Defending Champion Jaclyn Sweeney and Phoenix Native Cheyenne Woods
Headline the Field in Season-Opening Event

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, February 17, 2014 – The Road to the LPGA kicks off this week at the Epson Tour’s first tournament - the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic in Mesa, Ariz. The second annual event opens an exciting 2014 schedule that features 20 official tournaments and a total purse exceeding $2 million for the first time in tour history.

TWEET IT! The 2014 season on the @Road2LPGA kicks off this week in Mesa with 20 events scheduled and the highest average purse in Tour history.

Known as the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, the Epson Tour added five new events this season, including the first-ever $200,000 purse at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Charity Classic that will be held in Greenwood, South Carolina May 8-11. The last time there were more than 20 events was in 1989, when the Epson Tour consisted of 21 total tournaments.

“The Epson Tour is again proud to provide the opportunity for players to reach their goal of playing on the LPGA Tour,” said Mike Nichols, Chief Business Officer of the Epson Tour. “Our main focus has been to achieve the same type of upward growth as seen on the LPGA Tour. With five new events, great courses to compete on each week and the highest average purse in tour history, we are excited to get the season underway.”

Included in the five new tournaments are two tournaments sponsored by Bands of the Potawatomi Nation; the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship to be played in Battle Creek, Mich. June 6-8, and the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic to be played in Mayetta, Kan., September 5-7.

Another new event is the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial to be played May 2-4, an event being held at the home club of Patty Berg in Fort Myers, Fla. Berg was one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and is credited with more major wins than any other female golfer. Four of five new tournaments have already been announced and the fifth will be announced shortly.

In addition to five new tournaments on the Epson Tour schedule, four existing events will be held at new venues this year: the Volvik Championship will now be played at Pacific Palms Resort, which hosted the LPGA Tour in 2011; the Florida's Natural Charity Classic will be moved to the Donald Ross-designed Lake Wales Country Club; the IOA Golf Classic will be played at the Alaqua Country Club in Longwood, Fla. and the New England Charity Classic (formerly the Northeast Delta Dental International) will move 30 minutes south to the Stonebridge Country Club in Goffstown, N.H.

2014 Epson Tour Schedule

The 2014 season marks the third year in the Tour’s 34-year history that the top-10 Epson Tour players on the season ending Volvik Race for the Card standings will earn fully exempt status. Jaclyn Sweeney, who finished 10th in last year’s Race for the Card, will return to Phoenix this week to defend her title at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic. Phoenix native Cheyenne Woods also highlights the field after picking up her first major professional victory on the Ladies European Tour at the Volvik RACV Australian Ladies Masters on February 9.

Which players will be presented with fully exempt membership this year? Several stars of the LPGA Tour got their start on the Epson Tour including 27-time LPGA Tour winner, Lorena Ochoa, 2011 U.S. Solheim Cup Team member, Vicky Hurst, and 2013 Rolex Player of the Year, Inbee Park.

Expanded 2014 Epson Tour Schedule Tees Off in Mesa

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