Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic presented by Toyota
Firekeeper Golf Course
Mayetta, Kansas
September 4, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes
Who is Playing Well?
Three Events Left
Wei-Ling Hsu on Cover of Taiwanese Magazine
6th Longest Course of the Year
Kendall Dye at Emporia State Game
Cornhusker Talks About Playing Near Home
Busy Week in the Community
MAYETTA, Kan., September 4, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, is ready to tee off at the inaugural Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic presented by Toyota at Firekeeper Golf Course. First-round play begins on Friday, September 5.
The 54-hole stroke play format will conclude with final-round play on Sunday, September 7.
The field will be competing for their share of the $100,000 total purse. The winner will receive $15,000.
WHO IS PLAYING WELL?: There may not be a player performing at a higher level of late than Jackie Stoelting, who ranks sixth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. She has finished inside the top-15 in each of the last three events including a tie for tenth at the Eagle Classic.
Stoelting finished second in the New England Charity Classic when she lost in a playoff to Sadena Parks.
Stoelting won Big Break Florida this year. Mallory Blackwelder has finished inside the top-30 in five straight events. She has finished in a tie for 15th in the last two events. Blackwelder currently ranks ninth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
3 EVENTS LEFT: With three events remaining, the race is tight to get inside the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Players between ten and 20 are separated by just $8,430.
10. Veronica Felibert - $32,009
11. Lindy Duncan - $31,727
12. Demi Runas - $31,714
13. Min Lee - $31,365
14. Brittany Altomare - $29,824
15. Nicole Vandermade - $29,617
16. Emily Talley - $29,104
17. Sara-Maude Juneau - $28,843
18. Madison Pressel - $27,597
19. Laura Gonzalez-Escallon - $27,375
20. Jennie Lee - $23,579
Next week, the Tour heads to Garden City for the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.
WEI-LING HSU ON COVER OF TAIWANESE MAGAZINE: Volvik Race for the Card No. 5 Wei-Ling Hsu, who won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic earlier in the year, is on the cover of ONEGOLF Magazine September issue based in Taiwan.
The six-page feature discusses her season and the potential of playing on the LPGA Tour in 2015.
With three events left, Hsu’s $48,749 in earnings appear safe to stay in the top-10.
6TH LONGEST COURSE OF THE YEAR:
Firekeeper Golf Course is set up to play 6,437 total yards, the sixth longest course that the Tour has played this year.
1. Decatur Forsyth Classic – 6,600 yards
2. Volvik Championship – 6,549 yards
3. Firekeeper Casino Hotel Championship – 6,544 yards
4. Four Winds Invitational – 6,453 yards
5. Visit Mesa Gateway Classic – 6,439 yards
6. Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic – 6,437 yards
With typical Kansas winds of well over 10 miles-per-hour expected all three days of the tournament, the course will play longer than the total yardage. Therefore, the course could favor some of the longer hitters on Tour.
Kendra Little leads the Epson Tour in driving distance at 266.037. Laura Wearn (263.456), Nicole Vandermade (262.413), Rachel Rohanna (262.214) and Daniela Iacobelli (260.458) round out the top-10.
KENDALL DYE AT EMPORIA STATE GAME: Kendall Dye, who ranks seventh on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, will be an honorary captain at Emporia State’s season opening football game Thursday against Missouri Southern.
Dye will be part of the coin toss and then will also put on the headset and call the first offensive play for coach Garin Higgins and the #22 ranked Hornets.
“I love football and it has always been on my bucket list to do the coin toss and put on a headset on the sidelines,” said Dye. “I look forward to cheering on the Hornets tonight.”
CORNHUSKER TALKS ABOUT PLAYING NEAR HOME: When you dream of playing on the LPGA Tour, it only takes a taste to deepen the desire. Madeleine Sheils will tee off just hours from her college home of Lincoln, Nebraska this week at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic. A week ago, she Monday qualified for the Portland Classic, her first career LPGA Tour event.
Although she missed the cut, it didn’t sour the taste one bit.
“It (LPGA) was absolutely fantastic,” said Sheils. “I knew going in that whether I played great or didn’t play so great, I would come away with a wonderful learning experience and I did.”
With a taste of grandeur, she has never been hungrier for a return.
“What I took away most was that the LPGA Tour is no longer a distant light at the end of the tunnel, it is now right around the corner. I felt like I belonged and I could hang with them, but my putter was just not hot at all.”
Sheils is determined to get back to the LPGA and do so sooner rather than later.
