Kristen Gillman looked at the leaderboard at the Epson Tour Championship’s 16th green and knew she had to do something. She immediately hit an aggressive 6-iron to 8 feet on the par-3 17, and made the birdie. She hit a 4-hybrid 196 yards from the 18th par 5 and made the eagle.
The birdie and eagle finish earned 26-year-old Gillman his 10th LPGA card after he shot 64 on the final day at the LPGA International Jones Course, Daytona Beach in Florida.
“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” said Gillman who returned to the course on Monday for a pro am. “I have been looking from the outside all season.”
Gillman, a two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion (2014 and 2018), entered the final Epson Tour event ranked No. 13 on the money list. The money list had Gillman at number 13. The Top 10 gain full LPGA Status in 2024.
Becca Huffer finished 11th and earned $95,701 for the season. Gillman, with her $12,177, is $1,700 better off than Becca Huffer.
Gillman is one of only two players to have made it into the top 10 at Daytona. Auston Kim jumped from 15th on the money list to third by winning the Epson Tour Championship after two consecutive rounds of 65.
Kristen Gillman with the Robert Cox Trophy, after winning the U.S. women’s amateur. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)
Gillman was once one of the top amateurs in America. In the inaugural LPGA Q-Series in 2018, Gillman finished T-13 and earned her first LPGA card. Gillman, in her rookie year on the LPGA qualified for the CME Group Tour Championship season-ending event and finished 43rd with $492.466.
Gillman’s high did not last. She is currently ranked 455th on the Rolex Rankings and will be playing a full schedule in 2023 to try to get back into the LPGA. Gillman said that confidence was what she’d been lacking in the past few years. She thought she was doing well, but could not score.
Gillman, of tour life, said that a lot of what you do is up to you. You can make it appear a lot more difficult than it is. It’s easier to stay in your head the more you are out there.
Gillman, who won the Epson Tour Championship in August, said that she had only missed three greens out of 72 holes. She also stated that her ball striking is now back to where it was in 2007, when she was one of the top amateurs in the World and a promising LPGA rookie.
Gillman, who has been playing golf for 18 years, returned to the swing coach Justin Poynter about 18 months ago. She had Trevor Bailey, a mini-tourer, with her in Daytona but she used a pushcart most of the year, working hard on her own.
After a runner up finish at the French Lick Resort Charity Classic in August, the Texan’s confidence began to shift. She would finish the season with 6 top-15 finishes in a row. In her last three races, she placed in the top 4.
Gillman said she was mentally better than ever before as she prepared to return to the LPGA.
You learn a great deal from playing professional golf. “I’m eager to go out and use what I have learned.”
