Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club
Harris, Michigan
June 23, 2014
Storylines

HARRIS, MICHIGAN, June 23, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, closes the first Midwest swing of the year with the fourth-annual Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass Golf Club from June 27-29. This is the 13th of 20 total events on Tour, the most in the last 13 years.

Epson Tour players are competing for a total purse of $2.25 million this year, the largest in Tour history.

The three-day 54-hole stroke play event begins on Friday, June 27 and concludes on Sunday, June 29.

The 144-player field comprised of aspiring LPGA Tour players will compete for their share of the $125,000 total purse, tied for the fourth largest on Tour. The winner will receive $18,750 and take a significant step towards an LPGA Tour card for the 2015 season.

The top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list will earn full-time exempt status on the LPGA Tour in 2015. With 12 of 20 events in the books and eight events remaining, the push to get inside the top-10 is heating up.

The defending Island Resort champion, Kim Kaufman, is now playing full-time on the LPGA Tour. Kaufman started the year on the Epson Tour before making a splash at the North Texas LPGA Shootout by finishing in a tie for fourth to earn enough money to obtain full-time status on Tour.

She recently finished in a tie for 23rd at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

In 2012, Leah Wigger defeated Nicole Jeray and Victoria Elizabeth by three strokes to win the Island Resort Championship.

Stephanie Kim won the inaugural Island Resort Championship in 2011 by two shots over Jane Rah.

RECAP OF LAST WEEK: Nicole Vandermade shot a Epson Tour season-best 8-under 64 in the first round of the Four Winds Invitational and then held off Lee Lopez on the final day to claim her first career Epson Tour win.

She finished at 12-under-par for the event, one shot better than Lopez (-11).

Vandermade jumped from 90th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to 8th while Lopez’s second place finish moved her from 25th to seventh.

Big Break Florida winner Jackie Stoelting, who is in Harris this week, shot a final-round 7-under 65 to finish in a tie for third with Jaclyn Jansen.

VERY STRONG FIELD: The Island Resort Championship will feature nine of the top-10 players on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The only player not in the field is Wei-Ling Hsu, who ranks fourth. The top-three of Min Seo Kwak ($57,220), Marissa Steen ($51,401) and Cindy Feng ($47,347) have combined to win five of the 12 events this year.

In addition, 17 of the top-20 on the money list are in Harris.

POTAWATOMI CUP STANDINGS: The Island Resort Championship is the third of four Potawatomi Cup events. Earlier this year, the Tour announced the formation of the Potawatomi Cup in conjunction with the four events sponsored by Potawatomi nations’ casinos. A total of $40,000 in bonus money will be awarded, with $8,500 available at each Potawatomi Cup event, and an additional $6,000 going to the Potawatomi Cup winner.

As you will notice below, all points are cumulative based on performance at all four events.

Below is a look at the Potawatomi Cup points leaders through two events.
Rank	Player	FireKeepers Points	Four Winds Points	Total Points
1	Min Seo Kwak	500	42.5	542.5
2	Nicole Vadermade	0	500	500
3	Daniela Iacobelli	300	57.14	357.14
4	Lee Lopez	44.5	300	344.5
5	Jean Reynolds	190	49.5	239.5

Potawatomi Cup Earning Leaders
Rank	Player	Money Earned
1	Min Seo Kwak	$6,000
2	Daniela Iacobelli	$4,000
3	Nicole Vandermade	$2,500
4	Jean Reynolds	$2,000
5	Lee Lopez	$1,000
6	Caroline Powers	$375
	Dawn Shockley	$375
	Pinrath Loomboonruang	$375
	Kendall Dye	$375

How the Potawatomi Cup Points System Works? 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 received the following payouts, respectively: $3,000, $2,500, $1,500, $1,000 and $500. At the conclusion of the second event, the points were recalculated through the first two tournaments, and the top-5 finishers in cumulative points received the same amounts. Therefore, since Min Seo Kwak maintained the top position in the standings through the first two events, she collected $6,000. At the conclusion of the fourth event, the person who has secured the most points will be awarded a $6,000 bonus and the Potawatomi Cup. In total, $40,000 will be awarded during the four weeks.

ANOTHER FIRST-TIME WINNER?: When Nicole Vandermade surged into the lead on Sunday with an eagle on the par-5 16th hole at the Four Winds Invitational and dropped a short putt on 18
to win, she became the eighth first-time winner on the Epson Tour in 2014.

Alena Sharp: Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club -12
Cindy Feng: Florida’s Natural Charity Classic -9
Kendall Dye: IOA Golf Classic -11
Marissa Steen (2): Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay -3
Min Seo Kwak (2): Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial -7
Mallory Blackwelder: Epson Classic -10
Madison Pressel: Decatur-Forsyth Classic -6
Nicole Vandermade: Four Winds Invitational -12

Seven of the eight players listed above are in the field this week.

The only players that have won this year and in prior years are Kim Kaufman, who won the Volvik Championship this year and Island Resort Championship last year and Wei-Ling Hsu, who won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic this year and the Credit Union Challenge last year.

