Friends of Mission Charity Classic Pre-Tournament News and Notes

Friends of Mission Charity Classic
Country Club of Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina
May 15, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, May 15, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, tees off at the second-annual Friends of Mission Charity Classic on Friday, May 16 at Country Club of Asheville. The 144-player field will be competing for their share of the $100,000 total purse.

First-round play begins on Friday, May 16 at 7:30 a.m. and runs through Sunday, May 18. There will be a cut made after 36-holes following play on Saturday. The top 70 scores plus ties will reach Sunday’s final round.

This is the eighth of 20 total events on the Epson Tour schedule in 2014. The Friends of Mission Charity Classic is also the fourth event in four weeks.

Tickets to the Friends of Mission Charity Classic are $10 per round and $25 for a three-day pass. They can be purchased day of event at the Country Club of Asheville.

1 MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE: All eyes will be on Wei-Ling Hsu this week as she tries to check off the second leg of the Park Sterling Cup.

Hsu won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and is therefore eligible to win $1 million if she wins the Friends of Mission Charity Classic and the Epson Classic next week in Charlotte.

The 19-year-old has two career wins on the Epson Tour. She also won the Credit Union Classic in 2013.

In the event post-victory last year, Hsu finished T21 at the Northeast Delta Dental International.

LOCAL STAR CALLISTA RICE: 15-year-old golf prodigy Callista Rice has received a lot of attention this week in Asheville. The freshman at North Buncombe High School was featured on the front page of the Asheville Citizen Times sports section on Sunday. She also was interviewed by WLOS channel 13 and ESPN Radio 1310.

“I know I’m going to be nervous because this is the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in, but I feel like once I get started, I’ll be OK.” said Rice.

Rice was named the WNC Player of the Year in 2013 and last week won an award at the Mountain Amateur Athletic Club’s Awards Banquet as the top 3-A/4-A female athlete in an Olympic sport.

Rice also took part in the junior golf clinic on Tuesday at Country Club of Asheville.

TIFOSI OPTICS LOW ROUND WINNER: Min Lee shot a 5-under-par 67 in the final round of the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic last week to win the Tifosi Optics Low Round award. She finished in a tie for sixth, her best result of her rookie season on the Epson Tour.

Min received a free pair of Tifosi Optics sunglasses for winning the Tifosi Optics Low Round award.

Tifosi Optics is the official sunglasses provider of the Epson Tour.

ANOTHER WEEK AT NUMBER ONE FOR FENG: Cindy Feng took over the number one spot on the Volvik Race for the Card money list following her win at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic on March 23. She has not relinquished her spot at the top since.

This is her ninth consecutive week at the top of the Volvik Race for the Card money list and fifth consecutive tournament at the top.

Feng has one victory and five top-10 finishes this year. She has accumulated $43,531.

The only scenarios in which Feng can lose the top spot this week is if Marissa Steen wins the event and Feng does not place in the top-5 or if Wei-Ling Hsu wins and Feng finishes outside the top-10.

NUMBER TWO STEEN HAS FIVE TOP-10 RESULTS: Marissa Steen, who ranks second on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, has five top-10 finishes this year.

She finished in a tie for eighth last week at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic.

The 24-year old has made the cut in all 35 career events played in three years on the Epson Tour. Steen has nine career top-10 finishes.

SEVERAL TOP-10 FINISHERS IN FIELD: Guilia Molinaro steam-rolled the field last year in the inaugural Friends of Mission Charity Classic by shooting a final-round 7-under-par 65 to finish the week at 13- under.

Although she has graduated to the LPGA Tour, there are several players that finished in the top-10 last year that are in the field this week.

Angela Buzminski finished tied for third last year at 7-under. She had a consistent week with all three rounds under-par (69-70-70). The 43-year-old has five career wins on the Epson Tour with her last coming at the 2009 Historic Brownsville Open.

Tracy Stanford finished in a tie for fifth last year. She fired a superb 6-under 66 in the first-round. It was her best finish of the 2013 season and second best finish of her career on the Epson Tour.

Stefanie Kenoyer finished T7 at 5-under. It was one of three top-10 finishes in 2013.
Jackie Stoelting, Fiona Puyo, Jean Chua and Stephanie Kono all placed in a tie for tenth last year.

A total of seven players that finished inside the top-10 at last year’s Friends of Mission Charity Classic are in the field this week.

10 PLAYERS MAKING DEBUT: 10 players are making their 2014 Epson Tour debuts this week at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.

Here is the list of players making their maiden voyage in 2014.

FIRST PITCH FOR THE TAR HEELS: Two former UNC golfers Allie White and Casey Grice threw out the ceremonial first pitches on Wednesday night at the Asheville Tourists game against the Lexington Legends.

From head to toe in Tar Heel blue, White and Grice both threw strikes.

They also joined Tourists radio announcer Doug Mauer on the radio broadcast during the third and fourth innings.

Epson Tour players have now thrown at first pitches at two minor league stadiums and one major league stadium.

Next week, Charlotte native Laura Wearn will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Charlotte Knights game.