As athletes around the world head to the Final Qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series, we caught up with Epson Tour veteran and 2024 winner Savannah Vilaubi to check in before the big tournament. The California native finished 29th in the 2024 Race for the Card, earning automatic entry into Final Qualifying, getting another chance at earning her LPGA Tour card for the 2025 season. Vilaubi is leaning on past experience and a positive attitude to finish the season strong.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about how the off-season has been treating you so far?

A: Yeah, so far, it's been amazing. I mean, I say so far, but I feel like it hasn't slowed down since the season ended. Obviously, we (Black Desert Resort) got a chance to host the Black Desert Championship with the PGA TOUR here, and that was a ton of fun. As soon as we wrapped up in Palm Springs, we hit the ground running, and it was all hands on deck for that tournament. Everyone seemed really happy with the way everything turned out, so that was a blast.

And then I was able to take a few days off, not touch a club for a little bit, and then just get back into practicing. This off-season has looked like meeting with my trainer, getting to Black Desert to practice, and going over some off-season goals with my swing coach. It's not really an off-season, it still feels very much like preparing for the biggest event of the season. But you know, even after Q-Series, we'll be continuing to work on those things that we've set out.

Overall, it's just felt really productive in the gym and on the golf course. It's funny, I say my husband and I because we had a little courthouse wedding at the beginning of the year, Patrick Manning actually married us back in March, so there was like my parents and his parents, and now we are planning our actual wedding for January. There's been a lot going on, but it's been so, so fun.

Q: That's so exciting. Can you talk a little bit about the balance between wanting to stay fresh on the course, having, as you said, the biggest event of the season, trying to get the LPGA Tour card, but also balancing wedding planning on top of that and living life? Trying to find that work-life balance.

A: Yes, it certainly takes some planning and a little bit of strategy. What I have always done is just kind of like fall into the next thing and just keep it going. You can't afford to get tired, so you don't want to think about what you have to do too much. But what I have found is that if we want to keep a really good kind of life-work balance, it does take some planning.

Hunter and I have a wonderful wedding planner, shoutout Lauren, and I mean, we've been able to delegate a ton to her, and she's like the best in the business for event planning, so it's been a team effort. I'm setting up my practice and my gym routine around wedding planning, and it's very simple… you can't fall asleep because then you get behind, and when you have to cram like 2 or 3 days of work into a day or day and a half, that's when it gets a little bit stressful. Hunter, he's been incredibly supportive during Q-Series prep and helping with all the wedding planning, too, so it's felt collaborative, and he is definitely, he and a few other people have helped keep me on schedule.

Q: You talk a little bit about just falling into the next thing… going back a little bit to Epson Tour Championship, obviously not the finish you wanted to close out this season, but kind of falling into that next opportunity by being able to work the PGA TOUR event at Black Desert. How did that kind of help, maybe cope's not the right word, but kind of fall into that next project and forget about the disappointment and really start on a fresh foot for Final Qualifying?

A: To be honest, I think cope is a very good word. It's easy to dwell on disappointing results. And I'm a huge believer, you know, any time I run into like a hiccup, or something doesn't go according to my plan, I’m like, 'It's okay, Sav. God has accounted for this. It's totally fine.'

For Palm Springs, you go right into the next event, and it keeps your spirit up. I really, really like being in front of the camera. I like the idea of hosting events and stuff, so when I was given that opportunity with the Black Desert Championship, it was like, my gosh, this still kind of feeds the soul. Even though a tournament finish that I didn't like was discouraging, you go right into the next thing, and we got to celebrate something so fun, such as Black Desert hosting their first PGA TOUR event and just being part of that inaugural tournament. So yeah, it surely helped me cope with the poor finish. Then you're able to, I guess, have a sober mind when you're making off-season plans. It was great; I was very fortunate, actually.

Q: Talking a little bit about Black Desert Resort… you got to move out there and are now getting to experience Utah life. You've always been a West Coast girl but getting to experience that Utah life. How does it help with the confidence, knowing that you're training daily on a course that's hosted a PGA TOUR event, will host an LPGA Tour event and has hosted various professional events, and that's just your everyday life?

A: Yeah, I mean, we're very lucky for that. I'm lucky to have the privilege of practicing and playing at Black Desert. Obviously, it's a very sought-after golf course, so, I mean, getting on there requires a little bit of strategy, too, even on my end. But it's special. You get to practice on a course that maintains, I won't say exactly tournament conditions, obviously, because they cater to resort goers and they want them to come back, but it's just shy of tournament conditions year round, so I get to practice there, and I think a lot of golfers tend to putt better on faster greens. I think when you have the perfect playing climate, it just makes everything a lot more simple and you really don't have any excuses.

