After cancer scare, veteran returns to final stage of LPGA Qualifying
Beth Ann Nichols- Kim Kaufman is competing at the Final Stage of LPGA Q-School one year after a breast cancer diagnosis.
- Kaufman underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation before returning to competitive golf.
- During her recovery, Kaufman helped organize free breast cancer screenings for fellow players at a tournament.
To prepare for their respective Q-Schools this week, Kim Kaufman and Paul Barjon staged their own four-round tournament at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, even playing 24 holes in one day on account of a rain delay.
“I guess I missed the cut,” Kaufman said with a laugh, “didn't play the fifth round.”
The goal, in part, was to get used to walking that many consecutive rounds. Kaufman got shin splints from the preview exercise, so figured it was worthwhile. Certainly a shift from the usual two-hour zip around the late great Ben Hogan’s club.
On Thursday, Kaufman was scheduled to begin what she believes is her fifth appearance at the Final Stage of LPGA Q-School. Heavy rains postponed the opening round of the 90-hole event to Friday.
While the weather delay might feel familiar, none of Kaufman's previous appearances have been like this one. The 34-year-old missed last year’s Final Qualifying due to a breast cancer diagnosis. At this time last year, she’d just had a lumpectomy and was anxiously awaiting results.
Time is a funny thing. In some ways, Kaufman noted earlier this week, the last year went by quickly.
"It's weird to think where I was a year ago," said Kaufman. "So many times maybe I get a little frustrated, a little doubt, you know, whatever it is, I'm like, 'Hey, Kim, last year at this time, you were doing X, Y, Z. So try to just try to keep things in perspective.'"
A year ago, players were wearing pink ribbons for Kaufman at final stage, something she’s done for others so many times. It was strange to be on the other side of it.
“It felt a little bit like I was watching a movie or kind of watching from above, you know what I mean?” asked Kaufman, adding, “At the time, golf, though, itself was so far from my mind. It wasn't like I sat at home and was like, you know, having a pity party about not being here.”
She had bigger concerns.
Fellow Shady Oaks member Cheyenne Knight, who is currently on maternity leave, has described her good friend as super gritty and focused in all aspects of life.
“There’s always a purpose to everything,” said Knight late last year, perhaps foreshadowing the way Kaufman would use the diagnosis to help her peers.
In July, at the Hartford HealthCare Women's Championship, Kaufman helped to organize free breast cancer screenings for the entire field.
"Obviously, I do have a different purpose, maybe a little bit bigger purpose," Kaufman said that week.
It’s cold and rainy this week in Mobile, Alabama, but other than that, Kaufman feels great. Without playing the tour, she’s had more time to work out and prepare with husband Johan Wolkesson, a teaching professional who will be on her bag this week.
Kaufman started chemo treatments in January, and after those wrapped up in April, did seven weeks of radiation, which ended in early June.
In October, she was one of 50 players out of a field of 194 to advance through the second stage of Q-Series (now known as Qualifying Stage) at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida.
This week she's one of 116 players teeing it up at RTJ’s Magnolia Grove, where there will be cut to 65 and ties after 72 holes. Players who finish in the top 25 earn LPGA cards for the 2026 season. The rest will leave with Epson Tour status.
Last year’s final stage medalist, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, won the AIG Women’s British Open and Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year.
A total of 20 players in the field this week started in the first stage (Pre-Qualifying) and made it to Mobile, including 17-year-old Gianna Clemente, who received a special waiver from LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler to compete for her card.
Former FSU standout Mirabel Ting of Malaysia shared medalist honors at second stage with Kokona Sakurai, a five-time winner on the Japan LPGA. Ting’s Qualifying Stage journey began on the three-year anniversary of her father’s death.
Eight amateurs turned professional for this week, including Brooke Biermann, Jordan Fischer, Lauren Gomez, Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, Carolina Melgrati, Lauren Olivares, Suvichaya Vinijchaitham and Clemente.
Four LPGA winners are back at final stage including two major champions, Hinako Shibuno and Jeongeun Lee6, along with Ryann O’Toole and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
Nine of the top 10 from the LET’s Race to Costa del Sol are in Mobile, including Order of Merit winner Shannon Tan, who looks to become the first player from Singapore to earn an LPGA card.
For Kaufman, getting upset about mistakes this week means a return to normalcy. The idea that she’ll never be mad again after making a bogey sounds nice – and her big-picture perspective has changed – but in the heat of it, as she’s working toward a big goal, misfires are still annoying.
“I have some bigger things to remind myself, and definitely, in life, you have a different perspective,” said Kaufman, “but on the golf course, you're still out there playing a really tough game for a living, and the emotions still come as they used to.”
The inspiring Kaufman is grateful to feel all of it.