KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 25, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, moves from Battle Creek, Michigan to Kansas City, Missouri for the inaugural Kansas City Championship at Staley Farms Golf Club from July 29-31. First-round play begins on Friday, July 29 and the 54-hole tournament concludes on Sunday, July 31. Play begins at 7:30 a.m. all three days of the tournament.
The field of 144 aspiring LPGA Tour professionals from the United States and 29 different countries around the globe will compete for a $100,000 total tournament purse and the winner will earn $15,000 and take a significant step up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the final money list will earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2017 season.
There are just nine events remaining in the 2016 season, which culminates with the Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. from Oct. 13-16.
The race for the ten LPGA cards is a tight one as is always the case. No. 10 Dana Finkelstein is just $536 clear of No. 11 Wichanee Meechai. Anyone inside the top 25 could move inside the top 10 with a win this week at the Kansas City Championship.
This is the final event in a three-week stretch, which started in Rochester, N.Y. with the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic. This is also the first and only tournament in the state of Missouri. The last time the Tour played in Kansas City was 2010, the final year of the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship at Leawood South Country Club. The Tour also played at Shirkey Golf Club in Richmond in 2002.
The field is strong this week as nine of the top 10 on the current money list are scheduled to compete. No. 1 Madelene Sagstrom is not in the field, but the other nine are. In fact, 17 of the top 18 on the money list will be in Kansas City.
There are also 19 LPGA Tour members in the field.
Staley Farms is a par-72 and will play 6,357 yards.
8-YEAR COURSE EMPLOYEE TITUS IS EXEMPTION
Carmen Titus, who has worked at Staley Farms for eight years, is in the field this week on a sponsors exemption. She played college golf at Rockhurst University and has retained her amateur status since graduating. In 2015, Titus qualified for the U.S.Mid-Amateur Championship through a sectional qualifier at Blue Springs Country Club.“The greens are the toughest part of the golf course so I probably have one up on knowing the greens,” said Titus. “My goal is to make the cut, but I have no idea what a good number is.”
Titus says she usually gets on the course once or twice a week to keep fresh. Since she knows the course so well, her scouting report says that approach shots and putting will be the biggest keys.
“The fairways are a mile wide so you can hit it wherever you want really,” said Titus. “If you can chip and putt around here I think you will score well.”
As someone that has spent countless hours working at Staley Farms, she’s ready to compete at her second home.
“I’m really excited, I don’t think Staley has had an event like this before,” said Titus. “The membership is excited and I think everyone is backing it really well. I’m excited to see how everyone else plays the course.”
The second sponsor exemption is Stefanie DelGreco, who appeared twice on the Golf Channel reality show Big Break. Her father-in-law is Al DelGreco, longtime NFL kicker for the Packers, Cardinals and Titans.
GONZALEZ ESCALLON CAPTURES FIRST WIN IN RAIN-SHORTENED EVENT
Three-year Epson Tour member Laura Gonzalez Escallon (La Hulpe, Belgium) captured her first victory on Sunday when Tour officials cancelled the final-round in Battle Creek due to rain and unplayable course conditions. Gonzalez Escallon finished the first two days at 15-under, tying the 36-hole Epson Tour scoring record.She is the first player in the history of the Epson Tour representing Belgium to win. The only player from Belgium to ever win on the LPGA Tour was Florence Descampe, who won the 1992 McCall’s LPGA Classic at Stratton Mountain.
Gonzalez Escallon made a chip shot from behind the 18th green on Saturday to break the Battle Creek Country Club course record (-8, 64). The shot was No. 8 on Sportscenter’s Top Plays on Monday.
Gonzalez Escallon moved from 38th to 16th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with her first career win. She now has 11 top 10 finishes on the Epson Tour and three this season.
The 25-year-old qualified for The Evian Championship, an LPGA major, by virtue of her win.
Gonzalez Escallon was the 2011-12 Big Ten Player of the Year at Purdue.
MCDONALD IS HIGHEST RANKED PLAYER IN FIELD, QUALIFIED FOR EVIAN
Ally McDonald has turned into the second most consistent player on Tour this year. She has finished second in back-to-back events and now ranks second on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with $71,728. The one thing McDonald is missing on her resume is a win. She is the only player in the top four without a win, which maybe makes her total even more impressive.
McDonald’s consistency is what has separated her this season. She has finished inside the top 25 in 11 of her 12 starts with five top 10 finishes.
The 23-year-old is 17-under in her last three rounds.
McDonald graduated from Mississippi State in 2015 and holds nearly every individual record including lowest career scoring average.
YOUNGER SISTER OF LPGA WINNER STARTING TO SHINE, TURNS 18 THURSDAY
Nelly Korda, 17, is the younger sister of 4-time LPGA Tour winner Jessica Korda. Nelly has pieced together her best stretch of golf recently in her rookie season on Tour. She made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open and has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Epson Tour events. In fact, she has a T4, T9 and T7 in her last four starts. Korda now ranks 33rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Quietly, Korda has seven top 25 finishes this season.She will turn 18-years-old on Thursday (7/28/1998).
SEVERAL NEWCOMERS IN THE FIELD
There are several relative newcomers to the Epson Tour in the Kansas City Championship. Here is a look at a few.
Marijosse Navarro (Mexico City, Mexico) - She finished with a career scoring average at Texas A&M of 72.00, which is tied for the lowest in school history. She was a WGCA (Women’s Golf Coaches Association) Second Team All-American as a freshman (2013-14) and sophomore (2014-15). Navarro turned pro after her sophomore season. She made her Epson Tour debut at the Tullymore Classic this year and missed the cut. She made the cut and finished 51st at the 2015 Volunteers of North Texas Shootout on the LPGA.
Janie Jackson (Huntsville, Ala.) - She is a recent University of Alabama graduate. She played her first year of college golf at Arizona before a transfer to Alabama. She was part of an Alabama team that was ranked third in the country by Golfweek at the end of the regular season. She finished T49 at the 2016 NCAA Champioships. Jackson also made her debut at the Tullymore Classic and missed the cut.
Katelyn Wright (Incline Village, Nev.) - She finished her four-year career at Nebraska in 2014 when she placed 15th at the Big Ten Championships. She recorded 15 career top 25 finishes at Nebraska. She was a four-time Nevada Class 2A State Champion. Wright will make her debut this week.
OF NOTE
- Sportscaster Roger Twibell is playing in the Thursday pro-am at Staley Farms. It is a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m.
- There are nine 2016 winners in the field this week including two-time winner Jackie Stoelting.
- Noemi Jimenez, who finished T19 last week in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET), is back in the U.S. to play in the Kansas City Championship, her fifth event of the season.
- There are two recent NCAA individual national champions in the field this week - Emma Talley (2015, Alabama) and Doris Chen (2013, University of Southern California).
- Madison Pressel, the younger sister of 2-time LPGA winner Morgan Pressel, had her low round of the year on Saturday in Battle Creek (4-under, 68).
- The highest ranked former Big 12 golfer in the field is Kendall Dye, who played at Oklahoma, and is currently 25th on the money list.
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