri Phillips, Maribeth Fletcher, Patte Lee

The Fantasticks: Kelly Campbell, Mara Neal, Lee Fryland, Elke Haetzel

NTX Scramblers: Debbie Hatten, Patti Bartholomew, Terry Rolan, Natasha Hawes

Cindy Schroeder (Texas Party of Fore) summed up her impression as follows:

I wanted to do something different. As a scramble there wasn’t pressure like in individual competition, it was just fun. National did a great job first by choosing Indian Wells, which was a joy to play and everyone there was courteous and extremely helpful. Also the banquets and awards presentations were well done. We saw the other teams from time to time and were happy to see more participants from Texas chapters. We had free time after golf to explore local attractions such as taking a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram. Our captain Jeri Phillips added a fun twist to our adventure with a scavenger hunt while the 4 of us were together. It is important to have a good captain of which we did.

Mara Neal (The Fantasticks) commented as follows:

This tournament was relaxing and fun. We had a mixed team from different chapters, even different States. There is no need to qualify, just get a team together, preferably with a handicap range as they use the Modified Ambrose handicapping system.  We played two courses and I feel it would be best to play a practice round on both. A team from Ohio has won the last couple of years. It would be nice for a Texas team to end their reign. I heard from a National organizer that tournaments held on the West Coast rarely sell out, but they always have a waiting list for the East Coast locations. The 2022 tournament was held at Lake Geneva, Geneva Wisconsin. The 2021 tournament was held at Pinehurst, North Carolina. The Dominion Republic fielded a team so it was in fact an international tournament.

Prizes were awarded to Low Net and Low Gross in each flight as well as Overall Low Gross and Low Net teams.

Kudos to Jeanne Biggerstaff from LPGA Amateurs Corporate, the TOPS committee, and the Indian Wells golf crew for excellent tournament logistics.

So next year, get your team together and explore a new golf club and meet lots of new interesting players from other Chapters. Click here for more information on all the national LPGA Amateurs events,

Texas Party of Fore: Maribeth Fletcher, Cindy Schroeder, Jeri Phillips, Patte Lee

The Fantasticks: Lee Fryland, Mara Neal, Elke Haetzel, Kelly Campbell

ABOUT THE WRITER

Nancy Duncan

LPGA Amateurs Dallas member since 2021

Nancy will be writing feature stories each month about members and their interesting golf-related adventures. If you have an idea for an upcoming feature, please email it to email it to commlpgaamateursdallas@gmail.com!