Garden City Charity Classic
Buffalo Dunes Golf Course
Garden City, Kansas
September 8, 2014
Storylines

Two Events Left, Shake up in Top-10
Who is Playing Well?
Buffalo Dunes is a Top Course
Incredible Money Year Continues, Five Over $50,000
Six Members of Big Break Florida in the Field
Eight LPGA Tour Members in the Field
27 Nations Represented
Local Garden City High School Grad Playing
“Lasso For Birdies" Program Adds $10,000

GARDEN CITY, Kan., September 8, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, continues the Sunflower State swing by heading west to the inaugural Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course from Thursday, September 11 through Saturday, September 13.

The field will be comprised of aspiring LPGA Tour professionals vying for their share of the $100,000 purse. The winner will earn $15,000 and move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

The top-10 on the year-end Volvik Race for the Card money list receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.

The Garden City Charity Classic is the 19th and penultimate event on the Epson Tour schedule. Following the event in western Kansas, players will head to Daytona Beach, Fla. for the Epson Tour Championship presented by Embry Riddle-Aeronautical University at LPGA International, from September 18-21.

TWO EVENTS LEFT, SHAKE UP IN TOP-10: The Garden City Charity Classic is the 19th event of 20 total on the Epson Tour schedule, the most in 13 years. There is still $250,000 available as players try and squeeze inside the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to earn their LPGA Tour cards.

Two players, Min Lee and Sara-Maude Juneau jumped inside the top-10 after the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic by finishing in a tie for second and earning $7,122. Lee moved from 13th to ninth while Juneau climbed from 17th to tenth.

“From what I learned two years ago when I was in this position, you just have to play consistent over the final two events,” said Juneau, who finished tenth on the money list in 2012 and played on the LPGA Tour in 2013. “Solid play is going to payoff, but right now it is good and bad because I am playing well, but so is the top-15.”

Inside the top-10, Mallory Blackwelder moved from ninth to eighth with her tie for second and Wei-Ling Hsu jumped from fifth to third with her solo fifth place finish in Mayetta.

“I still don’t think this finish locks me for an LPGA Tour card, but it definitely helps to take a little pressure off for the next two,” said Blackwelder, who has finished inside the top-30 in six straight events. “I just need to keep hitting it well, keep playing solid and stick to my game plan.”

The top players shined in Mayetta as 12 of the top-25 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list finished T24 or better.

There is a little more separation between No. 10 (Sara-Maude Juneau) on the money list and No. 11 Veronica Felibert, who is $1,780 outside the top-10.

WHO IS PLAYING WELL?: Olivia Jordan-Higgins is the obvious choice here after her first win of the season on Sunday in Mayetta. Prior to the two week break, she finished in a tie for fifth at the Eagle Classic in Richmond, Va. Before the Richmond event, she missed the cut in three of the previous four events.

Min Lee (Taiwan) has also finished in the top-10 in two straight events. She finished T10 at the Eagle Classic and T2 in Mayetta.

Lindy Duncan (Plantation, Florida), who ranks 13th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, has finished in the top-10 in three of the last four events and in the top-30 in five straight events.

Laura Gonzalez-Escallon (La Hulpe, Belgium), who ranks 19th on the money list, has finished inside the top-20 in four of the last five events.

Jackie Stoelting (Vero Beach, Florida), who ranks sixth on the money list, has finished inside the top-20 in four straight events including a solo second at the New England Charity Classic. Stoelting is 12-under on Sunday’s over the last five events.

BUFFALO DUNES IS A TOP COURSE: Buffalo Dunes is ranked as the No. 1 municipally owned golf course in Kansas by Golf Digest. The course is home to the prestigious Southwest Kansas Pro-Am every year.

Golfing legends that have played Buffalo Dunes include U.S. Open champions Steve Jones and Lee Jansen and British Open champions Tom Weiskopk and Stewart Cink.

According to GOLF.com, Buffalo Dunes is the fourth best public golf course in the state of Kansas.

