Coverage Starts at Home

Fans will care about what the LPGA cares about—and right now, Q-School clearly isn’t one of those things.

On Wednesday I went to the LPGA website and the most recent article was nearly a week old—an announcement about Nelly Korda getting engaged. Before that? Tour Championship content. Not a single story about the final stage of Q-School (or Q-Series, as the LPGA calls it). If you didn’t click over to the Leaderboard tab, you’d have no idea one of the most important events of the season was even happening.

Nothing on Twitter. One post on Instagram—and it was just six photos of the course. The tournament starts in less than 24 hours.

When Craig Kessler, the new head of the LPGA, took over last month, one of his first big declarations was a push for “deeper storytelling.” And while this Q-Series blackout isn’t on him—he’s been on the job for all of five minutes—it does show the hill he has to climb if he wants to make that promise a reality. 

And this isn’t just on the Tour. It requires buy-in from the players and the media/podcasters too. (I even wrote a piece a few years ago about being part of the problem myself.)

Last week I reached out to the LPGA hoping to do a podcast with two players who had played their way into the Tour Championship. The Tour graciously contacted both on my behalf. One never responded, and the other agreed to come on after her pro-am round.

Ten minutes before we were scheduled to record, the LPGA informed me she wouldn’t be available. No reason, no explanation. I was told they’d try to line players up for the following week, but I haven’t heard anything since.

Moments like this make it clear: growing interest isn’t just a slogan, it’s a group effort—and right now, that effort is inconsistent at best.

And there is no better place to tell stories than Q-School.

On Thursday, Kim Kaufman will tee it up just a year after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The 34-year-old went through chemo and radiation, and now she’s back at Q-School trying to regain her place on the LPGA. How is that not a story worth telling?

Seventeen-year-old Gianna Clemente is in the field as well. She recently turned pro after a ridiculous junior career that included Monday-qualifying for three straight LPGA events at age 14 and piling up junior wins. On a tour desperate for young American stars, the LPGA should be all over her week.

The 2019 British Open champion Hinako Shibuno is here too, after missing the cut in five of her last six events. That stretch dropped her to 104th in points—just outside the top-100 line that keeps your card.

There’s Dorsey Addicks, who lived out of her Airstream while chasing her LPGA dream. Erica Shepard, who won on the Epson Tour last season and is trying to become the first left-handed winner on the LPGA since 1974. And Sarah Rhee, who told me last week she was so broke a month ago she didn’t know if she could even afford to travel to final stage—she made it thanks to people at her club stepping in to help.

And that’s just scratching the surface. Q-School is packed with stories like these every single year. Careers will change this week. For some, it will be the highlight of their golf lives. For others, it might be the moment they realize their dream of making the LPGA won’t come true.

The LPGA is a great product that deserves real coverage. That coverage requires buy-in from players and media—but it has to start with the Tour itself.

Craig Kessler has said all the right things so far, and I know Q-School probably sits somewhere near the bottom of a long list of priorities. But this week shows the cultural shift he’ll have to lead. If you want fans to care, you have to show them why it matters. And Q-School is exactly where that starts.

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