“I’ve got my eye on the Sioux Falls event”
I was walking around the practicing green at Thorny Lea Golf Club last week and ran into Maude-Aimee Leblanc, who ranks tenth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. At the time, the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge at Willow Run was three weeks away, but Leblanc still had it front and center in her mind.
It’s now two weeks away, September 3-6, and will go a long way in deciding the ten that earn LPGA Tour membership at the end of the year.
The Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge is offering the biggest purse, $210,000, and winners payout, $31,500, in the 35-year history of the Epson Tour.
What does that mean?
Not to pick on No. 62 on the money list, Krista Puisite, but if she wins, she could jump all the way up into the top ten on the money list. A win by anyone in the top 29 would put them over $50,000 for the season and might lock away a card. A win by anyone in the current top 10 would put them over $70,000 and would definitely secure an LPGA Tour card. You can probably go as far as saying a win by anyone in the top 20 would guarantee a card. Dottie Ardina ranks No. 20 and a win would increase her earnings for the year to $58,492.
For perspective, Mallory Blackwelder collected $41,381 in 2014 and finished tenth on the money list to earn her card. With three more events this year and added prize money, you’d have to think that $58,000 is more than enough to earn a card.
Even a second place finish ($19,723) at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge is definitely enough to secure a card for the current top 10 and probably sufficient for the top 15.
Take it a step further. How about a player that hasn’t earned a paycheck this year? A win could move her into the top 20 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
With six events left in the season, it is safe to say that a lot is riding on the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge.
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