The ninth stop on the 2019 “Road to the LPGA” takes the Symetra Tour to Raven’s Claw Golf Club in the Keystone State for the second annual Valley Forge Invitational from May 31-June 2.
Greeting the 132-player field in Pottstown, Pa. is a total purse of $125,000. Individuals are set to compete in a 54-hole stroke play format with a cut to the low 60 players and ties after 36 holes. The winner’s share for the event is $18,750.
Sharmila Nicollet to play
Sharmila Nicollet has confirmed her entry into this week’s Valley Forge Invitational, after a break from professional golf to recover from a back injury. She announced her arrival with an Instagram post saying “Full swings finally! Back in the game.”
Sharmila has played only three events on the tour in 2019 and her best came at Florida’s Natural Charity Classic, where she finished T-23 in March.
WOODS TO MAKE FIRST SYMETRA TOUR START SINCE 2014
When competition begins on Friday, it will mark the first start for Cheyenne Woods (Phoenix, Arizona) on the “Road to the LPGA” since the 2014 Symetra Tour Championship, where she collected one of her four top-15s that year.
“I watch the Symetra [Tour] leaderboard almost every week because I have a lot of friends that play out here,” said Woods. “It is really deep and very competitive. You are seeing girls here from the States, but also internationally playing really great golf. The Tour has grown quite a bit and strengthened, which is cool to see. Especially this year when I am bouncing back and forth, it’s nice to know I can come here and still have great competition to play against. The courses are awesome too, they look so good.”
COUNTRIES (AND STATES) OF THE VALLEY FORGE INVITATIONAL
A total of 26 countries are represented this week at the Valley Forge Invitational, led by the United States with 74 players and followed by Canada having the next highest of eight competitors.
“Golf is doing great in Denmark, but it is difficult for the clubs to get juniors to start playing,” said Malene Krolboll Hansen (Hedeland Golfklub, Denmark), the lone Denmark representative who has made the cut in all five starts so far in her rookie campaign. “Other sports are shown so often on television, but golf is not. I only started because my parents were playing, so it was a family thing to do on weekends when I was not practicing handball or swimming. That’s why it is so important for me to be representing Denmark every week. I feel like I can be a part of growing the game for future Danes and be a positive influence on the next generation of golfers.”