LPGA’s Symetra Tour to make stop in Kansas City starting this summer

Marissa Steen admits she lives like a gypsy. The professional golfer travels from city to city, living out of a suitcase and becoming too familiar with 10-hour road trips.

Steen will soon add Kansas City to her list of destinations, with Staley Farms Golf Club set to become the newest host for the LPGA’s Symetra Tour. Steen and other women on the Symetra Tour work their way through a 23-tournament schedule, attempting to earn their 2017 LPGA Tour card.

“We’re all, at the end of the day, trying to make it onto the best tour in the world,” Steen said. “Just like minor-league baseball, or the D-league for the NBA, not that many people go straight to the big leagues.”

According to tournament director Patrick Riha, the process to bring the Symetra Tour to Kansas City has been ongoing for a year. With former PGA champ Tom Watson calling Kansas City home, the area has a history with professional golf. And the PGA’s Web.com Tour will be back in Overland Park in August.

But the Kansas City Championship will be the first women’s professional golf event in the area.

“We thought it was a good time for a women’s event,” Riha said. “When we looked at the numbers of the professional golf tours, you find that the one getting the most growth is the Symetra Tour, because it opens up professional golf to a lot of young women who have not had the opportunity for the exposure.”

The Symetra Tour can serve as the jumping-off point for many careers. Former LPGA champs Stacy Lewis, Lorena Ochoa and Inbee Park all competed on the Symetra Tour.

As many will in Kansas City, Symetra Tour players often stay with local host families throughout each tournament to save on expenses. According to Riha, 60 to 70 Kansas City families will host players for this year’s tournament, scheduled for July 29-31.

While Symetra Tour players are in town, they’ll hold a clinic for kids involved with The First Tee of Greater Kansas City, a program for local youth golfers. The First Tee program will also receive a portion of the tournament’s proceeds.

Riha hopes Kansas City might one day become a tournament site for the LPGA Tour.

“If we can show the community supports the Symetra Tour, and that’s key, we have the potential,” he said. “Right now, there’s no openings on the LPGA Tour. But a year or two down the road, maybe (there will be).”

For now, Kansas City will serve as the site for 144 women to chase down a $100,000 purse, as well as a chance to play on the LPGA Tour. For those on the Symetra Tour, seeing it expand to new cities means more chances for their careers to take off.

“Seeing the tour grow, and actually being able to make ends meet and make a living doing something you enjoy, is nice,” Steen said. “Before, it was really hard to break even. Now, with all this growth, girls aren’t being derailed from achieving their dream just because of money.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "LPGA’s Symetra Tour to make stop in Kansas City starting this summer."