On Friday Emma Kaisa Dalgaard Bunch will tee it up on the Epson Tour in her first tournament as a professional. Assuming she makes the cut, receiving a check would be a welcome change since the All-American graduated from New Mexico State.
Bunch has played two events on the Women's All Pro Tour since leaving college and has led every single round, winning twice in a row. Those victories earned her spots into the Epson Tour, the first of which comes this week in South Bend, Indiana.
Under normal circumstances, those wins also would have earned her $10,000 each, money that could have paid for flights, hotels, entry fees, and a good chunk of the costs that come with chasing professional golf.
Instead, Bunch didn't receive a dime.
Visa issues, Bunch is a native of Denmark, forced her to remain an amateur for several months after graduating, meaning she could accept the trophies, and the vital exemptions, but not the prize money.
After an outstanding career at New Mexico State University, where she graduated with a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry while earning All-American honors, Bunch could have gone in a lot of different directions.
She may one day use that degree to research cancer or Alzheimer's. But for now, there is only one goal: the LPGA Tour.
Bunch was in the United States on a student visa, and couldn’t apply for a new visa until near the end of her college playing career. That career officially ended in late May at the NCAA Championship, where she earned an individual spot in the field after finishing sixth at her Regional site.
She applied for her new visa on the first day she could. She was told the process would take three or four weeks, which worked out almost perfectly. The first WAPT event she planned to play as a professional was a month away.
Instead, the process took nearly eight weeks.
So in late June, still waiting for her new visa, Bunch had a choice: sit out and wait, or play the WAPT event as an amateur. She chose to play.
She opened with a 67, never trailed, and won the three-day event by one.
The victory came with plenty of benefits. It earned Bunch an exemption into an Epson Tour event, a valuable opportunity for a conditional member after earning that status at Q-School last fall as an amateur. It also gave her valuable WAPT points, with a top-five finish in the season-long standings earning a pass through the first stage of LPGA Q-School.
What it didn't give her was the $10,000 first-place check.
In the days following her first win, Bunch hoped her new visa would finally be approved. The next WAPT event was only a few days away.It wasn't.
Her choices were the same: sit out and wait, or play as an amateur. Once again, she chose to play. Once again, she opened with a great round, never trailed, and won by two shots. Once again she earned another vital exemption to an Epson event, and important WAPT points.
Once again, she left $10,000 on the table.
Bunch described the last few weeks as "mixed feelings." She was excited about the Epson Tour opportunities and grateful to now sit second in the WAPT points standings. But it's hard not to think about the $20,000 she wasn't allowed to accept.
Fortunately, she had already caught a break.
Earlier this year, Bunch was one of just a few players selected for the Annika Foundation's Development Program. The program, started by Hall of Famer Annika Sörenstam, helps support young women as they chase the LPGA Tour.
After an extensive application process, each player receives a $10,000 grant to use toward their professional career, along with free housing and practice and playing privileges at Old Barnwell, the Top-100 course in Aiken, South Carolina. Annika also helps give advice when needed. An awesome program much needed in the women’s game.
Finally, last week, her visa arrived.
On Friday, Bunch will tee it up for the first time as a professional. For the first time since leaving college, if she plays well, she'll get paid for it.
