2 Colorado natives — Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey and Katherine Hollern — among those who advance from LPGA Pre-Qualifying; former CCU standout Xavier Bighaus breezes through PGA Tour Pre-Qual event
By Gary Baines – 9/26/2025
It was a very close call in several cases, but a half-dozen golfers with significant Colorado connections advanced from Pre-Qualifying to the next stage in LPGA Tour Q-school on Friday.
And one golfer who played his college golf in Colorado successfully negotiated Pre-Qualifying in PGA Tour Q-school.
— LPGA Pre-Qualifying: With three LPGA Pre-Qualifying tournaments being held this week, among those advancing were two players who grew up in Colorado — Katherine Hollern (Sedalia) and Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey (Loveland) — along with former University of Colorado golfers Brittany Fan, Natalie Vivaldi and Morgan Miller, plus former Colorado Christian University player Faith Kilgore.
Out of those, Dickey, Miller and Kilgore made it on the number as the top 30 performers and ties at each site move on to the next stage, set for Oct. 15-18 in Venice, Fla. The final qualifier of “Q-Series” is set for Dec. 4-8.
Hollern placed 12th out of 113 golfers in Daytona Beach, Fla. Fan finished 17th and Dickey 27th in Indian Wells, Calif. And Vivaldi was 13th and Miller and Kilgore 30th in Argyle, Texas.
How all the players with significant Colorado connections fared in LPGA Tour Pre-Qualifying:
Indian Wells, Calif., Sept. 24-26 (Top 30 and Ties Advance to Next Stage)
Advance
17. Former CU golfer Brittany Fan 72-65-75—212
27. Former Loveland resident Lauren (Lehigh) Dickey 77-66-72–215
Failed to Advance
36. Former CU golfer Natalie Vo 70-74-72–216
Daytona Beach, Fla., Sept. 24-26 (Top 30 and Ties Advance to Next Stage)
Advances
12. Katherine Hollern of Sedalia 69-67-71—207
Failed to Advance
MC. Leigha Devine, Windsor 80-70–150
Argyle, Texas, Sept. 24-26 (Top 30 and Ties Advance to Next Stage)
Advance
13. Former CU golfer Natalie Vivaldi 69-71-74–214
30. Former CU golfer Morgan Miller 73-72-72—217
30. Former Colorado Christian University golfer Faith Kilgore 70-74-73–217
For all the scores from LPGA Tour Pre-Qualifying, CLICK HERE.
— PGA Tour Pre-Qualifying: Three tournaments were held in the second and final week of PGA Tour Pre-Qualifying. A week after former CU teammates Justin Biwer and Dylan McDermott and Castle Rock resident Collin Engelhardt advance to the “First Stage”, former Colorado Christian University golfer Xavier Bighaus joined them on Friday.
Bighaus, part of CCU teams that won the 2024 NCAA Division II national title and finished runner-up this year, finished sixth out of 74 players on Friday in the Pre-Qualifier in Gunter, Texas. Bighaus went 69-73-68 for a 6-under-par total.
Bighaus, Biwer, McDermott and Englehardt advance to First Stage tournaments, 14 of which are scheduled next month, starting on Oct. 7, 14 and 21. Five Second Stage events are set for Dec. 2-5. And the Final Stage of Q-school is scheduled for Dec. 11-14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Here are the results for players with strong Colorado ties in PGA Tour Q-school Pre-Qualifying this week:
Gunter, Texas, Sept. 24-26 (Top 39 and Ties Advance to First Stage)
Advances
6. Former Colorado Christian University golfer Xavier Bighaus 69-73-68–210
La Quinta, Calif., Sept. 24-26 (Top 39 and Ties Advance to First Stage)
Failed to Advance
50. Gabe Goodman, Lakewood 75-74-72—221
For all the results from PGA Tour Q-school, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com