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Epson pro reveals the brutal financial cost of chasing your dreams on the developmental tour

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Kenzie Wright, a professional golfer on the Epson Tour, has revealed the startling costs that are borne by those trying to make their way up the ranks.

In a tweet posted yesterday, the 25-year-old revealed that the costs of entry fees and yardage books total over $16,000 for the year.

Whilst the LPGA has seen an enormous increase in prize-funds over the last two seasons, with the 2023 schedule worth $101.4 million, the Epson (ex-Symetra) Tour was worth approximately $210k per event over a 21-tournament season.

Nobody is suggesting that the development tour should be ‘worth’ anything close to the star-laden LPGA, but it’s the tour that brings on the next Brooke Henderson, recent winner of the Tournament of Champions, et al.

With Wright making just six cuts from 15 events in 2022, her $8000 prize money goes nowhere to covering a figure that doesn’t include any equipment, travel or lodgings.

Even at the highest level, the role of players’ sponsors is crucial.

Last April, 2017 Women’s PGA Championship champion Danielle Kang, revealed the financial realities on tour, commneting:

 “How about the average tour players? I made $6,000 last week, made the cut; I didn’t break even last week. That’s me budgeting. I have to drive, rent a car, get a hotel room.

“Luckily enough for me I’m sponsored by BMW that provides for me the car. That saves like $500, $1,000 etc.”

In May 2021, Wright, then a promising graduate from the University of Alabama, took to fundraising her way onto the professional ranks via her gofundme page, on which she states that, “Your donation will go towards entry fees, on the road expenses (i.e. gas, hotels) and other tournament related costs throughout the beginning of my career. With your donation, it will allow me to put all of my time and energy into getting myself prepared for the next level.”

Seven months later, Golf Channel revealed the hardship behind the financial reality of moving into the pro leagues.

In the article, Brentley Romine reveals, “When Alabama alum Kenzie Wright turned pro in early June, she didn’t have the ability to slot into an LPGA or Symetra schedule, so she entered the Texas Women’s State Open in Garland, Texas, and won by four shots, turning her $300 entry fee into $17,500. That funded her six-event schedule on the Women’s All Pro Tour, where she made $9,076.25. She advanced out of Stage I of LPGA Q-School and now has some Symetra status for next year.”

The 25-year-old has since been a victim of the Big Money Classic scam in which organizers left both the men and women players out of pocket after being unable to pay out the prize fund. Those players included Nicolas Echavarria, who was owed $20,000 dollars for finishing third, paid nothing, who left believing that his backer had stolen his entry fee.

Ryan French also revealed the struggle at the lower level of ‘the grind’ writing:

“I received a call from one of the women in the [Big Money Classic] field. As I walked her through how to dispute her charges on her credit card, she broke down in tears. In the worst-case scenario, careers could be shortened because of this. I talked to one player who couldn’t sign up for Canadian Q-school because he hadn’t been paid by the BMC.”

Wright saw it necessary to return to the gofundme site, launching a 2022 appeal, at which she received nearly $4,000. However, if the math is correct, this amount leaves her nowhere near the amount it costs to run a one-woman campaign.

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Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

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While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

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While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

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Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

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According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.

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