U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion and Georgia PGA Championship winner receive exemptions
MILTON, Ga., April 27, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, announced at a press conference on Wednesday at Atlanta National Golf Club that locals Margaret Shirley and Karen Paolozzi have received sponsor exemptions to compete in the inaugural Gosling’s Dark ‘n Stormy® Classic. First-round play begins on Thursday, May 19 with the final-round scheduled for Saturday, May 21 at Atlanta National Golf Club.
Shirley and Paolozzi will join a field of 144 professionals from the United States and around the globe competing for a $100,000 tournament purse. The winner will earn $15,000.
Shirley, a Roswell native, won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. She was awarded the 2015 Georgia State Golf Association’s Tommy Barnes Award, given annually to its player of the year. Shirley competed at Auburn from 2004-2008 and was a three-time All-SEC selection. She helped Lassiter High School capture the AAAAA state title as a freshman in 2001 and tied (with former Georgia All-American and current Epson Tour player Garrett Phillips) for medalist honors at the 2004 AAAAA State Championships as a senior. Shirley was an assistant golf coach at Georgia and Auburn. She is currently the Executive Director of the Atlanta Junior Golf Association.
Paolozzi, an Atlanta resident and Assistant Golf Professional at Druid Hills Golf Club, won the 2015 Georgia PGA Professional Championship. She also finished in a tie for second in the 2015 LPGA T&CP
Division National Championship and is scheduled to compete in the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA
Championship in June. Paolozzi played college golf at Indiana from 2000-2004 and was a First-Team All-American in 2003. She won six times in college including the 2003 Big Ten Championship. Paolozzi played two seasons on the FUTURES Tour (now Epson Tour) from 2005-2006.
The Gosling’s Dark ‘n Stormy Classic is one of 23 events on the 2016 Epson Tour schedule. The top 10 players on the final Epson Tour money list graduate to the LPGA Tour.
This is the first professional women’s golf tournament associated with the LPGA in Atlanta since 2006.
For more information including opportunities to play in the pro-am and volunteer during the tournament, visit http://www.goslingsclassic.com.
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