Decatur-Forsyth Classic presented by Tate & Lyle and Decatur Park District
Hickory Point Golf Course
Decatur, Illinois
June 10, 2015
Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes

DECATUR, Ill., June 10, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, tees off with the 31st annual Decatur-Forsyth Classic this week at Hickory Point Golf Course. The event dates back to 1985 and is the third longest running women’s professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour (non-major) or the Epson Tour.

The top 144 up-and-coming professionals will compete for a $110,000 total tournament purse with the winner earning $16,500.

“The course is in really good shape and the greens are awesome, they are rolling really smooth,” said Jessica Alexander. “I think it is going to take lots of birdies this week because there is not a lot of trouble out here.”

Alexander, a second year player on the Epson Tour, played college golf at Coastal Carolina. Her head coach, Katie Quinney, played in 12 events on the Epson Tour in 2005 including the event in Decatur.

“It is so cool with all the history here, my coach in college actually played in this event when she was playing on Tour and I remember talking to her about the event a long time ago,” said Alexander. “There are usually really good crowds on 18 and it is exciting to have that history.”

Brianna Do, who ranks fourth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, is also excited to get the first-round started.

“This is my third year playing the event so I’m pretty excited,” said Do, who has five top 10 finishes this year. “The course is fun, but it can get pretty hard when it starts raining and gets windy so we’ll see what the weather conditions are like.”

Do started the year with four consecutive top 10 finishes and has been solid ever since.

“I had a really good start to the season and that was just a confidence booster and I just built off that momentum,” said Do. “I’ve played a lot of the courses in years past and I think the course knowledge definitely helps.”

The only thing Do is now missing is a victory.

“I wrote down my goals before the beginning of the year and one of them was definitely to win,” said Do. “My last win was 2011 and it wasn’t as a professional so maybe it will be my week.”

Jessica Wallace of Langley, British Columbia thinks that the winner of the event will need to go very low.

“The course is in great shape so I’m thinking it is going to take something pretty low (to win) because the greens are soft,” said Wallace. “There are a lot of birdies to be had so I’m thinking it will be a shootout and I’m looking forward to it.”

RANTOUL NATIVE JEAN GREW UP PLAYING HERE: Rantoul, Illinois native and former Illinois State golfer Katie Jean will play in her second Decatur-Forsyth Classic this week.

“I grew up playing here in some junior tournaments like the Team Soy Open,” said Jean. “I played here last year and it was my first cut made so I have a comfort level coming back here and I’m comfortable playing on this Midwest course.”

Jean played in five events in her rookie season and the Decatur-Forsyth Classic was the only cut she made. This year, she already made two cuts including posting her best career finish of a tie for 35th at the last event in Battle Creek, Michigan.

“I’ve been playing well lately, and I feel good about my game and where it is at” said Jean. “Today, I was thinking to myself like ‘wow, I’m a much better golfer than I was last year’ and that gives me confidence coming into this week.”

Jean is excited to be one of the locals in the field this week.

“Being local, it is neat to see radio stations and companies that you recognize,” said Jean. “I’ll have a lot of family and friends coming. My sister is coming back from Nashville and my grandparents are coming so I’ll have a lot of support.”

ILLINI GOLFER HAS MILLIKIN GOLFER/FRIEND AS CADDIE: Ember Schuldt, who was Illinois top golfer last year, grew up three hours from Decatur in Sterling. Her friend Drake Mellott, who also grew up in Sterling, played college golf at local Millikin University and will be her caddie this week.

“It is great to be back in the state of Illinois and represent the blue and orange this week in Decatur,” said Schuldt. “I look forward to the support and hope to put myself in contention over the weekend.”

Schuldt said she was attracted to Illinois because of the Demirjian Golf Practice Facility, one of the top in the country.

“It has its own putting green and six different types of grass,” said Schuldt. “We have heated hitting bays and two have video so that was a major reason I decided to stay in Illinois because I knew I could practice year-round.”

Decatur-Forsyth Classic Wednesday Pre-tournament Notes

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