Volvik Championship
Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms Resort
City of Industry, California
March 2, 2014
First Round News & Notes

First-Round Recap
Mallory Blackwelder and Cindy Feng
Kenoyer's a Fan of Rain/Wind
Whittier Native Holes Out on 18th

Veronica Felibert Leads after First-Round of Volvik Championship
Final round begins Sunday and will conclude on Monday

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CALIFORNIA – After days of severe weather, the Volvik Championship had a somewhat calm feel on Sunday as play resumed at 7:29 a.m. at Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms Resort. Veronica Felibert made four birdies and just one bogey to grab sole possession of the lead by one stroke at 3-under-par after the first-round.

“I’ve been working on staying very patient and this whole week with the rain we’ve had and I was the last group to tee off it forced me to be very patient and I did it today,” said Felibert. “I think that’s the main thing that made me successful.”

Felibert also credited had her long-time coach Jaime Mulligan, who served as her caddie today, for helping her through the round.

The Caracas, Venezuela native closed strong with two birdies on the final four holes to assume the lead.

“It’s been a few days without practice or playing so it was challenging at the beginning to start getting warmed up,” said Felibert. “Towards the end, I was able to get going, but overall I made some good putts and was rolling it good.”

Felibert, who played college golf at nearby USC, is excited to play golf in this area.

“It’s always good to come back to Los Angeles, I really like it here,” said Felibert. “I’ve never played this course, but I played at USC for five years and I just felt pretty good out here today.”

With the lead in hand and just 18 holes remaining, Felibert has decided not to cloud her mind.

“I just will stay patient and enjoy the walk.”

Felibert has never won on the Epson Tour and her last top-10 finish came in 2012 at the Credit Union Classic.

Felibert played on the LPGA Tour in 2012 and 2013 with her best finish coming at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, tied for fourth.

Mallory Blackwelder and Cindy Feng are tied for second place at 2-under-par.

Blackwelder, who finished T14 at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club, continued first-round play Sunday with a bogey free front nine that included a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole. On the back-nine, Blackwelder made two more birdies with her only mishap being a three-putt bogey on the 17th hole.

“I’m happy to get off to a good start, I think our wave got the lucky draw because we didn’t have to play in much rain, just a little bit yesterday and a little bit today,” said Blackwelder. “The key has been to just try to stay patient and positive and that is all you can really do.”

Blackwelder played her first round in the same group as long-time friend, Sara Brown. It was the first time they were paired together as professionals.

“She is one of my best friends and she is in my wedding so it was a lot of fun to play with Sara,” said Blackwelder. “It was a really comfortable pairing; Katie (Kempter) is a friend too, so that was great.”

Blackwelder said that managing the severe weather that forced numerous suspensions of play was made easier by having family in town. Her fiancé, Julien Trudeau, who was on Big Break Ireland and is a PGA Tour caddie, flew into town on Thursday.

“Luckily, my fiancé flew in Thursday night so Friday we just hung out and went and saw my future brother and sister-in-law and my nephew so that was good to take your mind off things,” said Blackwelder. “You just have to try to stay focused and keep your mind off things because there is nothing anybody can do, it’s hard for everybody.”

Cindy Feng, an 18-year old from China, made four birdies and two bogeys in round one to sit tied with Blackwelder for second place.

“I tried to stay patient out there, everything was so wet, the ball wasn’t rolling and I was hitting it shorter,” said Feng. “I just took it one shot at a time.”

The Epson Tour rookie is not looking up at the lead with 18 holes to play.

“I feel like it’s still so early because normally the tournament takes a few days to get the feel of where you stand and right now it is just the first round, but I know it’s only a two-round tournament.” said Feng. “Right now it doesn’t feel like a big deal yet because with golf anything can happen and this is a tough course.”

Feng is also not bothered by being one of the youngest players in the field.

“I kind of paid more attention to age when I was playing junior golf,” said Feng. “Back then, I started when I was the youngest and people were going to college and people always commented that I was just a teenager and then I turned pro and I feel like it’s not that big of a deal anymore.”

Eight players are tied for fourth place at 1-under after the first round.

The Epson Tour announced on Saturday that the tournament would be shortened to a 36-hole event. The second round began on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The second wave of the second-round will not tee off until 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 3.

KENOYER’S A FAN OF RAIN/WIND: For most golfers, the sight of rain and wind makes them cringe. Not for former Big Break Mexico star Stefanie Kenoyer, who finished her first-round on Sunday morning at 1-under-par.

“I’m from Florida so I’ve played in some rain before and I feel like my game is suited for tough conditions,” said Kenoyer. “I love to have rain, I love to have wind because it makes the scramblers rise to the top and I’ve always been good at scrambling around pars.”

Instead of shying away from the tough conditions this week, Kenoyer made four birdies to stand near the top of the leaderboard with just 18 holes remaining.

“Anytime it rains or gets windy I’m excited to get out and play,” said Kenoyer. “That was the attitude I was trying to have going into this first round and I just told myself that I have to get the job done however I can.”

After her first round, Kenoyer said she was just happy to complete 18 holes.

“It was probably one of the most interesting first rounds I’ve ever played considering we just finished on Sunday,” said Kenoyer. “I was determined to just keep a positive attitude and made sure I was ready to play golf when I needed to be.”

WHITTIER NATIVE HOLES OUT ON 18TH: When the horn blew to signal the resumption of play just before 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Lee Lopez of Whittier, California was ready for her 60-yard approach shot on the 18th hole.

She addressed the ball, started her swing, made contact and then watched the ball right into the hole for an eagle to end the round at 5-over-par. One shot and she was done until the second-round began later in the day.

“It was really exciting, I definitely needed it,” said the former UCLA golfer. “I worked on that shot on the range because that’s all I knew I would have. I was hoping to have an approach shot and hopefully one-putt so it worked out.”

Severe weather has thrown the schedule for the tournament off as only 36 players finished round one by Saturday.

“It’s been a daze I feel like over the last three days waking up from 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. every day,” said Lopez. “Although I’ve only played 18 holes in two and a half days, it feels like I’ve been here every time. It’s been exciting to warm up and getting to practice every single day, but it has also been tiring too.”

Lopez grew up in Whittier, which is only 25 minutes from the golf course. She’s enjoyed the comfort of home during the event.

“It’s really nice (to be at home) because I’m able to have my parents come and watch, my friends and people from my home country club, Friendly Hills, that have been supporting me the past year and a half,” said Lopez. “It’s been really nice to stay at home as well especially since everything from here on out is on the east coast so I know I’m going to have to travel a lot, so it’s been nice and I’m definitely enjoying home.”

Lopez, a rookie on the Epson Tour, earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors following her 2011-12 season at UCLA. Four other Bruins are currently playing in the Volvik Championship (Vanessa Brockett, Stephanie Kono, Brianna Do and Maiya Tanaka).

“It makes me so proud to be playing with the other Bruins, I think it says a lot about our program and our coaches,” said Lopez. “It’s exciting because you always have someone here from our team that you can ask questions to. I think it’s nice to have a support system from college golf to professional golf.”

Volvik Championship First-Round News & Notes

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