TUCSON, Ariz. — A total of 120 players will take on the challenge that Sewailo Golf Club presents starting Thursday with the first round of the inaugural Casino Del Sol Golf Classic.
Three featured groups highlight the competition for the third event of the 2021 Epson Tour season.
Gigi Stoll, Brittany Benvenuto, Krystal Quihuis (No. 1 tee, 12:13 p.m.)
Former University of Arizona Wildcat, Gigi Stoll (Beaverton, Oregon), returns to her collegiate stomping grounds this week at Sewailo Golf Club. The 2018 NCAA National Champion’s career best finish on the “Road to the LPGA” was in 2019 at the Guardian Championship where she tied for second. In the first two starts this season, Stoll made two cuts in two starts with a season best of tied for twenty-third at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.
Preparing for a familiar desert heat from her University of Arizona days, Brittany Benvenuto (Langhorne, Pennsylvania) returns to the Grand Canyon State to compete in the inaugural Casino Del Sol Golf Classic. In her ten years as a professional, Benvenuto has claimed five second place finishes, most recently the 2018 Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. This is Benvenuto’s first start of the 2021 season on the Epson Tour.
Krystal Quihuis (Tucson, Arizona) is eager to compete not only at her previous collegiate practice course, but also her home course still today. In her fourth season on the Epson Tour, she is looking to claim her first win and has a career best finish of solo fifth at the 2019 Valley Forge Invitational. With her father caddying for her this week, Quihuis is excited to not only representing the Wildcats, but also the Pascua Yaqui tribe.
Natalie Sheary, Peiyun Chien, Roberta Liti (No. 10 tee, 8:07 a.m.)
In her second start this season, Natalie Sheary (New Britain, Connecticut) is excited to be back on Tour. Sheary suffered a shoulder injury which resulted in a break from golf for over eighteen months due to the surgery and rehab. The 2016 W.B. Mason Championship at Thorny Lea Champion and three-time Connecticut Women’s State Amateur winner (2005-2007) made her first start post-surgery at the Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.
Joining the group is Peiyun Chien (Pingtung, Chinese Taipei). She is a two-time Epson Tour champion and 2016 Epson Tour graduate. Last season she claimed the title at the Epson Classic at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. and followed the season winning two-times in Taiwan. Chien made two cuts in two starts to open up the season.
Meanwhile, Arizona State University alumna Roberta Liti (Siena, Italy) is back at her second home of the Grand Canyon State. The 2018 Pac-12 Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the Sun Devils made five cuts in 10 starts with two top-15 finishes. In 2013 as an amateur, Liti won the Italian Championship and was runner-up at the Girls British Open Amateur Championship.
Sophie Hausmann, Bailey Tardy, Sophia Schubert (No. 10 tee, 12:57 p.m.)
Following her first victory on the “Road to the LPGA” at the IOA Championship a few weeks ago, Sophie Hausmann (Nottuln, Germany) is ready to compete in Tucson, Ariz. Only a few hours north of Sewailo Golf Club, Hausmann has found success playing desert golf on the Epson Tour with top-10 finishes back-to-back years at Longbow Golf Club. Currently No 2. In the Race for the Card, she continues her rookie season on Tour this week.
The 2020 Epson Rising Star, Bailey Tardy (Norcross, Georgia) arrives in Pima County for the third tournament of the season. Last year, Tardy recorded four top-10 finishes including a season-best runner-up finish at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. The University of Georgia graduate climbed the rankings last year and finished at No. 6 on the money list.
Completing the final featured group is University of Texas alumna Sophia Schubert (Oak Ridge, Tennessee). The three-time All-Big 12 team selection while competing for the Longhorns started this season with back-to-back top ten finishes putting her at No. 4 on the money list. As an amateur, Schubert won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and was a member of the victorious Team USA at the 2018 Curtis Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup.