New England Charity Classic presented by PTC
Stonebridge Country Club
Goffstown, New Hampshire
August 7, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes
GOFFSTOWN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, August 7, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, tees off at the New England Charity Classic presented by PTC on Friday, August 8. The first tee time is set for 7:30 a.m.
The 144 professionals will be competing for their share of the $100,000 total purse. The winner will receive $15,000.
On Friday and Saturday, 48 groups of three professionals each will tee, 24 will start on the first tee and 24 will start on the tenth tee.
Stonebridge Country Club is a par-72 and the course will play 6,373 yards during the tournament.
The total yardage is more than each of the last three events. The Island Resort Championship played 6,303 yards, the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills played 6,080 and the Credit Union Classic covered 6,049 yards.
The Epson Tour season is winding down. There are just five events remaining and $550,000 still available. The card ceremony following the final round of the Epson Tour Championship presented by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will take place on September 21 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
NOTABLE PAIRINGS: Here is a look at some of the notable pairings for Friday’s first-round of the New England Charity Classic presented by PTC.
8:15 a.m., tenth tee – Volvik Race for the Card leader Min Seo Kwak, who has won twice this year, will be paired with Jennie Lee, who ranks 18th on the money list and Caroline Powers who is 31st on the money list.
8:20 a.m., first tee – Volvik Race for the Card No. 8 Lee Lopez will be paired with Lindy Duncan, who finished second last week at the Credit Union Classic and 18-year-old Pinrath Loomboonruang (Bangkok, Thailand).
8:25 a.m., tenth tee – Sadena Parks, who won the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills, will be paired with Demi Runas, who ranks 20th on the money list and Marta Silva, who ranks 22nd on the money list.
8:35 a.m., tenth tee – Schrewsbury, Massachusetts native Brittany Altomare will be paired with Nicole Vandermade, who won the Four Winds Invitational and Lili Alvarez, who finished in a tie for sixth at the Credit Union Classic.
12:35 p.m., first tee – Tiger Woods’ niece Cheyenne Woods will tee it up with Stephanie Connelly from Pasadena, Maryland and Jessi White from Bellingham, Washington.
12:45 p.m., first tee – Hampstead, New Hampshire native Lauren Thibodeau, 14, will be paired with Jamila Jaxaliyeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan) and Allie White (Lancaster, Ohio).
12:55 p.m., first tee – Shelburne, Vermont native Molly Aronsson, who won the Island Resort Championship, will tee off with Garrett Phillips, who finished in a tie for third last week and Kendall Wright from Duluth, Georgia.
1:15 p.m., first tee – Volvik Race for the Card No. 5 Kendall Dye will tee with Veronica Felibert, who won the Credit Union Classic, and Sara Maude-Juneau, who ranks 15th on the money list.
1:40 p.m., tenth tee – Rockhall, Massachusetts native Megan Khang, 16, will be paired with Krista Puisite (Riga, Latvia) and Ashley Knoll (The Woodlands, Texas).
VERONICA FELIBERT DECIDES TO PLAY: Veronica Felibert, who won last week in Syracuse, was in the Meijer LPGA Classic presented by Kraft in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Following the trophy ceremony in Syracuse, she flew to Grand Rapids on Sunday to prepare to play the LGPA Tour event.
On Monday afternoon, she decided to fly back to the east coast to continue playing on the Epson Tour after her move from 42nd to 11th on the money list.
The Tour holds a spot in the field for the winner of the previous event. Felibert, 29, shot a 6-under 65 in the final-round of the Credit Union Classic to win by three strokes. It was her first win on the Epson Tour.
IMPORTANCE OF A WIN: Margarita Ramos, who ranks 39th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, may seem miles from the top-10. However, if she wins this week and earns a $15,000 bump to her current earnings of $15,103, she could potentially move to tenth on the money list.
The top six on the money have all won this year and 12 of the top 27 on the money list have won.
DID YOU KNOW?: Kendall Dye has played in all 15 events this year and has made the cut in every one. She currently ranks fifth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Last year, she made 11 of 13 cuts.
Lee Lopez, who ranks eighth on the money list, has made 14 of 15 cuts. Laura Gonzalez-Escallon has also made 14 of 15 cuts.
CALLE NIELSON IN STRIKING DISTANCE: Calle Nielson moved from 40th to 28th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list after her tie for third last week in Syracuse.
Nielson, who played college golf at Virginia, is in her third year on the Epson Tour. Her best year-end finish on Tour is 44th in 2012.
Nielson finished in a tie for 23rd two weeks ago at the SEFCU Championship in Albany.
She has been very consistent this year with 13 of 15 cuts made. She has finished inside the top-30 eight times.
Nielson will aim for her first professional win this week, which would push her into the top-10 on the money list.
HYE-MIN KIM IS PLAYING WELL: Hye-Min Kim (Seoul, South Korea) has finished inside the top-15 during both tournaments on the northeast swing. She finished in a tie for sixth at the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills and a tie for 13th last week at the Credit Union Classic.
She now ranks 29th on the money list.
Kim is in her second year on the Epson Tour. In 2013, she finished 74th on the money list. She has already nearly tripled her earnings this year.
LAURA GONZALEZ ESCALLON IS PLAYER TO WATCH: La Hulpe, Belgium native Laura Gonzalez Escallon finished in a tie for sixth last week with back-to-back 4-under 67 rounds on Saturday and Sunday. Gonzalez Escallon finished in a tie for 14th the week prior at the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills.
She ranks 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list $24,706.
JUNIOR CLINIC: Children from The First Tee of New Hampshire visited Stonebridge Country Club on Tuesday for a clinic hosted by Epson Tour professionals Amy Meier, Christine Meier, Chessey Thomas and Fiona Puyo.
The junior golfers had a chance to hit golf balls on the range and watch as the professional’s demonstrated different types of shots.
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