Reed On The Greens June 3, 2020
by Jeffrey Reed, Editor, LondonOntarioGolf.com
With a successful sophomore season as a golf professional on her resume, London’s Maddie Szeryk was prepared to win on the 2020 Symetra Tour in hopes of securing her LPGA Tour card for 2021.
While that goal is still on her radar, any momentum from her 2019 campaign came to a screeching halt when the tour shut down during the coronavirus pandemic with only one 2020 event in the books – the early-March Florida Natural Classic.
Things change daily, but the Symetra Tour will not resume at least until the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan July 24-26. The Prasco Charity Championship in Maineville, Ohio July 8-10, and Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic in Rochester, New York July 16-19 have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
London’s Maddie Szeryk. Photo: Symetra Tour.
Szeryk, 23, a dual citizen living in Allen, Texas, north of Dallas is a second-year member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad after four years on the national amateur squad. She cut her teeth as a professional in January 2019 with a win in her first pro event – a two-stroke victory at the Cactus Tour’s Wildfire Golf Club tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona. In her next Cactus Tour event at the Las Colinas Dallas Cup Series, she finished second.
That win would be Szeryk’s only victory last year. But she finished her rookie Symetra Tour season in 19th spot on the money list with $57,983 over 20 events. At Q-Series in search of an LPGA Tour card for 2020, Szeryk fell short, tying for 71st. Only the top 10 players on the Volvik Race for the Card money list at the end of the year earn full LPGA Tour membership.
This season, Szeryk has full status on the Symetra Tour, and a fresh start as a much-learned – and well-travelled – professional golfer. Last season, the Texas A&M University Aggies graduate drove her Honda Civic 16,000 miles across 15 states in her pursuit of an LPGA Tour card.
This past winter, she played at two nearby Texas clubs – The Courses at Watters Creek, and at her alma mater’s track where her name is now golf royalty.
Szeryk graduated from Texas A&M in 2018 as one of the Aggies’ most decorated golfers in history. She set numerous school records during her four-year collegiate career, which included four NCAA titles.
L-R: Maddie and Ellie Szeryk. Photo: Szeryk Family.
“My experience with the Aggies will definitely help me. I learned how to win,” said Szeryk.
Last season over 20 tournaments, Szeryk finished 21st in putts per greens in regulation (1.8), and 16th with rounds in the 60s (19). She also finished in the Top 30 in birdies, rounds under par and scoring average (29th at 71.84).
After a disappointing start to the 2020 Symetra Tour season, with a T43 finish in Florida, Szeryk returned home to Texas to be with her family, parents Neil and Karen, and sister, Ellie, 18, the 2018 Ontario Women’s Amateur champion and future Aggies golfer.
“(Ellie and I) have had a few matches,” Maddie said. “We try to get out early, part of the first few groups. We’ve played in three- to three-and-a-half hours, walking and talking, having a good time. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with her over the past few years. So it’s nice to catch up and spend some good family time.”
Szeryk said most of the Watters Creek closure stemmed from flooded grounds this spring, rather than the pandemic lockdown. Like all golf courses, her local tracks are open with restrictions, for example raised cups, no bunker rakes and physical distancing in place.
Her home gym is open now, too, but with new procedures stemming from the pandemic. And the Szeryks have a home gym where she can keep fit for the resumption of the Symetra Tour season.
But it’s the mental challenges that have been the biggest battle for the former Aggies standout. Szeryk said mental training provided by Golf Canada, and tournament toughness earned during NCAA tournaments and her rookie year on the Symetra Tour have all helped her during this year in limbo.
London’s Maddie Szeryk. Photo: Symetra Tour.
“It was definitely a big challenge at the beginning, with the cancellation of our events. It’s the unknown: Are we going to play? How will this season unfold? Not knowing what will happen is the biggest challenge,” she explained.
“But you must remain positive. There’s no point dwelling on the negative, because you can’t change it. I look at it as a second off-season to work on my game, and to spend more time with my family. Because if you don’t keep positive, then you’ll be drawn into a very dark tunnel.”
Szeryk said she was very much looking forward to “riding the momentum and building off of last year. But now I’m starting over – financially, too. I did really well saving my money last year, but now we’re not playing. So that’s a challenge.”
Whenever the Symetra Tour relaunches it current campaign, Szeryk said she’ll be ready to gig ‘em, right out of the gate.
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Award-winning golf writer Jeffrey Reed has covered the game of golf for print and broadcast media since 1980. Reach him at jeff@londonontariogolf.com.
