Back to School: Stage I of LPGA Q-School Starts Today

My 2nd day of the fall semester starts later this morning--and in the afternoon I leave for Cleveland to pick up The Full Metal Archivist, onechan, and imoto from the airport after 2 months in Japan--but I had to mention quickly that Stage I of LPGA Q-School begins today, as well.  Some of the biggest names in the field at Mission Hills include Song-Hee Kim, Naree Song, Annie Park, Alison Lee, Doris Chen, Emily Tubert, Ani Gulugian, Taylore Karle, Kimberly Kim, Louise Stahle, Celine Herbin, Kirby Dreher, and Brooke Henderson's sister Brittany, but consider the following taste of the geographical (and nomenclatural) diversity in this 286-player field:

• Laetitia Beck (Israel)
• Yushira Budhram (South Africa)
• Alejandra Cangrejo (Colombia)
• Anaelle Carnet (France)
• Piyathida Chaiyapan (Thailand)
• Liv Cheng (New Zealand)
• Francesca Cuturi (South Africa)
• Tara Dayer-Smith (England)
• Joana De Sa Pereir (Portugal)
• Erica Dechowitz (PA)
• Amelia Ek (CA)
• Lacey Fears (GA)
• Christabel Goh (Singapore)
• Noon Huachai (Thailand)
• Paula Hurtado (Colombia)
• Kitty Hwang (Ecuador)
• Kyla Inaba (Canada)
• Noriko Inoue (Japan)
• Laura Jansone (Latvia)
• Chirapat Jao-Javanil (Thailand)
• Katy Jarochowicz (Australia)
• Jamila Jaxaliyeva (Kazakhstan)
• Keiko Kubo (Japan)
• Luciane Lee (Brazil)
• Emelie Lindskog (Sweden)
• Scooby Liu (Taiwan)
• Uloma Mbuko (Nigeria)
• Rhea Nair (United Arab Emirates)
• Ana Perez (Colombia)
• Mia Piccio (Philippines)
• Ket Preamchuen (Thailand)
• Sophia Popov (Germany)
• Daniela Recla (Brazil)
• Kyle Roig (Puerto Rico)
• Georgette Rolle (Bahamas)
• Amy Ruengmateekhun (TX)
• Katerina Ruzickova (Czech Republic)
• Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (Thailand)
• Moyu Sasaki (Japan)
• Vera Shimanskaya (Russia)
• Agnes Sudjasmin (Indonesia)
• Candra Sumedhatip (NV)
• Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Canada)
• Prima Thammaraks (Thailand)
• Foam Wongwaikijphaisal (Thailand)
• Britney Yada (HI)
• Eva Yoe (Hong Kong)
• Pavarisa Yoktuan (Thailand)

And that's leaving out players from South Korea, China, Mexico, and Spain whose names probably sound a bit less unfamiliar to LPGA fans by now....  Me, I'll be rooting the hardest for Jillian Fraccola from Syracuse, NY!

Who will join the already-105-player field for late September's Stage II?  They'll have to do something special to share the spotlight with the likes of Minjee Lee, Stephanie Meadow, Mamiko Higa, and Cheyenne Woods!  Good luck to all!