On Grand Strand Golf: McPherson remains committed to Symetra Tour in 2016

After missing the cut Saturday to the final round of the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament Finals at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Kristy McPherson reiterated Monday that she plans to play a full season on the Symetra Tour in 2016.

McPherson shot rounds of 74, 75, 73 and 81 to tie for 144th, and she plans to return to the LPGA’s feeder tour after nine years competing at the highest level of women’s golf.

“I can’t say it’s the worst thing in the world for me since I’ve struggled for a few years on the LPGA,” the Conway native said. “A good year on the Symetra Tour will be better than a bad year on the LPGA. I have to get out there and feel I can compete again.”

The 23-event Symetra Tour schedule – which features tournament purses between $100,000 and $250,000 – begins Feb. 18 in California and the following five events are in either Florida, where McPherson lives, or the Carolinas, where most of her family lives.

“Schedule-wise the Symetra is not terrible,” McPherson said. “Maybe playing on the Symetra will free me up and I can play well in the LPGA events I get into.”

McPherson was successful in her previous stint on the Symetra Tour after graduating from South Carolina. In 60 events from 2003-06, she didn’t miss a single cut and won twice in 2006 to finish fourth on the money list and graduate to the LPGA.

Golf will likely be far from McPherson’s mind for more than a week. She was on her way to Africa on Monday to take part in a trip through the World Vision Christian humanitarian organization.

She has taken part in two Golf Fore Africa pro-ams hosted by World Golf Hall of Fame member Betsy King in each of the past few years in Phoenix and Long Island, which raise money to create wells to supply clean drinking water. McPherson and a few other players will spend six days in villages in Zambia visiting schools, dispensing supplies and speaking to children and women. That will be followed by a two-day safari.

“That will be pretty cool,” McPherson said. “I’m pretty sure that will put things in perspective. My bad days on the golf course I’m sure aren’t anything like a bad day over there. It’s pretty good timing for the trip.”

Other golfers on the trip include Cheyenne Woods, Kendall Dye and Amy Anderson. Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods, was among those who finished in the top 20 Monday to earn exempt LPGA playing privileges in 2016.

Simin Feng of China led wire-to-wire to earn medalist honors, and other top-20 qualifiers included players from the U.S., Canada, Thailand, the Philippines, Mexico, Israel, South Korea, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Staying in Sunshine

McPherson often entertains the thought of moving back to South Carolina from Tampa, but living in Florida is too beneficial to give up just yet.

She purchased her parents a house in Murrells Inlet in 2010 and regularly visits, but Florida is better for her Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, her golf game and her bank accounts because of the warmer winter weather and lack of state income tax.

“Every year I think I want to move back to South Carolina … but the offseason when I need to be practicing it’s perfect in Tampa so it’s kind of hard to get out of there,” McPherson said.

Though she’s taxed on tour earnings in the states where tournaments are held, any sponsorship earnings are taxed in her state of residence.

McPherson’s sponsors include T3 Solutions, a software company based in Augusta used by the military; Greg Norman clothing; Titleist balls, gloves and shoes; and Vimovo, an arthritis medication that McPherson takes. “It has been pretty good for me,” McPherson said of her new endorsement agreement with Vimovo. “I’ve been on drugs my whole life so it’s nice to get a partnership with them.”

Sunbelt represented

Of the 17 golfers who played on the Grand Strand-based Sunbelt Senior Tour in 2015 and reached the final stage of the Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament, Gibby Gilbert III was the one who earned enough status to likely get several starts in 2016.

Gilbert shot rounds of 64, 68, 68 and 70 for a 14-under 270 at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course in Arizona to finish seventh, two shots out of a playoff for fifth and the final fully exempt spot available through Q-School.

Exempt status was earned Friday by medalist and six-time Japan Golf Tour winner Brandt Jobe, 2001 RBC Heritage champion Jose Coceres of Argentina, Tom Byrum, Willie Wood and Mike Grob.

Players finishing sixth through 12th – John Riegger, Gilbert, Jean-Francois Remesy, Stan Utley, Steve Jones, Chien Soon Lu and Miguel Angel Martin – all earned 2016 conditional status.

Among those in the top 12, all but Gilbert, the son of a three-time PGA Tour winner and six-time Champions Tour winner, are past PGA Tour or Champions Tour members. Gilbert, 50, won two Sunbelt Tour events in 2015 and earned nearly $12,000 in eight tournaments.

“I really expect Gibby to do well,” said Sunbelt Tour founder and director Don Barnes. “He’s a good player. When he gets into events I expect him to do well.”

Gilbert told Barnes he plans to play in some 2016 Sunbelt events, including the opener in Melbourne, Fla., in late February when the Champions Tour is in the midst of a one-month break.

The top 30 finishers at Q-School get directly into Champions Tour Monday qualifiers and can bypass weekly pre-qualifiers, and those include past Sunbelt event participants Mike Goodes, Skip Kendall, Dick Mast, Paul Broadhurst, Barry Lane, Gene Jones,

Neal Lancaster, who has been working with Strand swing instructor Brad Redding, also tied for 30th.

Past Sunbelt member Gene Jones, who won a Sunbelt event in March, picked up local caddie Garry Hanchera, 64, who had an apparent heart attack and collapsed on the 15th hole during the final round.

Goodes was in Jones’ pairing and reportedly administered CPR with the help of another caddie, and a defibrillator was used in the fairway in an attempt to revive Hanchera, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Play was suspended more than a half hour as Hanchera was tended to. Amazingly, Jones birdied the 15th and 17th holes to shoot a 1-under 70 and tie for 20th at 9-under 275.

BCG hires Justman

Billy Casper Golf, the owner-operator of more than 150 golf courses, country clubs and resorts across 29 states, has hired Scott Justman as its Western Region Director of Operations.

Justman spent three years as the vice president of golf operations for National Golf Management, which was formed by a 2012 merger of the golf-related holdings of Myrtle Beach National Co., and Burroughs & Chapin Golf Management and operated up to 23 courses.

NGM sold nearly all of its assets to Founders Group International in late April, and Justman spent a short time as one of the company’s regional managers.

Justman will be overseeing BCG properties in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Washington and will be based in Denver. He is responsible for business planning, budgeting, team leadership and training, revenue and expense management, and client relations, and will liaise with regional operations, marketing, sales and agronomy teams. He was previously the head pro at The Landings Golf Course at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga.

Light back to work

Little River resident and 2015 Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada member Tyler Light has returned to the Strand after spending Thanksgiving with family in Ohio and is participating in a pair of Swing Thought Tour Carolina Series events on the Strand in the next two weeks.

After not advancing through the First Stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, the Massillon, Ohio, native traveled to Las Vegas to work on swing changes with swing coach Paul Wilson at Bear’s Best. He had been working with Alasdair Dyer at Barefoot Resort. “I just wanted to see something different and the opportunity presented itself,” Light said.

He’s one of 16 players entered in a Carolina Series event Wednesday and Thursday at Farmstead Golf Links and plans to play in next week’s event at Crow Creek Golf Club.

In 2016, he’s considering Mackenzie Tour Q-School again if he can afford it, and is also considering traveling to a number of Monday qualifiers for Web.com Tour events.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 10:01 PM with the headline "On Grand Strand Golf: McPherson remains committed to Symetra Tour in 2016."