Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District
Hickory Point Golf Course
Decatur, Illinois
June 9, 2014
Storylines

DECATUR, ILLINOIS – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, begins the second half of the season with the 30th Anniversary Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District, the longest running event in Epson Tour history.

The three-day 54-hole stroke play event will begin on Friday, June 13 and run through Sunday, June 15 at Hickory Point Golf Course.

The Decatur-Forsyth Classic dates back to 1985. Winners of the event have gone onto win 34 LPGA Tour events and have finished in the top-10 in 259 LPGA Tour events. Tammie Green, who won the first two in1985 and 1986, won seven LPGA events including a win at the du Maurier Classic in 1989, an LPGA major at the time.

Lorena Ochoa, who won in Decatur in 2002, went onto win 27 LPGA Tour events including the 2007 Women’s British Open and the 2008 Kraft Nabico Championship.

The 144-player field will be competing for their share of the $100,000 purse with the winner taking home $15,000.

The winner will also have a chance to get inside the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with ten events left. The top-10 on the money list at the end of the season will receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.

This is the 11th event of 20 total events on the Epson Tour, the most in 13 years. The Tour has increased the total purse to $2.25 million, the largest in Tour history.

The defending Decatur-Forsyth Classic champion, Sue Kim, is now playing full-time on the LPGA Tour after finishing sixth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2013.

LIST OF WINNERS: The Decatur-Forsyth Classic has seen only two repeat winners over 29 years. Tammie Green won the inaugural event in 1985 and repeated the feat in 1986 while Nicole Jeray won in 1998 and 2000. Below is a listing of past winners.

Champion	Year	Name of Event
Tammie Green	1985	Decatur Visitors Bureau Classic
Tammie Green	1986	Magna Millikin Bank Classic
Wendy Ver Brugge	1987	Magna Millikin Bank Classic
Lois L. Vucich	1988	Magna Millikin Bank Classic
Vickie Moran	1989	JWA FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Denise Baldwin	1990	JWA FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Marianne Morris	1991	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Kristal Parker-Gregory	1992	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Margaret Platt	1993	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Laura Broadbent	1994	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Lisa Grimes	1995	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Marilyn Lovander	1996	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Jennifer Feldott	1997	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Nicole Jeray	1998	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Lisa Jensen	1999	JWA Anheuser-Busch FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Nicole Jeray	2000	JWA Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Angela Buzminski	2001	JWA Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Lorena Ochoa	2002	JWA Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Stephanie George	2003	Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Aram Cho	2004	Michelob ULTRA FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Jenny Gleason	2005	Michelob ULTRA FUTURES Charity Golf Classic
Salimah Mussani	2006	Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship
Emily Bastel	2007	Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship
Vicky Hurst	2008	Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship
Mina Harigae	2009	Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship
Jennifer Song	2010	Tate & Lyle Players Championship
Valentine Derrey	2011	Tate & Lyle Players Championship
Kristie Smith	2012	Tate & Lyle Players Championship
Sue Kim	2013	Decatur-Forsyth Classic

MIN SEO KWAK TAKES OVER #1 ON MONEY LIST: Min Seo Kwak fired a final-round 7-underpar 65 (tournament-best) to come from five strokes back to capture the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship on Sunday. It was her second Epson Tour victory of the season and it moved her from fourth to first on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Kwak’s winner’s check of $15,000 moved her to $55,476 for the season.

The 23-year-old from Seoul, South Korea has had an incredible run over her last five events. Detailed below, Kwak has finished inside the top-7 in each of the last five tournaments with two
victories during the span.

Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay	T7
Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial	1
Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic	T2
Epson Classic	3
FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship	1

Kwak’s stellar Sunday in Battle Creek, Michigan included seven birdies and no bogeys. She caught fire late on the back nine with four consecutive birdies from the 14th through 17th holes.

She closed the event with a tap-in par to claim the championship.

Kwak also captured the Epson Swift Award on Sunday, given annually to the Tour player that is number one of the money list at the midway point of the season. During the trophy presentation, Kwak was presented with a check for an additional $1,500. Epson will also donate $1,000 in Kwak’s name to her charity of choice.

Kwak is now ahead of pace to break the all-time Epson Tour earnings record of $94,578 set by Cindy LaCrosse in 2010.

