The Epson Tour, the official qualifying Tour for the LPGA, finishes a three-week West Coast Swing with the inaugural POC Med Golf Classic at Windsor Golf Club from Friday, April 7 through Sunday, April 9. The 54-hole tournament features 144 of the top rising stars in the game of women’s golf from the United States and 28 countries around the globe.
The field is competing for a tournament purse of $100,000 and a winner’s payout of $15,000 to move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. At the conclusion of the season (October 8), the top 10 on the final money list will earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2018 season.
Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all three days of the tournament and a split tee format will be used. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second round play on Saturday.
The Epson Tour has found a home in Northern California for the first time since 2001 when Beth Bauer won the California FUTURES Classic in Patterson at Diablo Grande. The current West Coast Swing started in Beaumont, California with the IOA Championship two weeks ago and then last week transitioned to Mesa, Arizona for the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club.
TOP AUSTRALIAN ROOKIE GREEN FINDS GAME
Rookie Hannah Green (Perth, Australia), who grew up just 20 minutes from rising LPGA star Minjee Lee, is starting to get comfortable on the Epson Tour. She flew in from Australia the Monday of the IOA Championship two weeks ago and still felt a bit jetlagged by tournament time. She still finished T25 in her debut. Last week, with her feet under her, she placed in a tie for fifth.
“In Arizona, I slept well, had good host housing and had a caddy, which definitely helps a lot,” said Green, who was headed to practice on Wednesday in Windsor. “I was a lot more settled last week compared to the first week.”
Green expects to play a full season on the Epson Tour. She packed for six months and joked that both her bags maxed out at 50 pounds.
“The more tournaments I play, the more comfortable I’m going to get,” said Green. “This week, the course is a bit tighter than last week which suits my game.”
Green said her accuracy off the tee and her approach shots are the strongest parts of her game.
“Everyone has a good short game, but it is always something you can work on,” said Green. “I guess that would be my weakness, but if I keep the ball in the fairway I think I have an advantage here.”
The course she is a member of in Australia, Mount Lawley Golf Club, is very similar to Windsor Golf Club in the tree-line nature of both.
Each of the last two years, Green has spent six weeks in the United States. She was the recipient of the Karrie Webb Scholarship and was a guest of the legendary Aussie at the U.S. Women’s Open. During the six-week period, she got to watch the U.S. Open, play in the U.S. Amateur, participate in a national team camp in Houston and compete in the Canadian Amateur.
Green was introduced to the game of golf by her father.
“He never had a lesson in his life, but he was playing to a 10 handicap by the time I started so he knew what he was doing,” explained Green. “I got lessons at the club he was a member at and then I became a member.”
As Green’s skills developed she started at a specialized school called Como in Perth where she got to play golf in addition to receiving an education.
“When I was 15, I decided that I wanted to make golf my living,” said Green, who graduated from Como when she was 16. “I came over for the Callaway World Juniors and some scouts and colleges talked to my mom, but I wasn’t sure travelling to the other side of the world was what I wanted to do.”
Instead, Green has spent the last three years playing national tournaments mostly in Asia. She estimates playing in over a dozen countries already in her young career.
“I was able to make the national team and I was sent around Asia and Europe and was able to gain a lot of experience that way,” said Green. “I’m new to the professional ranks, but I know what it is like to be on the road. Unfortunately, Australia is to far away and to small to make a living.”
Green realized she wanted to compete with the likes of Minjee Lee and Su Oh on the LPGA at an amateur tournament in Lake Karrinyup.
“I remember the last round when Su shot 9-under, Minjee shot 8-under and I shot 3-under and I was like ‘go me, but was six shots below them’,” Green recounted. “It was just so impressive to watch. It motivates me to become just as good as they are and seeing them at the Olympics was really awesome and I love Japan.”
Green said her long-term goal is to represent Australia in the 2020 Olympics.
OF NOTE
• Yu Liu, who ranks fifth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, has two top 15 finishes to start the season. She was the 2013-14 ACC Rookie of the Year at Duke.
• Alameda natives Emily Childs and Grace Na are playing in the same group on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, they tee at 8:14 a.m. from the first tee. The third player in the group is Ching Huang (Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei).
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