Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic
Firekeeper Golf Course
Mayetta, Kansas
September 7, 2015
Storylines
MAYETTA, Kan., September 7, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, moves from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Mayetta, Kansas for the second annual Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic at Firekeeper Golf Course from Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13. This is the 19th event of the season and there are just five events remaining in the chase for ten LPGA Tour cards.
First round play begins at 7:45 a.m. on Friday morning. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties following the second round on Saturday.
The top 132 players from the United States and 21 countries around the globe will compete for a $100,000 total tournament purse. The winner will pocket $15,000 and likely take a signifcant step up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the money list after the final round of the Epson Tour Championship on October 18 will earn LPGA membership.
The field is very strong this week in Mayetta as the entire top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list will play including No. 1 Giulia Molinaro (Treviso, Italy) and No. 2 Lee Lopez (Whittier, California). Molinaro and Lopez have combined for 16 top 10 finishes and 23 top 20 finishes in 31 combined starts. The Priarie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic also includes 22 LPGA Tour members.
Urgency is high with just five events remaining and $550,000 still available in the chase for the ten LPGA Tour cards. Jimin Kang (Seoul, South Korea), who ranks 10th on the money list, is just $614 in front of No. 11, Casey Grice (College Station, Texas). Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Florida), No. 15 on the money list, is $4,852 outstide the current top 10. Assuming the top 10 earns no money this week, No. 20 on the money list,
Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, British Columbia), could jump into the top 10 with a win this week.
The next two events will be played in the Sunflower State. Following the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic, the Tour heads to Garden City for the Garden City Charity Classic.
MORE COMPETITIVE THAN EVER: The Epson Tour has become more competitive than ever in 2015. There have been 16 different winners and only one player, Annie Park, has won twice. Park won the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic and the PHC Classic and ranks fourth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Through 17 official events, tenth on the money list has earned $45,263. Last year, after 20 events, tenth finished the season with $41,381.
A win on the Epson Tour is no longer a direct ticket to the LPGA. There are six players that have won an event this year that are currently on the outside looking in: No. 14 Caroline Westrup, No. 15 Vicky Hurst, No. 18 Madeleine Sheils, No. 21 Katie Kempter, No. 23 Sue Kim and No. 27 Breanna Elliott. Instead, consistent play is being rewarded. Interestingly enough, the top two on Tour have not won this year. Everyone in the current top 10 has at least three top 10 finishes. This week, 13 of the 16 winners are in the field.
Of the top 15 on the money list, eight have made at least ten starts on the LPGA Tour.
The Epson Tour schedule has grown from 20 to 23 events in 2015, the most in the last 27 years.
NO. 1 MOLINARO LOCKS UP LPGA CARD: Giulia Molinaro finished third last week at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge and has now guaranteed a spot on the LPGA Tour for next season. She has earned $66,732, an impressive $11,172 more than No. 2. Molinaro, who was raised in Kenya, has nine top 10 finishes in 14 starts, but is still badly craving a victory.
“I’ve been playing great and hopefully by the end of the year I can seal the deal and get a win,” said Molinaro. “I’m very happy that I am going back to the LPGA. This was a great year for me to improve and I’ve grown tremendously as a golfer.”
Molinaro earned her card through the Epson Tour in 2013 when she finished second on the money list.
“A huge part of who I am is what I learned on the Epson Tour,” said Molinaro. “When I lost my full LPGA Card, I didn’t want to come back to the Epson Tour, but it was the best decision I made to come back here and play and compete.”
Molinaro made 18 starts on the LPGA Tour last year and made eight cuts. She’s excited to get another crack at the top players in the world.
“The LPGA is where I want to be and that is where every golfer wants to be,” said Molinaro. “It is an incredible stage with incredible tournaments with the best in the world.”
CAN CAROLINE WESTRUP KEEP THE MOMENTUM?: Caroline Westrup (Baerum, Norway) shook up the Volvik Race for the Card money list by winning the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge last week and moved from 55th to 14th with five events left. On Sunday, she posted a 2-under 69 to win by two shots at 12-under. It was her first professional win in her 62nd start.
“This is everything I have ever dreamed of and more,” said the 29-year-old Westrup. “Finally, finally, I can say that I won my first professional event.”
Westrup actually had serious thoughts a month ago about retiring from professional golf and becoming a college coach.
“It’s funny, a lot of people told me that I was going to go out and win the next event and here I am,” continued Westrup. “It’s crazy thinking a couple weeks ago I was going to quit golf. Thank god I didn’t.”
Westrup is now only $3,417 outside of the top 10. It’s also crazy to think that entering the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge she was $30,036 outside the top 10. It’s proof that one week can really change a player’s standing.
Westrup did not play in the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic last year.
TWO EARN SPOTS THROUGH LOCAL QUALIFIER: Firekeeper Golf Course held a local qualifier on Sunday and Brooke Baker (Edmond, Oklahoma) and Hannah Arnold (Lufkin, Texas) earned spots in the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic. Baker played in 14 Epson Tour events in 2014 and has made two starts this year. Arnold will make her Tour debut.
Baker played college golf at North Carolina State while Arnold played at Texas Tech.
ONE OMAHA NATIVE, ONE CORNHUSKER: There are two players in the field that know neighboring state Nebraska well. Mary Narzisi is a native of Omaha while Madeleine Sheils played her college golf in Lincoln at Nebraska.
Sheils, a third year Tour player, is in contention for an LPGA Tour card. She currently ranks 18th on the money list with $37,097. She is $8,166 behind tenth place. Earlier this season, Sheils earned her first win at the Island Resort Championship by posting a final round 68. Sheils is one of the best to ever play at Nebraska. She was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2012 and finished third at the 2012 Big Ten Championships. She ranks second all-time in career scoring average.
Narzisi, the Nebraska Class A state champion in 2005 and 2006, played college golf at the University of Minnesota and has played on Tour since 2012. She has one top 10 finish this year at the Mission Health Wellness Classic.
DEFENDING CHAMP JORDAN-HIGGINS IS BACK: Almost one year ago to the day, Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Jersey, Channel Islands UK) carded a final round 67 at Firekeeper Golf Course to win the inaugural event by three strokes. Jordan-Higgins went onto finish 20th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list last year.
It was her second career victory. She also won the 2013 Credit Union Classic and finished 11th on the money list, narrowly missing her LPGA Tour card.
Jordan-Higgins has had a tough year with just seven cuts made in 17 starts.
OF NOTE: 2014 Epson Tour Player of the Year Marissa Steen is in the field this week. She played a full season on the LPGA Tour this year and is playing in the event this week as a non-member to prepare for Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament in December. Jackie Stoelting, who finished third on the money list last year, and Mallory Blackwelder, who finished 10th are also in the field...Rookie Chirapat Jao-Javanil played college golf in Norman at Oklahoma. She was a two-time All-American and has played in eight events this year...Four players moved into the top 10 after the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge...A total of 16 players have earned north of $40,000 this year already compared to just 11 total last year...Six players that finished in the top 10 at the inaugural Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic are in the field this week...There are nine players in the field that appeared on at least one season of the Golf Channel show Big Break and one player that was a contestant on the 2015 show, Altered Course (Milena Savich).
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