The views out here aren't bad at all, so even though you can be hitting a ton of wedges for hours or doing your putting drills or whatever, you look up, and you're just surrounded by beauty here. We have the red rocks, of course, and the black lava and just the contrast, it's so easy to spend a lot of time here. So that's been a lot of fun. And we do have a pretty good temperature swing, so I will say in the morning, those practices are a little bit chilly, but I remember last year at Q-Series, being so uncomfortable with the forecast. If it says it's going to be 48 in the morning, I'm like 38, this is nice, this is so great, especially when the sun's out. Those are kind of the intangibles, you know, of moving to a different place outside of California that doesn't really have seasons. All in all, it's just been really, really good.

Q: You're mastering the art of layering before we have to go out Alabama and possibly layer like we did last year.

A: Yes, absolutely.

Q: And the LPGA just dropped their schedule, going to Black Desert in 2025. You're fighting for that LPGA Tour card out at Final Qualifying. What would it mean to you to get to play another professional event there and this time it be home?

A: I mean, to be able to call Black Desert home and then play their inaugural LPGA event there would be a dream. I am so lucky to have the support of all the people here, and they're like, 'Sav, we're already rooting you on. We want you to win this thing. We want you to do so well.' So it's exciting. It's definitely given me a different source of inspiration going into Q-Series. It's like, 'Hey, look, this is where I want to play.' Obviously, you want to have an entire schedule of LPGA events, but this one in particular, it's definitely been an inspiration in just the Q-Series prep so far. It would mean the world if my family gets to come out here and experience such a beautiful place that we live now, and they get to see me in an LPGA event. The goal since 2022, losing the card, has been to get back out there. And if I can put this Black Desert tournament on the schedule, it would just be amazing.

Q: I know we've talked about unfinished business a couple of times this past year with your husband caddying for you at the U.S. Women's Open, getting that LPGA Tour card back... getting your start on the LPGA at Final Qualifying, or what was Q-Series, do you kind of feel like there's unfinished business going into this 2024 tournament?

A: Yes, and I think that unfinished business is what keeps me personally hungry. If I'm honest, I was just talking to a friend of mine yesterday about this, just the dynamic of winning and what happens after that. Looking at my track record, it seems like so much goes into tournament prep and then when you get that tournament win, it's like, okay, you kind of exhale and stuff. But notoriously, I think I've just maybe let my guard down in the comfort. I achieved what I set out to do, I won this tournament, and I want to say that it's really easy to just keep grinding day in and day out and win the next one and win the next one, but I mean, it is hard to maintain that fire. So I think I was honestly maybe supposed to miss the cut in Palm Springs for the last event. I needed that sense of unfinished business, I think, to really, really get focused about what I needed to do moving forward. It's easy to get comfy in the off-season, you got Thanksgiving, you let the diet slip a little bit, you have the holidays and all that, and, you know, you get around to practicing, but it's like, 'Girl, we've got a big tournament coming up that you need to stay ready for.' So yeah, the unfinished business, I think, is a blessing.

Q: Absolutely. And we've also talked about this last year, but the Seiko Epson Corporation covering the entry fee for Q-Series for 11-35 on the points list. This is the second year that you now get to reap that benefit. What kind of pressure does that take off the prep and just the travel and everything of getting to Final Qualifying? How much does it help?

A: Yeah, it surely helps. I mean, it's significant. There are a lot of companies, corporations who say they're huge proponents of women's golf and huge supporters. But in the end, when someone puts their money where their mouth is, it really does make a big deal. It's like, 'I know you like us, but I can tell you mean it.' It takes a lot of pressure off because we have other expenses, of course, just with travel and rental car, just all the accommodations, so when we have this entry fee covered, it's I mean, that's significant. It's half the cost of the entire trip, so we're saving 50% just with the Epson sponsorship.

And I think really for any girls who maybe were on the fence about even going to the final stage of qualifying in the first place, it's like the last thing you want to do is feel like you're so ready to go to that next level, you played really well during the season, you qualified for the final stage, and now you have to make a decision like financially, I don't know if this is good for me. So it's nice that you don't have to ration your opportunities, you know, when you have such a big sponsorship like that. We're just very, very fortunate.

Q: And then kind of shifting gears, a more fun question. We're almost at that holiday season. Like you said, the diet slips, everything goes out the window and then you crack down and make some New Year's resolutions. Is there anything about your game that you know for sure you're taking into 2025? And in the same sense, is there anything you know you're leaving in 2024?

A: That is a wonderful question. But as you say that, I have always struggled with, and I'm sure other golfers have gone through this, but staking the self-worth on every single golf shot. I like to think that I have done better season after season, particularly this year, maybe the last two years, of letting that go. And I think that that can stay in 2024.