INCREDIBLE MONEY YEAR CONTINUES, 5 OVER $50,000: Wei-Ling Hsu crossed over the $50,000 marker with her fifth place finish and became the fifth player on Tour to eclipse $50,000 in earnings this year.

Marissa Steen - $75,348
Min Seo Kwak - $68,552
Wei-Ling Hsu - $53,004
Cindy Feng - $51,992
Sadena Parks - $51,894

The last time five players earned over $50,000 in a single-season was 2010 when six players topped $50,000.

Jackie Stoelting ($47,882) and Kendall Dye ($45,495) both are in striking distance of $50,000.

Since 1999, the Epson Tour has never had seven players earn over $50,000.

This year, the Tour is playing for $2.25 million, the largest total purse in Tour history.

SIX MEMBERS OF BIG BREAK FLORIDA IN THE FIELD: Six members of the Golf Channel show Big Break Florida are in the field this week.

Sadena Parks and Jackie Stoelting, who both rank inside the top-10, headline the group that also includes Mary Narzisi, Kristi O’Brien, Fiamma Felitch and Lindsay Aho.

Narzisi has played in 17 events while O’Brien has played in 12. Both are coming off strong finishes in Mayetta. Narzisi finished in a tie for 27th while O’Brien placed T32.

Felitch played in her first Epson Tour event at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic while Aho will make her Tour debut this week.

EIGHT LPGA TOUR MEMBERS IN FIELD: There are eight players that have conditional LPGA Tour status in the field this week.

The eight are Brittany Altomare, Dottie Ardina, Brianna Do, Lindy Duncan, Veronica Felibert, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Marta Silva and Jackie Stoelting.

Of the eight, six are within the top-30 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

27 NATIONS REPRESENTED: There will be 27 different countries including the United States represented this week in Garden City.

There are 48 international players in the field.

LOCAL GARDEN CITY HIGH SCHOOL GRAD PLAYING: Abbi Shaddix and Courtney Dow have received sponsor exemptions into the field that will compete at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.

Shaddix, a 2013 Garden City High School graduate, was a three-time Kansas 6A Regional Champion. She finished second in the state of Kansas in 2013. Shaddix now plays college golf at North Texas.

“I’ve known Cole Wasinger (tournament director) for a really long time and it will be a good opportunity for me,” said Shaddix. ”It’s my home course and this is a big golf community. This event is a big opportunity for this community.”

Shaddix will be playing in her first professional event on her home course.

“I want to see what it takes to play at the professional level.”

Dow, a 16-year-old from Trinity Christian Academy in Frisco, Tx., recently won the AJGA Kansas Junior at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course. She also has a fifth place finish at the PGA Junior Series at GC of Dallas and a sixth place result at the AJGA Goodman Networks Junior at Traditions.

Dow has already committed to play college golf at Texas A&M starting in 2016.

“It’s really exciting, I’ve had friends that have played in professional events and they’ve told me about the experience,” said Dow. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

“LASSO FOR BIRDIES” PROGRAM ADDS $10,000: There will be added incentive to score this week at the Garden City Charity Classic. A total of $10,000 is up for grabs in bonus money during the tournament based on number of birdies made.

The player who cards the most birdies will receive $1,500, while the player who records the second most birdies will receive $1,000 and the player with the third most birdies will earn $500.

The bonus money will be awarded after first-round play on Thursday, Sept. 11 and second round play on Friday, Sept. 12.

“In keeping with the cowboy theme for this new event in Kansas, we wanted to come up with a way to give the players even more reason to round up the birdies,” said Chief Business Officer of the Epson Tour, Mike Nichols. “It’s going to be exciting to watch the competition within the competition.”

During final-round play on Saturday, Sept. 13, there will also be cash prizes awarded to the players with the three highest birdie totals. In addition, each player that birdies the par-3 17th hole on Saturday will receive $100 when exiting the green.

The 17th hole will be the featured hole of the tournament. There will be music, family fun, caddie competitions and more. The 17th hole will be set up very similar to the 17th hole at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on the LGPA Tour. Fans will be encouraged to be loud to create a stadium-like atmosphere.

Garden City Charity Classic Top Storylines

Related Articles