GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA, May 8, 2014 – Big Break Florida contestant Sadena Parks fired a stellar 4-under-par 68 in the first-round of the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic to take a one-stroke lead into the second-round on Friday.
The second-year Epson Tour player made seven birdies on the round.
“I’m very happy and very exhausted but most importantly very happy,” said Parks, who didn’t tee off until 1:30 p.m. “I’m back to where I started originally in Scottsdale and I want to keep the birdies rolling.”
Parks, who started on the back nine, closed with an outstanding final nine. She birdied four of her last six holes including the ninth hole to end her round. One of her highlights was a 30-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole.
Parks, who celebrated her 24th birthday on May 4, was happy to get back on track after missing the cut in her last two Epson Tour events.
“It does feel like I’m back and no excuses for those two tournaments I had the last two weeks, I just wasn’t prepared,” said Parks. “I made sure I was prepared, I learned a lot from those two tournaments and I’m back at it.”
The former University of Washington golfer started the year strong with a solo third place finish at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club.
In 17 career Epson Tour events, she has one top-10 finish.
She felt her experience on Big Break Florida helped her get through today’s round.
“It was so funny because I felt the same nerves today that I felt on Big Break, but I’ve learned the nerves are good,” said Parks. “It means I’m in it to win it and I’m striving to be on top.”
Louise Friberg and Brianna Do are tied for second place after shooting a 3-under 69.
The Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay winner Marissa Steen along with Sara-Maude Juneau and the winner of the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial Min Seo Kwak are tied for fourth at 2-under 70.
FRIBERG WANTS TO WIN ON LPGA AGAIN: Louise Friberg is in a tie for second place with Brianna Do at 3-under-par 69, one shot off the pace.
Just like Parks, Friberg made seven birdies on the day including three consecutive birdies from the 11th through the 13th holes.
“I’m always happy with under-par and I had some good shots and some good putts, so I’m happy and satisfied,” said the 33-year-old Friberg. “I made some pretty good putts coming in and I just managed to stay patient, drink a lot of water and it was overall a good round.”
Prior to this season, Friberg last played on this Tour in 2004, when it was known as the Futures Tour. She played in 15 events that year and made the cut seven times.
In 2008, Friberg had an outstanding year on the LPGA Tour that included a win at the 2008 Mastercard Classic Honoring Alejo Peralta. She had two other top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour that same year.
“My golf journey has been unconventional,” said Friberg with a smile. “It’s been up-and-down, windy roads. I started on this Tour when it was called the Futures Tour in 2004, so this is my ten-year anniversary since I turned pro. Then, I went back to Sweden to play the Swedish Tour and then the European Tour for two years, LPGA for four years and then I retired and then I came back.”
Now, Friberg is starting all over again, but she has a clear goal.
“I want to win back on the LPGA Tour again and I want my name to be on top of those lists,” said Friberg. “My goal is come back, get my game back into shape and win on the LPGA Tour again.”
BRIANNA DO GOES LOW: Dual status player on the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour Brianna Do fired a 3-under-par 69 in the first-round of the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic to stand in a tie for second.
Do started her day with five straight pars before carding her first red number on the par-5 sixth hole. She was 30-yards out chipping for eagle and rolled the ball right in the hole.
“Going into number six, I had just made a bunch of pars with fairways and greens and then on six my dad said ‘let’s chip in for eagle’ and I was thinking normally I don’t do that,” said Do. “Then, I chipped it and it looked good and it trickled in at the last minute so that was kind of cool.”
On the seventh hole, Do followed her chip-in eagle with a birdie.
“The other two girls in my group (Dottie Ardina and Mitsuki Katahira) made their birdies and I was like I can’t screw up, I have to make birdie and I made it.”
After going eagle-bogey on the sixth and seventh holes, Do made two birdies and two bogeys the rest of the day.
Do, who played one event on the LPGA Tour last year, has played in two events on the big Tour this year.
"It’s definitely a learning experience, when I’m out there I kind of feel like a fish out of water because I don’t know anyone and it is just a bigger stage,” said the 24-year-old. “I learn a lot out there (LPGA) and I come out here (Epson Tour) and I’m a little more confident and I’ve seen improvements out on the LPGA so I’m super confident out here.”
CHEYENNE WOODS STRONG ON DAY ONE: Cheyenne Woods shot a 1-under 71 with four birdies and three bogeys in round one of the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic.
Woods’ best stretch of the day was on the back nine when she made birdie on the tenth and 11th holes.
Woods did not have an under-par round in the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial in Fort Myers.
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON’S KLATTEN DEBUTS: One of the few South Carolina ties in the field this week is that of Epson Tour rookie Joanna Klatten.
She played two years of college golf at the College of Charleston.
“I really love South Carolina, there is something that this state has that no other state has,” said the Paris, France native. “It’s got a special charisma and I definitely fell in love with Charleston. It’s so nice to be back here, but a little frustrating because I just want to drive back there now, but obviously I have to not be distracted.”
PHD CANDIDATE TURNS GOLF PROFESSIONAL: Riki Van-Niekerk shot an even-par 72 on day one and stands in a tie for 20th.
The South African, who grew up playing field hockey and tennis and switched to golf at the urging of her mother, had four birdies on the day.
“I had four birdies so no complaints, but I made some mental mistakes today,” said Van-Niekerk. “I had a nice short putt for birdie and I three-putted because I was so excited.”
Van-Niekerk has been playing on the Epson Tour since 2011.
Prior to turning professional, she worked for NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) as a graduate student at Texas Tech.
“We were contracted by NASA and we built a water compression system for the International Space Station,” said Van-Niekerk. “Growing up I was always fascinated with superman, so I always thought it would be so cool to go to space.”
A big reason why Van-Niekerk came to America was studying engineering and working for NASA. “It’s sort of like this trophy, NASA is this special place that only cool people get to go to,” said Van-Niekerk.
“I studied engineering and it just so happened to be that Texas Tech was one of only two universities that still work with NASA. It was seriously fantastic. You get to learn things and see things that only a small fraction of the population gets to see.”
Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292
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