FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club
Battle Creek, Mich.
June 4, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes

VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD MONEY LIST NO. 1 BACK IN ACTION:
EPSON TOUR PROS VISIT CALHOUN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER
POTAWATOMI CUP KICKS OFF IN BATTLE CREEK

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (June 4, 2014) – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA Tour, reaches the half-way point of its 2014 season when it travels to the Great Lakes State for the inaugural FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. The three-round event will begin on Friday, June 6, and run through Sunday, June 8, at Battle Creek Country Club.

The 144 player field will be competing for a share of a $100,000 purse with a top prize of $15,000. The top-10 on the year-end Volvik Race for the Card money list will receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.

VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD MONEY LIST NO. 1 BACK IN ACTION: Volvik Race for the Card money list leader Marissa Steen will be back in action for the first time since taking over the top spot when she captured her second victory of the year at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic in Asheville, N.C.

Steen, who took the week of the Epson Classic off, kept herself busy during her time away from the Road to the LPGA earning medalist honors at the U.S. Open qualifier in The Woodlands, Texas, at The Woodlands Country Club Players Club course and then going back home to Ohio for one of her good friend’s wedding.

In addition to her win in Asheville, Steen also recorded a victory at the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay and has four additional top-10 finishes. Steen will look for another solid showing in Battle Creek as she looks to lock up her 2015 LPGA Tour Card. Steen’s $50,467 in earnings this year puts her over $3,000 ahead of second place Yueer Cindy Feng who is not in the field this week.

EPSON TOUR PROS VISIT CALHOUN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER: Several members of the Epson Tour took time out of their busy days to visit the Calhoun County Animal Shelter in Battle Creek.

“We were all very excited to go meet new friends at the shelter, especially since most of us have four legged children ourselves!,” said Rachel Rohanna. “Although we were only planned to stay for a short time, most of us stayed even longer to visit with the playful animals. Battle Creek is lucky to have a great group of people at Calhoun County Animal Shelter to take care of the stray and abused animals that are waiting for warm, loving, homes.”

During the visit, the golfers got a tour of the facility and then spent time brushing, cleaning and playing with the numerous cats and dogs in the shelter.

POTAWATOMI CUP KICKS OFF IN BATTLE CREEK: A new addition to the 2014 Epson Tour season is the formation of the Potawatomi Cup, which awards Epson Tour players a bonus based on performance at events sponsored by four Potawatomi nations’ casinos. A total of $40,000 will be awarded, with $8,500 available each week, and an additional $6,000 going to the Potawatomi Cup winner.

“All four Potawatomi nations’ casinos have joined together to provide a significant cash incentive for our players trying to reach the LPGA Tour,” said Chief Business Officer Mike Nichols. “We are grateful for the support of our casino partners, having grown from one tournament three years ago to four casino sponsored tournaments this year.”

The incentive based points system will award the top-5 players a cash bonus at each of the following events: FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Michigan from June 6-8; the Four Winds Invitational, www.fourwindsinvitational.com, in South Bend, Indiana from June 20-22; Island Resort Championship in Harris, Michigan from June 27-29; and the Prairie Band Casino and Resort Charity Classic in Mayetta, Kansas from September 5-7. The FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship and the Prairie Band Casino and Resort Charity Classic are both first-year events in 2014.

At each of the four tournaments listed above, players will receive points based on their on-course performance in the tournament. At the conclusion of each event, $8,500 in cash prizes will be distributed among the top-5 finishers in cumulative points up through that event. For example, following the first event, the players in first through fifth will receive the following payouts, respectively: $3,000, $2,500, $1,500, $1,000 and $500.

FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship Pre-Tournament News and Notes

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