Kwak will make a run at back-to-back wins at the Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District.

LPGA APPEARANCE AND TOP-10 FINISH IN LAST TWO WEEKS FOR TALLEY: Volvik Race for the Card money list number eight Emily Talley has been busy over the last two weeks. During the Epson Tour off week two weeks ago, Talley played in the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. This past week, she posted her fourth top-10 result of the season at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship.

Talley used a 2-under 70 in the final round to finish in a tie for eighth.

In her sophomore campaign on the Epson Tour, Talley is positioned to make a run at an LPGA Tour card for 2015.

She finished 26th on the money list last year with just a single top-10 finish.

8 PLAYERS THAT WILL PLAY IN U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN IN FIELD: Eight Epson Tour players that qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, which will be played at Pinehurst #2 from June 19-22, are in the field this week in Decatur.

The eight players are detailed below. The chart also notes the course and area where they qualified.

Brianna Do	Industry Hills Golf Club (City of Industry, California)
Stephanie Na	Buckinghamshire Golf Course (Buckinghamshire, England)
Sadena Parks	Country Club at DC Ranch (Scottsdale, Arizona)
Caroline Powers	Thorny Lea Golf Club (Brockton, Massachusetts)
Marta Silva	Carolina Trace Country Club (Sanford, North Carolina)
Marissa Steen	The Woodlands Country Club (Rumson, New Jersey)
Jessica Wallace	Dunwoody Country Club (Dunwoody, Georgia)
Cheyenne Woods	Country Club at DC Ranch (Scottsdale, Arizona)

A total of 17 Epson Tour members will compete in the most prestigious event in women’s golf.

2001 WINNER BUZMINSKI IN FIELD: Angela Buzminski, who won the JWA Michelob Light FUTURES Charity Golf Classic in 2001, is in the field this week looking for her first Epson Tour
win of the season.

Buzminski beat Catherine Cartwright by one stroke in ‘01 with a 5-under 67 on the final day. She won three events that year on the SBC Futures Tour and finished second on the money list to earn exempt status on the LPGA Tour in 2002.

She played in 48 events on the LPGA Tour from 2002 through 2005.

The 43-year old has played on the Epson Tour for parts of 17 years.

EFFINGHAM, ILLINOIS NATIVE JACLYN JANSEN IN FIELD: Effingham, Illinois native Jaclyn Jansen is in the field this week.

The former St. Anthony’s High School standout and Baylor star is in her second full season on the Epson Tour.

She played in 13 events last year and made six cuts. This year, she has made eight cuts in ten events with her best finish coming at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic when she finished in a tie for 18th.

Jansen shot 73-73 last year in Decatur and missed the cut.

RANTOUL, ILLINOIS NATIVE KATIE JEAN IN FIELD: Rantoul (an hour northeast of Decatur) native Katie Jean is also in the field this week.

Jean won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference individual titles at Illinois State in 2012 and 2013.

The former St Thomas More four-year team MVP was the Missouri Valley Golfer of the Year following the 2012-13 season.

She was the 2007 and 2008 News-Gazette Female Golfer of the Year.

Jean is a rookie on the Epson Tour and has played in just three events this season.

Samantha Richdale also played college golf at Illinois State.

TOP FINISHERS FROM LAST YEAR BACK IN FIELD: Sue Kim defeated Laura Kueny on the second playoff hole last year to capture the Decatur-Forsyth Classic.

Kueny is in the field this week along with Jackie Stoelting and Marissa Steen, who finished in a tie for third last year. Stoelting recently won Big Break Florida and made the cut at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic while Steen is currently second on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Hannah Yun, who finished in a tie for fifth last year, is in the field this week as well.

A THREE-TIME WINNER?: Two players on the Epson Tour, Min Seo Kwak and Marissa Steen, each have two wins on the season.

A third win guarantees them status on the LPGA Tour for the remainder of the year. It also almost certainly wraps up a spot in the top-10 on the money list.

The last time a player won three events in a single Epson Tour season was 2010 when Cindy LaCrosse won the Riviera Nayarit Challenge, the Alliance Bank Golf Classic and the Price Chopper Tour Championship.

Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District Top Storylines

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