“You see all these great players who have won majors and hall-of-famers and I want to be out there so bad. That’s what we all dream for and getting out there and having a taste makes me that much hungrier. I’m determined to get there quickly.”
Sheils currently ranks 35th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with $16,750 earned in 15 events played. The 2012 Nebraska graduate will play in two of the final three events. She will miss the Garden City Charity Classic to attend her older sisters wedding.
“What is great about the Epson Tour is that it prepared me for the LPGA event. I felt normal once I got inside the ropes because I knew exactly how to practice and how best to tee it up on Thursday and how to carry myself once I was playing. It felt like just another golf event which is definitely a testament to how well the Epson Tour prepares us.”
With just two events remaining on her schedule, she is mentally prepared for what she needs to do and is confident.
“In order to get inside the top-10, I probably need a win or two top-2 finishes. I need a win and I know I can do it. I’m playing as good as I have ever played and it’s just a matter of putting everything together for three days.”
She has two top-10 finishes including a tie for fifth at the Four Winds Invitational.
“If I don’t get into the top-10, my goal is at least to get into the top-25 so I can skip stage two (of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament) which is a huge goal. I want to be on the LPGA Tour really, really badly so top-10 here or top-20 at Q-School stage three is the goal.”
The Boise, Idaho native has shown significant improvement from her rookie 2013 campaign. Her scoring average has dropped from 73.67 to 72.91. She missed six cuts last year and has missed
just one this year. She went from 96th to now 21st in greens in regulation and her driving distance has increased from 228.256 to 239.880.
“This is the best I have hit the ball, ever. My ball-striking is as consistent and strong as it has ever been and I think I am playing the game better than I ever have. My preparation during the week is really good and I work well with my caddie, Wayne.”
In November of 2013, Sheils added two new golf coaches to her team, Michael Pinkey and Terry Rowles, who are based in Phoenix where Sheils lives in the offseason.
“Over the course of the last year, they’ve had a big influence on me. They’ve been a huge part of my success, they are really good at what they do and we work well together. They’ve helped me better understand my own swing. I understand ball flight and I understand my tendencies better. I’ve worked really hard at what they’ve given me to make sure that I hit the ball better.”
Sheils, the only Nebraska graduate playing on a professional tour, feels at home this week in Mayetta.
“It’s really cool being here because it feels like every day of practice that I had for four years at Nebraska. It was just as hot and windy and it feels like home.”
Sheils has fond memories of her four years in Lincoln. Four former teammates, one roommate and their families will be at Firekeeper Golf Course to watch her play this week.
“The thing that makes Nebraska so special is the people. There is incredible character and a family feel at the entire school. It’s going to be a really cool reunion.”
As far as her chances to win this week, Sheils feels like her advantage will come through experience playing in the wind. Unlike most players on Tour, Sheils is praying for a swirling wind.
“I know you have to stay patient in the wind. It (wind) tends to really raise the scores quickly so as long as you hold on and don’t get frustrated you’ll do well. I actually hope it blows hard, I think that will give me an advantage.”
Sheils didn’t earn her first win until her senior year of college and has worked for every inch of success she has achieved.
“The only thing that has ever come easy for me is the idea of hard work.”
Her hard working mentally is similar to current Volvik Race for the Card money list leader Marissa Steen.
“It’s been really inspiring to watch her be so successful this year because I do feel like I relate to her, especially after I read the last article on her when she played in Portland. She is so steady, so consistent and she gets the job done and that is how I see myself.”
Steen has assured her spot on the LPGA Tour and Sheils has a great chance to join her with a big finish to the season.
Her chance at a strong finish starts on Friday at 1:25 p.m. when she tees off in first-round play.
BUSY WEEK IN THE COMMUNITY: On Tuesday, Epson Tour professionals Calle Nielson and Jackie Stoelting hosted a junior clinic at Firekeeper Golf Course for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Boys & Girls Club. The professionals discussed how they got into golf and what life is like as a professional athlete. They also demonstrated different types of shots and then the kids had an opportunity to take some cuts with instruction from Nielson and Stoelting.
Nielson (Nashville, Tenn.) ranks 29th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list while Stoelting (Vero Beach, Fla.) ranks sixth.
On Wednesday, Epson Tour professionals Ashleigh Albrecht (Murrieta, Calif.) and Allie White (Lancaster, Ohio) visited the AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) program at Topeka High School. The AVID program is designed to prepare students for college.
Albrecht and White talked to the students about the importance of academics, balancing life as a student-athlete in college and their current lives as professionals.
The students also had time to ask questions to both professionals.
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