Top Storylines from the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic presented by Toyota

Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic presented by Toyota
Mayetta, Kansas
Firekeeper Golf Course
September 1, 2014
Storylines


MAYETTA, Kan., September 1, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, begins the Kansas swing with the inaugural Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic presented by Toyota from September 5-7 at Firekeeper Golf Course. The Epson Tour is back in the Sunflower State for the first time since 2010 when the future stars of the LPGA played in the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship.

The Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic is the 18th event of the season. It begins a three-week stretch that will conclude with the final event of the year, the Epson Tour Championship presented by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University from September 18-21 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The field this week will feature 144 aspiring LPGA Tour professionals competing for their share of the $100,000 total purse. The winner will take home $15,000 and potentially move inside the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

The top-10 on the year-end Volvik Race for the Card money list will earn their full-time LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.

With three events remaining and a total of $350,000 in prize money still available, the race to get inside top-10 is extremely tight. Although the top players have nearly assured themselves an LPGA card for next year, number ten on the money list Veronica Felibert ($32,009) is just $282 ahead of No. 11 Lindy Duncan ($31,727). Duncan is a mere $13 clear of No. 12 Demi Runas ($31,714). Even further down, No. 18 Madison Pressel ($27,597) is only $4,412 shy of the top-10.

For even more perspective, a win this week for No. 33 on the money Katie Kempter ($17,660) could move her to tenth on the money list.

Next week, the Tour heads to Garden City for the inaugural Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.


STRONG FIELD THIS WEEK: Nine of the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list are scheduled to compete at Firekeeper Golf Course. The only one not in the field is No. 1 Marissa Steen ($75,348), who recently earned a promotion to the LPGA Tour for the remainder of the year by virtue of her third win at the Eagle Classic. She is expected to miss both Kansas events, but play in the Epson Tour Championship.

Min Seo Kwak, who ranks second on the money list with $67,963, will take over the top spot on the money list with a win or a solo second place finish. A first place check of $15,000 or a second place check of $9,392 would push Kwak back into the number one spot. Kwak held the top spot for six consecutive events until Steen won the Eagle Classic in Richmond.

Of the top 20 on the money list, 19 are in the field this week.

1. Marissa Steen – Not in the field after earning a promotion to the LPGA with third win
2. Min Seo Kwak – Won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial and the Firekeeper Casino Hotel Championship
3. Sadena Parks – Has won two of the last four events to jump into top-10
4. Cindy Feng – Has played the last four LPGA Tour events; won the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.
5. Wei-Ling Hsu – Won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic
6. Jackie Stoelting – Six top-ten finishes; won Golf Chanel’s Big Break Florida
7. Kendall Dye – Won the IOA Golf Classic; won the Colorado Women’s Open last week
8. Lee Lopez – The rookie has four top-10 finishes
9. Mallory Blackwelder – Won the Epson Classic in Charlotte
10. Veronica Felibert – Won the Credit Union Classic in Syracuse; top-10 in three of last four events

FIELD BY THE NUMBERS: Here is a look at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic field by the numbers.

5 – Number of players that will compete in their first Epson Tour event of the year. Fiamma Felitch (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) was a finalist on Big Break Florida this year.

13 – Number of LPGA Tour members that will be playing this week in Mayetta. Brianna Do finished in a tie for 48th this past week at the Portland Classic on the LPGA Tour.

28 – Number of nations represented this week in Mayetta. There are 12 players from Canada and six from South Korea. A total of 54 international players are in the field while 90 players are from the United States.

34 – Number of states represented in the field. There is one player from Kansas (Courtney Mahon). California (14) and Florida (13) account for 27 players this week.


TWO BIG BREAK MYRTLE BEACH CAST MEMBERS IN FIELD: Last week, Golf Channel announced the 12 cast members for the new Big Break Myrtle Beach series, which premieres on October 7.

Krista Puisite and Kathryn Detlefsen are two of the six women on the show and both are in the field this week in Mayetta.

Puisite, 23, has played in ten Epson Tour events in her first season on Tour. She has made five cuts with her best finish a tie for fifth at the Epson Classic in Charlotte. The Riga, Latvia native played on the Latvian National Team.

Detlefsen, 25, is making her season debut this week. The Eagan, Minnesota native played her college golf at the University of Central Florida. She was a four-time Minnesota State High School individual champion at Minnehaha Academy (2004-2007). She also won the Minnesota Women’s Golf Association State girls championship in 2003 and 2005.

Detlefsen was awarded the LPGA’s Dinah Shore Trophy Award in 2010. The Dinah Shore Trophy is given annually to a collegiate golfer that demonstrates excellence on the course, in the classroom and in the community.

14 BIG BREAK INVITATIONAL PLAYERS IN FIELD: Golf Channel has organized the first Big Break Invitational Tournament at Reynolds Plantation from September 30 through October 3. All four rounds of the tournament will be aired on Golf Channel.

There are 15 total Epson Tour members in the Big Break Invitational Tournament and 14 of them are in the field this week. The 14 are Anya Alvarez, Blair O’Neal, Carling Nolan, Elena Robles, Emily Talley, Jackie Stoelting, Maiya Tanaka, Mallory Blackwelder, Mary Narzisi, Sadena Parks, Sara Brown, Selanee Henderson, Stefanie Kenoyer and Taylor Collins.

