Four Winds Invitational
Blackthorn Golf Club
South Bend, Indiana
June 19, 2014
Pre-Tournament News & Notes

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, June 19, 2014 – The Epson Tour, the Road to the LPGA, tees off at the third-annual Four Winds Invitational on Friday, June 20 at Blackthorn Golf Club.

The three round 54-hole stroke play event will conclude on Sunday, June 22.

The 144-player field comprised of the future stars of the LPGA will be competing for a $150,000 total purse, the second largest on Tour. The winner will take home $22,500 and have a great chance to earn their LPGA Tour card for 2015.

In 2012 and 2013, the winner of the Four Winds Invitational went onto to get their LPGA Tour card the following year. Julia Boland, who won in 2012, went onto finish eighth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list while Cydney Clanton, who won the Four Winds Invitational in 2013, finished fifth on the year-end money list.

For perspective, if a player has earned zero dollars this year, a win in South Bend would potentially still bump them into the top-10 on the money list. Tenth on the money list is currently held by Jennie Lee, who has made $20,462, less than the winner’s share this week.

PLAYERS CALLING SOUTH BEND A ‘MAJOR’: Epson Tour players have referred to the Four Winds Invitational this week as one of the “majors” on Tour this year. Although the Epson Tour doesn’t designate “majors”, the total purse for the Four Winds Invitational makes this a critical week on Tour.

“We consider this to be one of our majors,” said Epson Tour member Stefanie Kenoyer.

Sara Brown, who has played this event twice, echoed the sentiments of Kenoyer.

“This is one the best tournaments with one of the highest purses,” said Brown, who finished T59 in 2013 and T17 in 2012 at the Four Winds Invitational. “It’s awesome to come back every year.”

Becca Huffer, who played college golf at Notre Dame, is excited to be back in the area but also eager to compete in one of the biggest events of the year.

“Everyone is really excited about this event, I know there are even some girls with LPGA status playing out here,” said Huffer. “Having a big purse helps everyone out and it is awesome that it’s here in South Bend.”

STRONG FIELD THIS WEEK: Even with some Epson Tour players missing for the U.S. Women’s Open, the field at the Four Winds Invitational is strong. Fifteen of the top 20 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list will tee off on Friday.

BRITTANY ALTOMARE MODEL OF CONSISTENCY: UVA All-American and second year Epson Tour member Brittany Altomare, who is eighth on the Volvik Race for Card money list
23,511) has been a model of consistency this year.

Altomare has finished inside the top-30 in nine of the ten events she has played in. She has finished inside the top-10 four times and inside the top-20 six times.

JENNY SUH WAS SO CLOSE IN 2012: Jenny Suh almost won the inaugural Four Winds Invitational in 2012. She finished one stroke behind Julia Boland in a tie for second with Birdie Kim at 3-under for the weekend.

Suh finished just outside the top-10 (11th) on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2012.

Suh, who plays predominantly on the LPGA Tour, has played in two Epson Tour events this year.

She has had some strong finishes on the LPGA Tour this year including a tie for 13th at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic.

Suh is in the field this week in South Bend looking for her second career Epson Tour win. She won the 2009 Alliance Bank Golf Classic.

ALENA SHARP IS PLAYER TO KEEP EYE ON: Alena Sharp, who is an LPGA Tour member, won the first Epson Tour event of the year in Mesa, Arizona (Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at
Longbow Golf Club).

Sharp also had a strong finish at the Four Winds Invitational last year when she finished in a tie for sixth at 6-under. She fired a final-round 4-under 68 to get inside the top-10.

The Canadian has four career top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. This year, she has two top-20 finishes on the LPGA at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic (T18) and the North Texas LPGA
Shootout presented by JTBC (T14).

21 EPSON TOUR PLAYERS TO TEE AT U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN: There are 21 Epson Tour members playing in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst #2 this week.
1. Jasi Acharya
2. Rebecca Artis
3. Karlin Beck
4. Brianna Do
5. Cindy Feng
6. Wei-Ling Hsu
7. Paula Hurtado
8. Stacey Keating
9. Birdie Kim
10. Ashley Knoll
11. Tzu-Chi Lin
12. Stephanie Na
13. Catherine O’Donnell
14. Sadena Parks
15. Caroline Powers
16. Marta Silva
17. Carleigh Silvers
18. Jennifer Song
19. Marissa Steen
20. Jessica Wallace
21. Cheyenne Woods

LINDY DUNCAN FINISHED 15th AT U.S. OPEN LAST YEAR: With the biggest event in women’s golf beginning today, it’s worth noting the Lindy Duncan, who is in the field this week in South Bend, finished in a tie for 15th last year at the U.S. Women’s Open and received a check for $54,755 for her performance.

Duncan finished ahead of the likes of Na Yeon Choi (T17), Cristie Kerr (T20), Lizette Salas (T20), Morgan Pressel (T20) and Lydia Ko (T36).

Amy Meier, who is also in the field this week, finished in a tie for 57th at the U.S. Open last year and made $9,211.

Caroline Westrup, who has LPGA status and is playing this week in South Bend, finished in a tie for 59th.

LOCALS TEE TIMES: There are seven Indiana connections to the field this week in South Bend. The two sponsor exemptions, Julia Potter and Kari Bellville, both played at Penn High School. Potter went onto play at Missouri and is now Director of Marketing and Women’s Golf for the Indiana Golf Office while Bellville is headed to Notre Dame next year to play college golf.

Noriko Nakazaki and Becca Huffer both played college golf at Notre Dame.

Angela Buzminski was a 1994 Indiana University graduate. Buzminski has played on the Epson Tour for parts of 17 years. She has five career victories on the this Tour and also played on the LPGA Tour from 2002-2004.

Kristi O’Brien is from Fishers, Indiana while Kristi Cardwell is from Kokomo, Indiana.

Julia Potter – 12:20 PM (10th tee)
Kari Bellville – 9:00 AM (1st tee)
Noriko Nakazaki – 7:40 AM (1st tee)
Becca Huffer – 12:10 AM (10th tee)
Kristi O’Brien – 9:10 AM (1st tee)
Kristi Cardwell – 7:40 AM (10th tee)
Angela Buzminski – 7:50 AM (1st tee)

TWO JUNIOR CLINICS THIS WEEK: The Epson Tour and Four Winds Casino hosted two junior clinics this week on the driving range at Blackthorn Golf Club for area golfers.

On Thursday, Epson Tour golfers Allie White (left) and Jessi White (right) hosted the junior clinic for boys and girls.

GOLFING ON THE GRIDIRON: As part of the Four Winds Invitational, Epson Tour golfers and golf professionals from Blackthorn Golf Club hosted Golfing on the Gridiron at the old College Football Hall of Fame in downtown South Bend.

Epson Tour golfers Liz Wendt, Caroline Westrup, Stephanie Connelly, Numa Gulyanamitta, Tiffany Tavee and Katie Mundy worked with kids at fun golf stations set up around a turf football field.

Over 60 kids came out for fun activities like trying to hit a golf club into an inflatable dinosaurs mouth and arms.

Four Winds Invitational Pre-tournament News & Notes

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