Milledgeville’s Ashlan Ramsey earned her LPGA Tour card for the 2016 season, tying for eighth in the finals of qualifying, which ended Dec. 6th at LPGA International in Daytona Beach.
Ramsey will join Brunswick’s Katie Burnett on the 2016 LPGA Tour, with Valdosta’s Dori Carter having limited status for next season after finishing 106th on the 2015 money list. Newnan’s Jean Reynolds tied for 43th in the qualifying finals and will have status for 2016, but made only one LPGA start in 2015 after having similar status this past season.
A final round 5-under 67 earned Ramsey a spot on the LPGA Tour after she began the day outside the top 20. Ramsey was tied for eighth after 54 holes, opening the 90-hole event with scores of 70-71-69. A fourth round 75 dropped her two shots outside the top 20, the cutoff for full status on the 2016 LPGA Tour. Thanks to the 67, she finished four shots under the score needed to qualify with a tournament total of 8-under 352.
Ramsey played her first full year as a pro in 2015 after one season on the Clemson women’s team and competing in the 2014 Curtis Cup. She played a partial schedule on the Symetra Tour this year and placed 74th on the money list, making her first start midway through the season.
Prior to turning pro in 2014, Ramsey was one of the country’s top junior and amateur players, and made her first appearance in a pro tournament at the former Nabisco Dinah Shore as an amateur in 2013, making the cut.
Ramsey’s first professional victory came in the 2015 Georgia Women’s Open. She posted scores of 65 and 67 for a 12-under 132 total at Brookfield Country Club in Roswell, the former host course of an LPGA tournament in the 1970s and ‘80s, winning the event by seven shots.
Burnett, who played in college at South Carolina, is exempt for 2016 after fnished this past season 85th on the money list. Burnett earned almost $110,000 and posted a pair of top-20 finishes. She made 13 of 21 cuts, but had problems finishing off tournaments, struggling in the final round every time she was in position for a strong showing.
After qualifying for the LPGA Tour in her first attempt in 2012, Burnett placed 99th and 87th in earnings in her first two seasons, with the best finish in her three years on tour a tie for eighth in Hawaii in 2014.
Reynolds, a Symetra Tour veteran, tied for 43rd in the qualifying finals at 362, with the top 45 and ties earning limited status on the 2016 LPGA Tour. Reynolds only appearance on the tour in 2015 came in a late season event in Alabama, where she missed the cut.
Since her rookie season in 2008, Reynolds has played primarily on the Futures and Symetra Tours, winning twice on the Futures Tour in 2009. She was an LPGA Tour member in 2010 and ’11, but has competed on the Symetra Tour since, placing 34th, 27th and 31st on the money list the past three seasons. Her best finish this year was a tie for second in April in Sarasota, Fla.
Carter finished outside the top 45, tying for 50th at 363, but has limited status for 2016 thanks to her finish on the 2015 list. After opening the qualifying finals with a 68 to tie for fifth, Carter was still in contention for a top-20 finish after 54 holes, but closed with back-to-back 75s.
The former Ole Miss golfer has played on the LPGA Tour since 2011, enjoying her best success in 2014, when she ended the season 70th in earnings. She slipped to 106th this past season, missing 12 of 20 cuts, with a tie for 22nd in Michigan her best finish. Carter won the Georgia Women’s Open in 2011 after winning a Symetra event as a rookie in 2010.
Both Jonesboro’s Lacey Agnew and St. Simons’ Garrett Phillips competed in the qualifying finals, with both players narrowly missing the 72-hole cut. Agnew missed by one at 4-over 292 after a fourth round 76, with Phillips coming up two shots short with a 293 total.
Agnew, who played her college golf at Florida State, had her best season on the Symetra Tour this year, placing 33rd on the money list after finishing 70th and 58th the previous two seasons. Like Reynolds, her best finish was a tie for second in Asheville, N.C. She lost in a playoff to Carter in the 2011 Georgia Women’s Open.
Phillips, who played two years at Augusta State before transferring to Georgia for her two final seasons in college, was a rookie on the LPGA Tour in 2015, but struggled after making the cut in her first start of the year. She missed the cut in her next 12 starts and will be back on the Symetra Tour in 2016. She was 39th in earnings on that tour in 2014.