The Epson Tour, the official qualifying Tour for the LPGA, continues its West Coast Swing with the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club from Thursday, March 30 through Sunday, April 1. The 54-hole tournament is the third event of the 2017 season.
The field of 144 players from the United States and 30 countries around the globe will compete for a $100,000 purse. The winner will earn $15,000 and move towards the top of the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on final money list after the Epson Tour Championship (Oct. 5-8) will earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2018 season.
The event is once again co-sanctioned with the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) and 12 TLPGA players are in the field.
All three rounds will begin at 7:00 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second round on Friday.
The field is absolutely loaded as the entire top 10 on the current money list are scheduled to compete including No. 1 Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Jersey, UK), who won the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic and No. 2 Daniela Darquea (Quito, Ecuador), who won the IOA Championship on Sunday. There are also 49 LPGA Tour members in the field.
The Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club returns to Mesa after a hiatus in 2016. The last time the Tour played at Longbow Golf Club, Hannah O’Sullivan made history by winning the tournament and becoming the youngest player ever to win a Epson Tour event at 16 years, nine months and 11 days at the time. She broke the record previously held by 18-time LPGA winner Cristie Kerr. The Chandler native was playing on a sponsors exemption. She is currently the No. 2 ranked amateur in the world and heading to play college golf at Duke. O’Sullivan is not in the field this week. The Tour first played at Longbow Golf Club in 2013 when Jaclyn Sweeney won. Alena Sharp won in 2014. Sharp went onto represent Canada in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and is currently No. 79 in the world.
There are two players in the field from the state of Arizona and countless others that call the Grand Canyon State home in the offseason. The two that list Arizona as their home state are Kyung Kim (Chandler) and Kate Machado (Scottsdale). There are five players in the field that played college golf in Arizona including two-time Epson Tour graduate Giulia Molinaro, who played at Arizona State and four that played in Tucson at Arizona: Lindsey Weaver, Alison Walshe, Brittany Bevenuto and Alejandra Llaneza.
The two sponsor exemptions this week are both Cactus Tour winners. Kyung Kim, who shined at Hamilton High School, has won three times this year on the Cactus Tour while Spencer Warne won the last event at Sundance Golf Course on Sunday. Warne won twice on the Cactus Tour in 2016. Kim was the 2010 Arizona High School Player of the Year and was Arizona All-State first team four years in a row (2009-12).
Tickets to the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club are free all three days of the tournament. There is also on-site parking at the course.
The Tour heads to Windsor, California next week to complete the three-week West Coast Swing. This is the first time the Tour has played three straight weeks on the west coast since 2001.
TOP ROOKIE WON HEATHER FARR AT LONGBOW IN 2012
Lindsey Weaver, who played college golf at Arizona and used to live in Scottsdale, has been one of the top rookies to start the 2017 season. She currently ranks sixth on the early season Volvik Race for the Card money list with two top 10 finishes. She finished T4 at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic and tied for ninth on Sunday at the IOA Championship.
“My mom used to work in the Mesa/Gilbert area so we are really familiar with the area,” explained Weaver. “I have played Longbow (Golf Club) so many times and I won Heather Farr when I was a senior in high school so it’s great to be back.”
Weaver started her college career at Notre Dame before transferring to Arizona and while she played for the Irish, they had a home tournament at Longbow Golf Club.
“I lived in Scottsdale for nine years so I am very familiar with desert courses,” said Weaver. “The greens at Longbow can be quick and there is a lot of undulation.”
The only rookie that has earned more than Weaver through two events is Daniela Darquea.
“I played pretty well during the first two tournaments and I just want to keep that going into the next few weeks.”
There are three past Heather Farr winners in the field. Kyung Kim won the Heather Farr Classic as a 14-year-old in 2008 and Mina Harigae won in 2006 at Longbow Golf Club.
BROOKE PANCAKE PLAYING THIS WEEK AS PART OF LPGA INFLUX
Brooke Pancake (Chattanooga, Tenn.), who was the runner-up at the 2012 NCAA National Championships while at Alabama, is playing on the Epson Tour this week for the first time since 2012. Pancake has made 58 career starts on the LPGA since her rookie season in 2013 and has five top 30 finishes. Her best year on Tour was 2014 when she finished 88th on the official money list.
