Symetra Tour golfers to make one-day stop at Capital Hills

It wasn't what Jim Miller had in mind when he committed to a 36th year of inviting the Symetra Tour to the Capital Region, but he managed to salvage something out of this coronavirus-mangled summer.

Miller, local tournament director for the CDPHP Open, has transformed the 54-hole golf event that was canceled in May because of COVID-19 into a single-day pro-am, to be played at 11 a.m. Friday at Capital Hills.

There are 34 five-player teams, each headed by a Symetra Tour pro or one of four sponsor's exemptions. The pros are playing for a $20,000 purse.

All incoming players were subject to COVID testing, administered by the Symetra Tour, before arriving in New York.

The invited golfers are University at Albany golf coach Colleen Cashman, two of her players — Megan Henry and Madison Walker — and 13-year-old Kennedy Swedick, the reigning Section II high school champion.

Many of the Symetra participants played in a similar pro-am Thursday in Rochester, whose tour stop also was wiped out.

Using a shotgun start, the five-player pro-am teams will be able to use their pro's drive and play in a scramble format the rest of the hole. The pro will play her own ball for the entire hole.

A playoff will be held if there is a tie for the top individual pro.

"Even though it's a competitive event for the players — a quarter of what the regular field would look like — we're not going to have any spectators," Miller said.

Among the Symetra players entered are Fatima Fernandez Cano, a 24-year-old Spaniard who won Sunday's tour event in Beaumont, Calif., and Alison Walshe, who has five top-10 finishes in a 11-year LPGA career.

Other players who may be familiar to Capital Region fans of the tour include Daniella Iacobelli, who was runner-up in the 2017 Symetra event at Capital Hills,...