Moving to Utah and having the opportunities that we have with Black Desert, and finding our doggo that has now officially made Hunter and I a family of three, there are so many other things to be grateful for. Having the sponsorship at Reliance Matrix and having the support from Black Desert and Fore All apparel, you know, and feeling good on the golf course... Everything in life has just been so good that staking your value on every golf shot, it just makes things bitter. So, I would like to leave all of that in 2024 and just finally be done with that. So that's going to be the '25 clean slate resolution.

Q: I love that. And then really just going into that 2025 season, we've had many discussions about just perspective and kind of where you're at. If you get your LPGA Tour card or even if you don't, what's the biggest thing that you think you've learned from the Epson Tour that you would take into next season?

A: The biggest thing, it was more so at the end of it, and I really wish that I would have done more of this earlier in the Epson Tour season, but I think the biggest thing that it's taught me is, one, everybody is good, everybody practices. You hear it a lot, but you win a tournament kind of between the ears. I've worked on this off-season and in the gym, on the course, on just using really, really affirmative language in doing anything. Even if it's trying to get out a last rep, or I learned how to power clean just like a month ago from my trainer, and I felt like the most unathletic person in the world. I was doing these cleans, and with my trainer, I had his confidence, and that was enough for both of us when we were in the gym. But then when I had to go by myself to the gym, I'm like, 'I don't want to do this. I'm better off not; I'm going to look silly.' And I did look silly and then just got like lazy about it. I'm like, 'I'll just leave it.' And I was like, 'Girl, use affirmative language. You know, better. It works on the golf course. You should have used it more this season.' And so I start saying things like, 'This is normal for me.' It's normal for me to have, you know, ten birdie opportunities in a round, or if you're on a birdie streak and you make 5 or 6 in a row, it's like, 'ooh what if I don't make the seventh?' But no, it is normal for me to make seven birdies in a row, just like it is normal for me to perfect the power clean. I move the bar with control. I am athletic, I am confident about this. And so it's kind of silly, but the Epson Tour has really taught me that one.

Everybody's good, so you best have some mental strategies that are going to give you that edge because golf tournaments are won by a shot, and sometimes there are playoffs, so it doesn't feel like a shot. So it really matters the way you speak to yourself. That is absolutely what I've learned this year.

I won a tournament, so I've proved that I am good enough, but I do think the self-worth was getting a little tied up in the golf shots, and at the end, I kind of got burned out by that. Whether it's the Epson or LPGA Tour next year, I will absolutely be using that affirmative language.

And something else that I learned, just even talking last night to that same golf friend of mine, in my rookie season on the LPGA, I felt like I was there out of luck. I felt like I had gotten lucky, maybe in Q-Series, and there were other girls who deserved to be there more than I did. I wanted to shrink myself and wasn't confident to take up space when I got inside the ropes or in player dining or whatever it is, I'm like, 'You know what? I'm just going to make room for the next girl. For the next girl.' But this next season, I have to know that I deserve to be there, and I belong there, and I want to be in the winner's circle, so that's going to be part of the mentality, too. Even on Epson, I maybe fell into that mindset a little bit, where it's like so many other people are better than me. And maybe I just got lucky and won that tournament at Otter Creek. Maybe I got lucky and qualified for the U.S. Open or whatever, you know? I think the theme of next year is just going to be that thoughts and words matter.

Q: I love that so much. Anything you want to add about your off-season and Final Qualifying?

A: That was that was pretty much it. I'm going to have my dad out there watching me for Final Qualifying. I'm super, super happy about that.

Q: What does it mean to you to have your dad out there? Is he going to caddy for you or is he just going to be out there to kind of be moral support?

A: Moral support. He's going to be out there just watching his girl play golf, and it'll kind of be like the old days. My parents would take me to all the junior tournaments growing up, and my dad came and watched me play in college as a sophomore at UC Riverside. We took our spring break in Atlanta and my dad had flown out for that tournament, so he got there with like jeans and a jacket, whatever. Some cold front came through, and it was like 30 degrees, 40 high and blowing 35 miles an hour. It was raining sideways, and he's still there. He had his poker face, and his jeans and his hoodie and just watched his girl play golf. 36 holes, mind you, because that's what we did in college. So for 12 hours, this man was in 30 miles an hour, 35 degrees, just soaking wet, but just couldn't be happier.

So, I mean, that's one of the things, too, that is maybe going to take the pressure off. At Q-School, obviously, you want to play well, but look around you. Look at the support, look at the people who love you. I think having my dad there is definitely going to be the reminder of that.

Q: Awesome. That is commitment and we will be sure to bring him an extra coat because if we get the weather we did last year, he is going to be freezing.

A: Right. Exactly. But dads don't get cold... Dads never get cold. They just wear shorts and a hoodie, and they're good, right?

Catching Up with Savannah Vilaubi: A Q&A

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