Colombia’s Valery Plata fired her fifth consecutive round in the 60s on Friday at week two of LPGA Q-Series, carding a 3-under, 69 at Highland Oaks to move into a tie for second with 36 holes left to play. The 21-year-old began the day with seven consecutive pars, finally carding her first birdie of the round on the par-4, 8th and following it up with another on No. 9. Plata took another ride on the par train from holes 10 through 15 and again went back-to-back with birdies on the par-4, 16th and par-3, 17th, closing with a bogey on the notoriously tricky 18th hole. While it wasn’t as low as yesterday’s 5-under, 67, Plata was still incredibly pleased with her sixth-round effort and now has a coveted LPGA Tour card well-within her reach.
“I had to stay patient a little bit for the birdies to come, and I just kept staying patient and committing to my shots. At the end of the day the result is pretty good,” said Plata, who now sits in a tie for second at -19 with Aline Krauter and Hae Ran Ryu. “It's a really long event, really long tournament, so I just try my best to hit my shot and forget about it. Just keep moving on, knowing that there is still a lot of holes to be played. I try my best to stay present.”
Unlike most of this week’s field, Plata is dealing with a unique set of circumstances while she battles for LPGA Tour Membership. Plata chose to leave Michigan State University and turn professional so she could tee it up in Q-Series, but she hasn’t yet finished up her degree in Supply Chain Management and has been prepping for final exams and taking Zoom calls throughout the last two weeks in Lower Alabama. For some, that would be entirely too much stress to take on with a future career on the line; however, Plata is taking it all in stride and doesn’t feel like she’s too much behind the eight ball in her classes.
“I thought it would be a little more challenging. I thought I would be mixing both things,” Plata explained. “When I was at home, I would be thinking about the golf course and here about school, but it hasn't been that way at all. I think I've done a good job separating both things and getting my time right. Sometimes I just need a break from both so I don't do much. It’s good.”
Though she’s just starting out as a professional golfer, Plata has already had a few opportunities to compete with the world’s best on the LPGA Tour. She’s teed it up twice in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, finishing in a tie for 70th in 2021 and missing the cut in 2022, and played in both the AIG Women’s Open and the Amundi Evian Championship earlier this year. Those experiences made the Colombian even hungrier to achieve her dream of competing full-time on Tour, and with two rounds to go in Dothan, Ala. and with plenty of support from her now alma mater, she’s primed to end the week as a newly minted LPGA Tour Member.
“Playing Grand Rapids was special. This year was my second time over there, and I played a couple majors, too. It gave me a feel of what it would be like to have this as my job in the future, and it made me want it a little more; made me realize that I could do it, too, so it's great,” said Plata. “I talk to my coach almost every day. She sends me texts here and there. My teammates are very aware of what's going on. They've been following and they text me every once in a while, and they call me.
“I feel like they're my family. I've been with some of them for four years, my coach for five. It's just like a family to me. I might not be going back, but I'm still going to be talking with them a lot. (My support system) is really important to me. My coach has been doing her job for a long time. She's had some players get to the Epson (Tour) or the LPGA (Tour), and she knows how things work. So I can lean on her and a couple other people that I've got that know the ropes here. I'm excited about that.”
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