ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, May 16, 2014 - Big Break Florida finalist Jackie Stoelting fired an impressive opening round 5-under-par 67 on Friday to sit three strokes clear of a pack of three golfers at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.
“I played really solid,” Stoelting said. “I just stayed calm and patient and ended on a birdie so that is always nice to go home and sleep on.”
Despite starting her day with a three-putt bogey on the first, Stoelting kept her composure and quickly responded with birdies on two of her next three holes to get into red numbers. Following her birdie on the par-3 fourth, the skies opened up but Stoelting kept her composure and grinded out a pair of pars before the rain subsided.
“It’s huge,” Stoelting said of making pars in tough conditions. “Those pars felt like birdies to me. It was just pouring and I had three woods into holes where I had mid to short irons into before so it was just playing difficult and I just stayed patient.”
The patience was rewarded as Stoelting tallied two more birdies going out to make the turn at 3-under 33.
The Vero Beach, Florida native kept up her solid play down the stretch making three birdies against a lone bogey to shoot 34 (-2) to post 67.
“I’m not going to do anything different in the morning,” Stoelting said about her approach going into the weekend. “I’m a little happy that I’ll at least have a later morning tee time since it’s supposed to be really cold. Just stick to the same game plan. I usually play well in tough conditions so I feel like maybe I have a good mindset to stay a little more focused.”
Stoelting, who has a pair of top-10 finishes this year and currently sits in 11th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, is a finalist on the Golf Channel’s hit show Big Break Florida. The season finale airs on Monday, May 19.
“It’s exciting that it’s finally coming to an end,” Stoelting admitted. “We filmed it back in October so it’s been a long time since we filmed the show. I’m excited to watch it on Monday.”
Sitting three-strokes back of Stoelting are Margarita Ramos, Casey Grice and Therese Koelbaek who all shot two-under 70.
STOELTING’S SECRETS TO SUCCESS: Jackie Stoelting, who sits on the 18-hole lead after a stellar five-under 67, is attributing some of her success this week to a group of key individuals.
“I have a really good caddie this week,” Stoelting said. “He’s a local and he grew up playing this course. He really knows the greens. He’s helped me with a lot of reads and helps me with where to hit it on the green with certain hole locations. It might be an easier birdie chance on one side of the hole versus another. He just really helped me with the game plan and I just stuck to hitting fairways and greens and seeing if I could make a putt.”
In addition to her caddie, Stoelting also has another group of important people in the area cheering her on.
“My in-laws are in town so we’re going to have dinner,” Stoelting said. “It’s always nice to have family in town.”
KOELBAEK IN CONTENTION: Therese Koelbaek sits three strokes off the lead after an opening round 70. Koelbaek’s flatstick was the key to her round as she needed a mere 27 putts to complete her two-under round.
“Today was a very good day,” Koelbaek said. “Things were easy out there. I hit a lot of good shots and I was really hot with my putter finally because I have been struggling with it the past few weeks.”
The Dane finds herself in contention yet again this season and hopes to improve upon her season-best finish of T4 at the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay.
“It’s just nice to see my name up top but tomorrow is a new day and I’m just going to keep working on what I’ve been working on and hopefully make some more putts.”
PUYO PUTS SOLID ROUND TOGETHER: Fiona Puyo put together a solid round of 71 to sit four strokes off the lead at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic. Puyo birdied two of her final three holes to post her one-under round.
“For me it felt good,” Puyo said of her play. “I was thinking that the scores would be lower but it makes sense with the wind blowing and the cold weather.”
Puyo took advantage of her length, she ranks 16th on the Epson Tour in average driving distance, to birdie a pair of par fives and set up good looks on several of the holes.
“It’s for sure a big help,” Puyo said of taking advantage of the par fives. “On two we had the wind helping and I had a nine iron into the green so it’s good to take a stroke ahead on par fives.”
While the French native was happy with her score, she also found parts of her game to work on heading into the weekend.
“I’m going to grab some lunch and then work on my wedges because I had some short approaches and wasn’t very happy with how I hit them. I could have had more opportunities for birdies,” Puyo said.
Puyo, who sits at 67th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, will look to improve on her best finish of the season, a tie for 14th at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic.
KONO RALLIES FOR RED NUMBER: Stephanie Kono was able to battle her way to a score in the red on a tough day at Country Club of Asheville.
“It was a tough day out there. It was pretty windy and very cold in the morning so I’m pretty happy with how I played,” Kono said.
Kono’s day started out rough as she bogeyed three of her first five holes to sit at three-over-par going into the 15th, her sixth hole of the day. Kono got a stroke back with a birdie at the par-5 16th and then made a run on her homeward half. An eagle at the par-5 second got Kono back to even and a pair of birdies against a lone birdie on the way in allowed Kono to post a one-under 71.
“I just stayed patient,” Kono said. “I didn’t putt well the first six holes but I just knew that as soon as I got my putting straightened out that I’d be ok.”
While the weather was difficult for all of the players in the field it was especially tough on Kono, a native Hawaiian.
“Being from Hawaii, I don’t have a lot of experience playing in cold weather but you do what you have to,” Kono said.
Despite the less than ideal forecast for the weekend, Kono still likes her chances heading into the weekend.
“I really like this course. I played well here last year and I think it’s a very good course for me.”
Kono finished in a tie for tenth last year.WEI-LING HSU IN CONTENTION FOR $1 MILLION: Wei-Ling Hsu won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and is therefore eligible to win the $1 million Park Sterling Cup.
Hsu fired a 1-under-par 71 in the first-round on Friday and is in a tie for fifth.
The Park Sterling Cup promotion awards a Epson Tour player $1 million if she wins all three events in the Carolinas.
Hsu needs to win the Friends of Mission Charity Classic and the Epson Classic next week in Charlotte.
GRICE IN A GROOVE: Casey Grice shot a 2-under-par 70 and is in a four-way tie for second place.
She made four birdies on the day including three consecutive to open her round.
The Epson Tour rookie is coming off her best finish of the year, a tie for eighth at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic.
Grice moved from 76th to 39th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list after her finish in Greenwood.
WATCH OUT FOR RAMOS: Margarita Ramos carded a 2-under 70 in the first-round on Friday and is in a three-way tie for second.
The University of Arizona product has played well in each of the last two events entering the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.
She finished in a tie for 14th at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and finished in a tie for 13th at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial.
Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292
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