Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club
Harris, Michigan
June 26, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes

HARRIS, MICHIGAN, June 26, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, tees off at the fourth-annual Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass Golf Club on Friday, June 27.

The 144-player field comprised of future LPGA Tour stars are competing for their share of the $125,000 total purse, the fourth largest on Tour this year.

The first group of Michelle Low (Ipoh, Malaysia), Mary Narzisi (Omaha, Nebraska) and Ket Preamchuen (Chachoengsao, Thailand) will tee off at 7:30 a.m. from the first tee. Simultaneously, Jennifer Brumbaugh (Scotts Valley, California), Christine Meier (Rochester Hills, Michigan) and Michelle Shin (Cape Coral, Florida) will tee from the tenth tee.

WISCONSIN PLAYERS IN FIELD: There are two former University of Wisconsin golfers in the field this week; Carly Werwie (Kenosha) and Jessie Gerry (Madison).

Werwie played four years for the Badgers and earned her first career win in 2010-11 at the Badger Invitational. She recorded five top-20 results including finishing 19th at the Big Ten Championships. Werwie is in her second full season on the Epson Tour.

Gerry also played four years for Wisconsin and finished with the seventh best scoring average in school history (77.82) in 2011-12. She was the recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship award in 2012. Gerry is a rookie on the Epson Tour and has played in a total of eight events.

GROWING PURSE AT ISLAND RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP: The total purse of the Island Resort Championship has continued to rise over the last four years.

2014: $125,000
2013: $115,000
2012: $110,000
2011: $110,000

The growth in the Island Resort Championship purse has mirrored the growth in the Epson Tour total purse, which exceeds $2 million this year for the first time in Tour history.

SWEETGRASS WILL BE TOUGH CHALLENGE: Last year at the Island Resort Championship, a total of four players finished under-par. In 2012, 13 players finished under-par and at the inaugural event, seven players carded under-par totals.

For comparison sake, 44 players finished under-par at the Four Winds Invitational last week in South Bend, Indiana.

VOLVIK TOP-10 PLAYER TO WATCH: Emily Talley, who ranks tenth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, has finished inside the top-15 in four of the last five events.

Talley finished in a tie for 12th at the Four Winds Invitational last week.

She has shot even par or better in seven of her last nine rounds.

Talley has a second place finish this year at the Epson Classic in Charlotte and a tie for third at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club.

PLAYERS GLOWING ABOUT SWEETGRASS AND ISLAND RESORT: Epson Tour players have had high praise for Sweetgrass Golf Club and the hospitality at the Island Resort Championship early in the week.

Here is a quote from Rachel Rohanna.

“Sweetgrass is obviously so beautiful up here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It has that nice rich soil in the northern United States which is quite different from a lot of the courses earlier this year in the south. It’s definitely playing a little bit longer because of the rain but you can tell that it has drained really well. The course is in absolutely beautiful shape and I know we are all really excited to be here. People have been talking about this tournament since the beginning on the season.”

- Rachel Rohanna from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania

AMAZING YEAR FOR MIN SEO KWAK: The Volvik Race for the Card money list leader Min Seo Kwak has five top-10 finishes and two victories this year.

She won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial and the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship.

Kwak has earned $57, 220 this year.

MARQUETTE NATIVE AVERY ROCHESTER TEES AT 9:10 AM: Marquette, Michigan native Avery Rochester, who received a sponsor exemption into the Island Resort Championship, will tee off at 9:10 a.m. from the tenth tee.

Rochester played high school golf at Marquette Senior High School.

She recently completed her freshman year at Columbia College. This spring, she took home first place at the William Woods Spring Invitational and the Central Methodist Spring Open.

She was named the American Midwest Conference Freshman of the Year. She was also First Team All-AMC.

BECCA HUFFER WINS MICHIGAN OPEN: Epson Tour member Becca Huffer won the Michigan PGA Women’s Open Championship with a three-day total of 11-under 205 on Wednesday.

She won the top prize of $5,500.

Huffer birdied the final two holes to break a three-way tie.

The former Notre Dame golfer will tee off in the Island Resort Championship at 1:20 p.m. from the tenth hole.

Last week at the Four Winds Invitational, she finished in a tie for 19th with a final-round 4-under 68.

CINDY FENG TALKS US OPEN FINISH: Cindy Feng, the third ranked player on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, is in Harris to play in her first Epson Tour event since the Epson Classic in Charlotte (May 22-24).

She did not play in the first two events during the current swing and missed the Four Winds Invitational because she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open.

Feng, who has six top-10 finishes and one victory at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic this year, finished in a tie for 13th at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst.

“It just helps to know that I can play at that level (LPGA),” said the 18-year-old Feng. “I saw the leaderboard and a lot of people didn’t even make the cut so it is helpful to know I played well.”

Feng leads the Epson Tour in scoring average (71.37) and greens in regulation (78.4).

FOR THE YMCA: The main beneficiary of the Island Resort Championship is the Delta County YMCA. On Wednesday, Epson Tour players Madeleine Sheils, Vanessa Brockett, Allie White and Caroline Powers visited the Delta County YMCA to spend time with the kids.

The professionals participated in a question and answer session with the kids and also competed in an egg-toss competition.

Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292

Island Resort Championship Pre-Tournament News & Notes

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