FOUR MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS IN THE FIELD: There are four former Michigan State Spartans in the field this week at the Island Resort Championship.

Sara Brown, Laura Kueny, Christine Meier and Caroline Powers will all tee off in the state of Michigan.

Brown, who has played on the Epson Tour since 2008 and has seven career top-10 finishes and one victory, was a two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection for the Spartans. She finished the 2006 2007 season as the 53rd best player in the country according to Golfweek/Sagarin.

Kueny, who has played on Tour since 2009 and has one victory and four top-10 finishes, was a three-time First Team All-Big Ten selection. Kueny was the 2010 Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year.

Meier, who has played in a total of three Epson Tour events, recently graduated from Michigan State. She helped lead MSU to four NCAA Regional appearances and three straight trips to the
NCAA Championships.

Powers, who is playing in her first full season on Tour and ranks 28th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, is the all-time scoring average leader in MSU history (74.26). She was a threetime honorable mention All-American.

OTHER MICHIGAN COLLEGE CONNECTIONS: In addition to the four Spartans in the field, there are two other players in the field that played college golf in Michigan.

Britney Hamilton (Lake Orion, Michigan) played at Western Michigan University. During the 2010-11 season, she became the first Bronco golfer to earn a bid into NCAA Regionals.

Cheryl Mitchell played college golf at Oakland University and turned professional in 2003. She has played in five events on the Epson Tour.

LAST YEAR’S RUNNER UP BACK IN FIELD: Mitsuki Katahira lost on the first playoff hole last year at the Island Resort Championship to Kim Kaufman. Katahira is back in the field this year. The 24-year-old has made six of 11 cuts this year.

FIELD BY THE NUMBERS:
Players with LPGA Tour status: 12
Countries Represented: 24 (including United States)
First Time Players: 3

FROM THE U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN TO ISLAND RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP: Nine Epson Tour players that played in the prestigious U.S. Women’s Open last week at Pinehurst #2 will tee off at the Island Resort Championship this week at Sweetgrass Golf Club.

A total of 21 Epson Tour members competed in the U.S. Women’s Open. Cindy Feng, who ranks third on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, finished in a tie for 13th at 6-over-par and earned $77,640 for her performance.

Feng finished in front of LPGA Tour stars Lydia Ko (T15), Paula Creamer (T15), Juli Inkster (T15) and Azahara Munoz (T22).

Below is a list of Epson Tour players that played in the U.S. Open that will tee off in Harris.

Player	U.S. Women's Open Finish	U.S. Women's Open Score
Jasi Acharya	Missed Cut	+20
Brianna Do	Missed Cut	+16
Cindy Feng	T13	+6
Stephanie Na	Missed Cut	+10
Catherine O’Donnell	Missed Cut	+13
Sadena Parks	Missed Cut	+11
Caroline Powers	Missed Cut	+17
Marissa Steen	Missed Cut	+14
Kris Tamulis	Missed Cut	+10

HOW TIGHT IT REALLY IS ON MONEY LIST: The Volvik Race for the Card money list always creates an exciting last few months of the season as players jockey for an LPGA Tour card.

Currently, tenth on the money list Emily Talley ($25,251) and 20th Sara-Maude Juneau ($17,925) are separated by less than $8,000. The player that finishes in second place this week will earn $11,740, enough for a player in 20th position to potentially move inside the top-10.

When you look at the players seventh through 15th, the race is even tighter.

7.	Lee Lopez	$27,684
8.	Nicole Vandermade	$26,278
9.	Mallory Blackwelder	$25,626
10.	Emily Talley	$25,251
11.	Brittany Altomare	$24,558
12.	Jennie Lee	$20,490
13.	Marta Silva	$20,462
14.	Demi Runas	$20,167
15.	Laura Gonzalez-Escallon	$19,957

The top-6 on the Volvik Race for the Card have separated themselves with earnings that exceed $33,000.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: In honor of the recent 11-year-old Lucy Li, who played in the U.S. Women’s Open, here is a look at some of the younger competitors in the field this week in Harris.

There are eight players in the field under the age of 21.

18-Year-Olds
Pinrath Loomboonruang (Bangkok, Thailand)
Avery Rochester (Marquette, Michigan)
Cindy Feng (ChangDe, China)

19-Year-Olds
Brogan McKinnon (Toronto, Canada)
Min Lee (Taoyuan County, Taiwan
JiSoo Park (Daegu, South Korea)

20-Year-Olds
Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Phillippines)
Ginger Howard (Bradenton, Florida)

BACK-TO-BACK FOR TEXAS LONGHORNS: The last two winners on the Epson Tour, Madison Pressel at the Decatur-Forsyth Classic and Nicole Vandermade at the Four Winds Invitational both played college golf at the University of Texas.

There are five total Texas Longhorns in the field at the Island Resort Championship. The five former Longhorns are: Desiree Dubreuil, Shannon Fish, Madison Pressel, Katelyn Sepmoree and Nicole Vandermade.

Island Resort Championship Top Storylines

Related Articles