Support Symetra by backing women in golf
Two years ago I scoured the internet familiarizing myself with the Symetra Tour golf professionals coming to play in Albany.
One player stood out. Patty Tavatanakit was the 2016 American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year. She tied for fifth at the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open, earning low amateur honors.
In 2019 she left UCLA to turn pro. When she came to Albany that year she was riding back-toback victories — including one in Rochester — and had earned her LPGA card.
I made it a point to follow her as she played at Capital Hills. We talked at the end of her round. She was gracious and excited to compete at the pro level. The native of Thailand knew she had what it took to compete at the highest level.
This year, she won the Women’s PGA Championship, one of five majors on the LPGA Tour.
The Twin Bridges Championship is being held Friday through Sunday at Pinehaven after a 17-year run at Capital Hills at Albany. Fans of golf and women in sports should make it a point to see the future of women’s golf. Daily tickets are just $10 per person, and children under 16 are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased only on the day of the tournament and at the front gate.
There’s no better opportunity to watch the future of women’s golf than supporting Albany Academy’s Kennedy Swedick, who lives in Altamont.
Swedick, 14, is coming off a tremendous run in the U.S. Girls’ Junior championship at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md.
Playing with Rose Zhang, the eventual tournament winner and No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, Swedick carded a 1-underpar 69 Tuesday on the second day of stroke play to earn a No. 26 seed. She won her opening match Wednesday over 18-yearold Lacey Uchida of Hilo, Hawaii, 2-up. She lost Thursday in the second round of match play to Katie Li of Basking Ridge, N.J. She is playing the Symetra on a sponsor’s exemption.
But Albany would do well to be more like Rochester when it comes to the Symetra Tour. The Danielle Downey Classic in Rochester reflects a celebration of women in sports, including a women’s forum and networking event — “one of the cornerstone events of tournament week.” Rochester’s Future of Women’s Golf Pro-am pairs local female high school golfers with Symetra Tour professionals, affording the players a unique experience to socialize, learn and celebrate golf with a mentor.
For the 37th time in 38 years, the Symetra Tour has included an Albany area stop on its schedule, and tournament director Jim Miller has done an amazing job with Albany’s Symetra event. The country music concert — dubbed the “Concert on the Course” — is a welcome addition. This year, Michael Ray plays Saturday at 7:30 p.m with special guest Tenille Arts.
But where is the participation of the Albany chapter of the LPGA Amateur Golf Association, formerly the Executive Women’s Golf Association? Why aren’t any local women’s golf associations involved? Where are events celebrating women in sports or growing the game with youth?
The Albany event is currently the longest-running stop on what was known as the Futures Tour. We can do better.
The tour was founded by Eloise Trainor of New Lebanon in Columbia County.
Trainor was honored in a 40th-anniversary celebration of the tour at Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven in early March 2020, just prior to COVID -19 shutting down sports. A video of that ceremony can be watched on Youtube, and a book compiled by Trainor about the history of the tour is now available.
“There may not even be a Symetra Tour if it wasn’t for Eloise,” Mike Nichols, the tour’s chief business officer, told Golfweek. “Fifteen to 20 years ago, I’m not sure the LPGA Tour had the resources or the initiative to say we need to go do this. These players could potentially be in the same place today that they were 40 years ago, when Eloise realized the need to have this tour.”
Doesn’t the Eloise Trainor Twin Bridges Championship have a nice ring to it?
Yes it does. And women golfers need to push for this plus support, rally around, get involved and start contributing to this wonderful championship.