Parks (3rd), Stoelting (6th) and Blackwelder (9th) are all inside the current Volvik race for the Card money list top-10.

The 40 past Big Breakers will be competing for a $300,000 total purse with the winner earning $100,000.


KENDALL DYE WINS COLORADO WOMEN’S OPEN: Last week, Kendall Dye (Edmond, Oklahoma), who ranks seventh on the Volvik Race for the Card money list had a productive off week. She fired a final-round 6-under 66 to win the 20th annual HealthONE Colorado Women’s Open, one of the top state open’s in the country. Dye’s final round vaulted her to the top at 3-under 213 for the three-day event. She edged fellow Epson Tour player Olivia Jordan-Higgins by two shots.

Her fourth professional victory earned her an $11,000 paycheck.

Dye made four birdies on the back nine to win.

“The Colorado Women’s Open is one of my favorite events to play in,” said Dye, who captured her first Epson Tour win earlier this year at the IOA Golf Classic. “Winning my fourth professional event is a great accomplishment and I hope that it will set the tone for my final three Epson Tour events.”


TOPEKAN MAHON PROVIDES LOCAL FLAVOR: Courtney Mahon will play in her first Epson Tour event of the season on a sponsor exemption. The Topeka native played on the Epson Tour from 2008-2012. She is now a full-time golf instructor based in Phoenix, Ariz.

She played in 55 career Epson Tour events with her best finish coming in 2008 when she tied for 12th at the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship in Leawood.

As an amateur, Mahon won the 2005 Kansas Women’s Amateur Championship. She also is a two-time KWGA State Champion.

She moved to Topeka in the fifth grade and later attended Washburn Rural High School.

Mahon played college golf at Arkansas. Following graduation she became the head women’s golf coach at the University of Missouri – Kansas City for two years.


EPSON TOUR GROWTH: A lot has changed on Tour since the last time the Tour came to Kansas. In 2012, Epson, an insurance company based in Seattle, partnered as the title sponsor. Also in 2012, Mike Nichols took over as the Chief Business Officer of the Tour.

From 2013 to 2014, the Tour’s schedule has grown from 15 to 20 events, the most in the last 13 years. This year, players are competing for a total purse of $2.25 million, the largest in Tour history.

The state of Kansas is the 12th different state that the Tour has visited in 2014.


POTAWATOMI CUP UPDATE: The fourth and final Potawatomi Cup event is the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic. The current standings and money leaders are detailed below.

A total of $40,000 will have been distributed following the conclusion of this week’s event. At each Potawatomi event, $8,500 is available to the top five players.

The player that finishes with the most cumulative points will receive a $6,000 bonus check.

The winner of each event receives 500 points while second place earns 300 points.

With a 500-point boost for a win, there are still 56 players that have a chance to jump Min Seo Kwak in Mayetta.

The player with the most cumulative points will be part of the award ceremony on Sunday at Firekeeper Golf Course.


NEBRASKA CORNHUSKER HAVING STRONG YEAR: Madeleine Sheils, who ranks 35th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list played her college golf less than three hours north of Mayetta at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Last week, she Monday qualified for the LPGA Portland Classic, but missed the cut. It was her first career LPGA Tour event.

The Boise, Idaho native has two top-10 finishes and has accumulated a total of $16,750. She has more than doubled her total earnings from her 2013 rookie season ($7,969).


OKLAHOMA COLLEGES WELL REPRESENTED: Seven players that played college golf in the state of Oklahoma are in the field.

TOP LPGA QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT STAGE 1 FINISHERS IN FIELD: Greeley, Colorado native Carleigh Silvers finished in a tie for seventh at LPGA Qualifying Tournament Stage one last week at Mission Hills Country Club. Silvers will play in her eighth Epson Tour event of the year this week.

Silvers, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open this year, played her college golf at Northern Colorado.

Elena Robles, who is also in the field this week, finished in a tie for 19th at stage one.

102 players from stage one advanced to stage two, which will be held September 30 through October 3 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla.

The final stage of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament will be held at LPGA International in Daytona Beach from December 3-7.


INCREASE EVENTS, INCREASE MONEY: Marissa Steen has already earned $28,065 more than last year’s No. 1 P.K. Kongkraphan ($47,283). In fact, the top five on the current Volvik Race for the Card money list have all earned more than Kongkraphan.

Seven players have earned over $40,000 for the first time since the 2010 season when nine players finished the year with earnings exceeding $40,000.


ANNIKA ACADEMY VIRTUAL SESSION: The ANNIKA Academy, the official elite training academy of the Epson Tour, will be holding their sixth professional development session for players on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Mayetta.

Annika Sorenstam will talk to players via Skype. Sorenstam is widely considered one of the greatest women’s golfers of all-time with 72 career LPGA Tour wins including ten major titles.

At the end of the 2014 season, the ANNIKA Academy will select one Epson Tour member to receive the ANNIKA Academy Elite Athlete Award. The award will be given to the player who, through her performance in Epson Tour events and her participation in the ANNIKA Academy development sessions, best demonstrates the same holistic “Winning Approach” philosophy, which Annika applied to her game during competition. The player will receive a $5,000 cash prize.


Epson Tour Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292