Golf legend Annika Sorenstam of Sweden has donated $50,000 in grants through her foundation to help players on the Symetra Tour get by financially while the circuit is shut down during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Annika Foundation Crisis Relief Fund plans to give 100 players grants in the amount of $500 each.
“You think of all the players–a lot of alumni–they are just starting out their dreams, and it’s been cut off,” Sorenstam, who won 93 times in her career and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, told Golfweek. “We wanted to figure out a way that we can help. This is one way that we thought can help them.
“Many of them need some support, and also for them to know that we’re thinking of them. We had a little extra money. We said we can we do that, and tell them we’re thinking about them, and continue to inspire them and make sure they’re ready when we do open up again.”
There are 146 players on the Symetra Tour who have competed in Sorenstam’s junior and college events.
The Symetra Tour held its first event in March before the season was halted due to the pandemic and is not scheduled to restart until July 8-10 with the Prasco Charity Championship at TPC River’s Bend in Cincinnati.
Among the 10 tournaments left on the Symetra schedule, after several have been canceled, is one in California—the IOA Championship Presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa at Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet in Beaumont.
The Symetra Tour Championship is scheduled for Nov. 3-6 at River Run Country Club in Davidson, N.C.
The total number of LPGA Tour cards available to Symetra Tour players this season has been reduced from 10 to five, and the 2020 LPGA Tour Q-School has been canceled.
