Every athlete has the same dream of finding immediate success once they enter the professional ranks of their sport. You want to compete against the best players in the world week in and week out and prove you belong.

But, in golf, only 144 athletes have the chance to do that each tournament, and sometimes those field sizes are even smaller, making it extremely hard to break into the top group of elite players.

While there are some who find that success right away, like Rose Zhang and Lydia Ko, for example, many of the best athletes in the women’s game today have taken a longer route to get to where they are now. Sometimes, it takes repetition and practice of being a professional before the breakthrough finally happens, with names like Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu both spending time on the Epson Tour before finding success on the LPGA Tour.

Mariel Galdiano, who will be a 2025 LPGA Tour rookie, falls into the latter category. The three-time All-American at UCLA turned professional in 2020, spending two seasons on the ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour (WAPT) and two years on the Epson Tour before finally earning LPGA Tour Membership this year.

Galdiano isn't just a flash in the pan, either. She competed in the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at just 13 years old, making her the youngest competitor in the field at The Broadmoor that season. She then qualified for the major championship again four years later and made the cut at Lancaster Country Club in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open.

One could go on and on about Galdiano’s other amateur successes and her sheer talent level, but the reason she will be competing on the biggest stage in women’s golf in 2025 is her determination to get better and her patience with her process.

“It’s a long time coming, but it was so worth it,” said Galdiano. “I feel like everything happened for a reason for me to get to this point.”

During her two seasons on the Epson Tour, the Hawaii native showed consistent improvement, finishing 25th in the Race for the Card in her first full season in 2023 and following that up with a 20th-place performance in 2024. Each of Galdiano’s top-35 finishes in the season-long Race earned her a spot in the field at the Final Qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series both years, and she took full advantage this time around this past December.

Galdiano fired off six straight under-par rounds to post at 11-under in Lower Alabama and finish in a tie for 13th, earning her membership for the 2025 season, a great relief for the 26-year-old after a stressful week at Final Qualifying.

“I could finally breathe. I felt like, on the back nine, things were pretty intense just because it was the final stretch. I could finally relax,” explained Galdiano. “I think everyone in my group qualified, so we were all really happy at the end, just congratulating each other because it was tough.”

Galdiano will now join her friend and fellow Hawaiian Allisen Corpuz on the biggest stage in women’s golf in 2025. The duo have been each other’s cheerleaders throughout their respective careers, with Corpuz specifically sending encouragement as Galdiano fought for her LPGA Tour card.

“I think the more friends you have out, the more fun it gets, and she’s an awesome person both on and off the course,” said Corpuz of Galdiano. “She’s really competitive, so I’m really looking forward to having her out. She is just one of those players who is always improving. She’ll maybe have a bad event, or whatever, and just learns from everything that happens to her.

“I think she’s a really smart player, a really consistent player, and found her footing on the Epson Tour this year and got through Q-School. I’m really looking forward to seeing how she starts out on Tour, and I know she’ll be great.”

Until it’s time to tee it up as an LPGA Tour rookie in February, Galdiano is spending her off-season at home in Hawaii and has a new role as a coach and mentor for the LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Hawaii Chapter. As much as she is enjoying teaching the next generation of superstars, the girls that she gets to interact with are also reminding Galdiano of why she started and how lucky she is to be living her dream.

“It definitely reminds me of when I was learning, and I think that’s super important to think back to when things get tough,” said Galdiano. “When you’re out on Tour and questioning, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t know anymore,’ you think about doing this for the seven or eight-year-old version of me who was looking up to Michelle Wie at the time.

“If you boil it down to it, the kids are there to enjoy golf. They’re not thinking about scores or anything, for the most part. It’s really nice to see it in other people so you can reflect it in your own life.”

With a well-rounded resume and the right outlook on her game, Galdiano will be a name to watch this upcoming season as she works to pen her own chapter in the LPGA Tour history books.

Epson Tour Alum Mariel Galdiano Making LPGA Debut in 2025

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