Pancake garnered national headlines in 2015 when she signed an endorsement deal with the Waffle House.
There are 49 LPGA members in the field in part because the ANA Inspiration is this week and is a limited field major championship.
CANADA’S ANNE-CATHERINE TANGUAY OFF TO HOT START
Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec, Canada) has seven career top 10’s on the Epson Tour including two to start the season. She finished in a tie for second on Sunday at the IOA Championship with three under-par rounds. She has been under-par in each of her six rounds on the Epson Tour to start the season.
“It all comes down to hard work in the offseason and I was very discipline with what I wanted to improve on,” said Tanguay during her road trip from Beaumont to Mesa. “We are really good at keeping track of shots and where we are headed. I’m just really polishing my game.”
Tanguay was tied for the lead heading into the final round and posted a 2-under, 70. She was proud of how she performed under pressure.
“Under pressure I’ve had problems with my short game and it held up yesterday so that was good,” said Tanguay. “I’ve worked hard on my short game in the offseason and in the past that part of my game has slipped under pressure. I handled the nerves well and the more experience I have in those situations the better.”
Tanguay said she has spent “thousands of hours” on a detailed excel spreadsheet that she uses to track everything including strokes gained, percentages on greens hit from different yardages and more.
She has also started to keep a journal that details her life on the road. In Winter Haven at the season opener, she played a practice round with Canadian legend Lorie Kane, who is a four-time LPGA Tour winner.
“I wrote down a lot of what Lorie and I talked about in the journal,” said Tanguay. “The thing I remember most is what she told me about how to handle yourself on the golf course. She told me to be my own teammate. Nobody can cheer you on like yourself. It all comes back to staying positive on the golf course. Lorie is very helpful and a great model.
2016 GRADUATES ENJOYING 2017 SUCCESS ON LPGA
Five of the ten 2016 Epson Tour graduates - Nelly Korda, Jackie Stoelting, Marissa Steen, Peiyun Chien and Laura Gonzalez Escallon - have performed well enough in the early LPGA season to qualify for this week’s ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage. This is quite the accomplishment as the first major of the golf season is a limited field event.
Korda, who finished 9th on the money list, ranks 32nd on the LPGA money list with over $80,000 earned in just four starts. Korda has made the cut in each of her starts with one top 10 finish to open the season at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic (T5). She also finished T19 at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup.
Chien, who finished 10th last year, qualified for the ANA Inspiration by finishing T11 at the Kia Classic this week. Chien ranks 41st on the LPGA money with two top 20 finishes. She closed T16 at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. Chien won the Kansas City Championship last year on the Epson Tour.
Gonzalez Escallon, who finished fifth last year, is 64th on the LPGA money list. The highlight of her season was a T9 to start the season in the Bahamas. She has missed the cut in the last three events. Gonzalez Escallon won twice on the Epson Tour last year including a dramatic final hole victory at the PHC Classic in Milwaukee.
Stoelting, who finished third last year, made headlines at the Kia Classic to earn a spot in the ANA Inspiration. She went into the weekend in a tie for fourth and was T9 after three rounds. Stoelting finished T18 and is 75th on the LPGA money list. She is a four-time winner on the Epson Tour.
Steen, who finished eighth in 2016, has made the cut in three of four LPGA starts with her best finish coming at the ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open. Steen is a three-time Epson Tour winner.
THE BIGGEST JUNIOR CLINIC ON TOUR
In partnership with the First Tee of Phoenix, Epson Tour professional will host the biggest junior clinic on Tour on Tuesday, March 28th from 9:00 a.m. to noon. The clinic will begin on the driving range at Longbow Golf Club.
Approximately 300 students from the following schools in Mesa Public Schools (MPS) will be on hand: Zaharis Elementary, Jefferson Elementary and Lehi Elementary.
Professional golfers Monifa Sealy, Justine Dreher and Amber Hensley will lead the clinic. The kids will have a chance to learn different aspects of the game of golf while also getting to watch the professionals demonstrate different shots. Towards the end of the clinic, there will be a question and answer period.
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