DECATUR, ILLINOIS, June 13, 2014 – It was only fitting that day one of the 30th anniversary of the Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District brought great drama with thirty-one players shooting under-par and four players finishing at the top of the leaderboard at 5-under-par 67. Moah Chang, Ashley Tait, Madison Pressel and Laura Gonzalez-Escallon are in a four-way tie after 18 holes.
The four players at the top of the board carded a combined 22 birdies against just two bogeys. All four players also played in the afternoon wave.
Tait carded a bogey-free round, her first of the season.
“I am extremely happy, finally a bogey-free round which is what you’re looking for,” said Tait, whose travel buddy Shannon Fish shot a 3-under 69. “I happened to make a few putts and I’m really confident this week and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Tait, who ranks 90th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, felt confident coming into this event after her best two finishes of the season. She placed in a tie for 30th last week at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship and a tie for 29th two weeks prior at the Epson Classic.
“I strained my back in Fort Myers so it became really hard for me to practice and I didn’t have much confidence. Finally in Charlotte (Epson Classic) I started to feel better and I was hitting the ball and rolling the ball better so I just have a lot of confidence right now.”
Tait’s travel partner and good friend on Tour is Shannon Fish, who also carded one of her best rounds of the year.
“We’re competitive but at the same time really supportive of each other. During our practice rounds we definitely have money games, there is some competition between us but I’m proud of what she did today and I know she’ll feel the same about me.”
Chang, who has played on the Epson Tour since 2005, started with the flurry of birdies on the front nine. She posted a red number on her first three holes and made birdie on five of her first seven holes.
On the 14th hole, Chang made birdie to grab the outright lead at 6-under-par. She bogeyed the 16th hole to drop back into a four-way tie for first.
Chang’s best finish on the Epson Tour came in 2008 at the Alliance Bank Golf Classic in Syracuse, New York when she finished 8th.
Chang has made just two cuts this year in nine events.
Pressel, the younger sister of LPGA Tour two-time winner Morgan, made the turn at 2-under-par. She pieced together back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes and then made birdie on the 16th and 18th holes coming in.
“I couldn’t have hit the ball any better than I did today,” said an excited Pressel. I made a 25-footer and a 30-footer coming in so that was really exciting.”
Pressel, who ranks 117th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, had her second best finish of the year at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, a tie for 44th.
“It was a little bit of a learning curve early in the year, I was struggling with my shoulder a bit. I recently switched to a new Odyssey putter and I feel really confident standing over my putts. I’m getting better and better and everything is really starting to come together.”
Pressel’s confidence should only continue to grow.
“Today just reaffirms that I am who I am and I am capable of putting together strong rounds.”
She was also excited that five former Texas Longhorns are in the field.
“We were all teammates together and we all travelled together in college. It’s a cool feeling to see us all out here. If we can sell the program to other girls with Bevo on our backs than that is great.”
Gonzalez-Escallon, a rookie on the Epson Tour, made five birdies against no bogeys.
Escallon carded two birdies on her first nine and three birdies coming in.
The former Purdue All-American ranks 16th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with three top-10 finishes on her resume.
Margarita Ramos is in solo fifth place after a 4-under-par 68.
FISH STRONG ON DAY 1: Shannon Fish had a strong first day with a 3-under-par 69.
“It’s great to see my name on the leaderboard, we all have to start somewhere so starting at the top is a good point to begin the rest of the weekend from,” said Fish. “I hit every fairway and I hit 17 greens so I was definitely putting myself in position to make some birdies and my putter got hot.”
Fish made the turn at 2-under and made birdies on the tenth and 12th holes.
The 3-under 69 is tied for her best round of the season.
“I started off Asheville (Friends of Mission Charity Classic) with a 3-under and made the cut, but I didn’t play as well as I wanted to on Saturday so I think I learned a lot from that round that I will use tomorrow.”
PLAYER APPRECIATION FOR HISTORY IN DECATUR: Lacey Agnew had a strong day one with a 1-under 71.
“I was hitting the ball well and was just looking to make some long putts early,” said the former Florida State golfer. “I got under-par early and that kind of freed up my iron game to hit some close.”
Agnew made two birdies on the front nine and just one bogey on the 11th hole.
In her fifth year on the Epson Tour, Agnew has a deep appreciation for the history of this event.
“It’s a big deal to us to have an event keep renewing that way we are comfortable here because we know the town and the people. We enjoy coming back and we know what to expect so it’s a big deal for us players.”
LOST CLUBS NO PROBLEM FOR CATHRYN BRISTOW: Cathryn Bristow, who is playing in her first Epson Tour event of the year, didn’t think she would get her clubs one day before her first-round. Her baggage was lost in route from New Zealand to Houston. They were finally delivered to her host families’ house in Decatur at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
“It’s happened before, of course you hope it doesn’t happen but you have to be prepared for it,” said Bristow. “I got my clubs and I’m here to play so I’m going to do my best.”
Bristow made one bogey on the front nine before the flat stick got going with three birdies on the back nine.
The 29-year old has played on the Epson Tour since 2010 with one win in 2011 at the Pennsylvania Classic.
She plays predominately on the LET (Ladies European Tour) and ALPG (Australian Ladies Professional Golf).
Bristow had only 30-minutes worth of practice time this week with her clubs, but is now in contention heading into the weekend.
JESSICA WALLACE TRYING TO FIND ‘MOJO’ OF FRIEND: One of Jessica Wallace’s good friends in the golf world is Sue Kim, who won the 2013 Decatur-Forsyth Classic by shooting a final-round 9-under 63.
Wallace is off to a good start after firing a 2-under 70 in the first-round on Friday.
“One of my best friends Sue (Kim) won last year so I am going to try and channel her mojo from last year,” said a happy Wallace. “Hopefully I can throw up a 63 like she did; that would be great.”
The Langley, British Columbia native, who started on the back nine, made birdie on the 14th hole to make the turn at 1-under. She made birdie on the second and fifth holes before giving one shot back on the 8th hole coming in.
“It was a pretty good round out there – I don’t think I missed a fairway and I hit a lot of greens. It was pretty much boring golf but I’ll take it today.”
Wallace was excited to post a low number today after struggling last year in Decatur. She shot a 78 in the first and second rounds and did not make the cut.
“I felt like last year I just did not play this course to my strengths, I was not in the fairways and the rough is long. Last year was not my best result so definitely a lot better today.”
Wallace will have an exciting next week regardless of her result over the weekend. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open and will head straight to Pinehurst from Decatur.
“I’m so excited, this is my first Open and I’ve tried to qualify before. I’ve actually played Pinehurst before when I played in the North-South event there. So, it’s really cool to watch the guys play this week and get to plan what I want to do.”
Wallace’s parents will be flying in from Canada to watch her compete in the Open.
The former University of Colorado golfer has been watching, but also taking notes this week.
“It’s not so much what they do in the fairways, but where they miss around the green, I listen to what the commentators have to say and seeing the shots they are thinking of playing. Some of the guys are putting for 15 feet off the green so I’m thinking I may have some fun around the greens next week.”
Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, 386-679-1292, bret.lasky@lpga.com
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