Garden City Charity Classic
Buffalo Dunes Golf Course
Garden City, Kansas
September 14, 2015
Storylines

GARDEN CITY, Kan., September 14, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, stays in the Sunflower State for a second straight week for the 2nd annual Garden City Charity Classic presented by the Mariah Fund from September 18-20 at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.

The top 132 professionals from the United States and 23 countries around the globe will compete for a $100,000 total tournament purse. The winner will earn a very important paycheck of $15,000 and move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the year-end money list earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2016 season.

Play begins on Friday, September 18 at 7:45 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. The final round on Sunday will begin at 8:00 a.m. from the first tee only. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties after second round play on Saturday.

This is the 20th tournament of the season and there are just four remaining in the race for ten LPGA cards. There is still plenty of time left for players to improve their standing as $450,000 in prize money is still available in the final four events. The season wraps up in Daytona Beach, Florida at the Epson Tour Championship. The final round and the card ceremony will take place on October 18 at LPGA International.

Casey Grice (College Station, Texas) finished in a tie for sixth this past weekend at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic in Mayetta to jump from 11th into the top 10. She now has a $1,931 cushion on No. 11 Jimin Kang (Seoul, South Korea). The top 10 is really starting to take shape as No. 16 Brianna Do (Lakewood, California) has fallen $7,455 outside the top 10.

The top 10 has been rock solid this year. Seven of the top 10 have at least one victory with No. 2 Annie Park (Levittown, New York) leading the way with three wins. The three players without wins - No. 1 Giulia Molinaro (Treviso, Italy), No. 3 Lee Lopez (Whittier, California) and No. 10 Casey Grice - have been incredibly consistent. Molinaro has a Tour high nine top 10 finishes while Lopez and Grice each have seven top 10 results.

The field is strong this week in Garden City with the entire top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list scheduled to play. In fact, the top 20 on the money list are all in Garden City. The first place payout of $15,000 would likely move No. 20 Samantha Richdale (Kelowna, British Columbia) into the top 10. The field also includes 22 LPGA Tour members including Laetitia Beck (Caesarea, Israel), who played in 14 LPGA Tour events this year and Amelia Lewis (Jacksonville, Florida), who made 19 LPGA starts this year. Lewis finished in a tie for sixth at the 2014 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

A WALK IN THE PARK: Annie Park carded a 7-under 65 on Sunday at Firekeeper Golf Course to come from three strokes back to win by three strokes. She tied the female course record and won her third Epson Tour event in just nine starts since turning professional after three years at USC. Park earned a “Battlefield Promotion” to the LPGA for 2015 with her third win, but since the rest of the LPGA events are limited field tournaments, she won’t be able to get into any.

More importantly, Park has locked up a spot in the final top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to earn LPGA membership in category 9 on the LPGA priority list for 2016. Park is the tenth player in Tour history to win at least three events in a single season.

Park won the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic in her fourth start and won the PHC Classic in her sixth start. She has finished inside the top 15 in seven consecutive events. Park has been even par or under in 23 consecutive rounds dating back to the Island Resort Championship in June.

TWO OF THE TEN CARDS ARE LOCKED UP: Giulia Molinaro guaranteed herself a spot in the top 10 with five events remaining after a solo third place finish at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge. Annie Park locked up her card with four events remaining after a win yesterday. The final eight LPGA Tour cards are still up for grabs.

If anyone in the top 11 wins this week, they will secure an LPGA Tour card.

TWO LOCAL EXEMPTIONS: The two sponsor exemptions both reside in Kansas. Taylor Schmidt and Julie Sanchez will represent the Sunflower State this week.

Schmidt, who is a rookie on the Epson Tour, moved to Wichita in January and now is a full-time resident. Her fiance is the Assistant General Manager of Flint Hills National Golf Club. Schmidt has played in three Epson Tour events thus far. She posted seven top 10 finishes and 12 top 20 results in her four-year career at the University of Oklahoma.

“Having the opportunity to be a sponsors exemption into such a great event means the world to me,” said Schmidt. “I’m just beginning my professional career and it’s so special for me to be able to play in the state where I live. I’m lucky to call the state of Kansas home and I’m beyond thrilled to have this opportunity.”

Sanchez, who moved Garden City in July and works as an athletic trainer at Kansas Orthopedic Center at Sandhill, enjoyed a decorated career at Colorado State University-Pueblo. She was a three-time First Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selection. Sanchez won the conference individual title as a junior and finished second as a senior.

“This is my first professional event so I’m really excited to play against professionals and be in that
environment,” said Sanchez. “Playing in this tournament will help me see where I stand and how I can get to the next level.”

CAREER BEST FINISH FOR RAMOS IN KANSAS: Margarita Ramos (Mexico City, Mexico) finished in solo second on Sunday in Mayetta by carding a 3-under 69 at Firekeeper Golf Course to move from 93rd on the money list to 45th. In her first 12 starts this year, she had no top 10 finishes. She has two top 10 results in her last three starts. Ramos also finished in a tie for eighth at the W.B. Mason Championship.
In round two of the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic she tied a female course record with a 7-under 65. The 65 was a personal best in her two years on the Epson Tour.

LAST YEARS CHAMP HAVING GOOD ROOKIE YEAR ON LPGA: Min Lee won the Garden City Charity Classic last year with a final round 69 in tough conditions. The win helped her finish fifth on the money list to earn her LPGA Tour card for 2015. She has had a strong rookie year on the LPGA. Lee ranks 63rd on the official money list with $206,683 earned in 20 starts.

Last week at the Evian Championship, the final LPGA major of the year, Lee finished in a tie for 29th. Her best finish this year was a tie for 12th at the U.S. Women’s Open to earn a paycheck of $89,589.

After a slow start, Lee has made the cut in nine straight starts. Keep in mind that she is still just 20 years old.

THREE SOONERS IN THE FIELD: There are three Oklahoma Sooners in the Garden City Charity Classic; Chirapat Jao-Javanil, Anne-Catherine Tanguay and sponsor invite Taylor Schmidt. Jao-Javanil was a two-time All-American and a three-time All Big 12 selection while at Oklahoma from 2010-2014. She left Oklahoma as the all-time leader in scoring average and number of wins (6). She won the 2012 NCAA individual championship and the 2014 Big 12 Championship. In nine starts on the Epson Tour as a rookie, she has made three cuts.

Tanguay finished in a tie for 11th last week and has finished inside the top 20 in two straight events. She currently ranks 40th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The Canadian finished her Oklahoma career second all-time in scoring average. She had 15 career top 10 finishes including top four results at the Big 12 Championships in 2012 and 2013.

Schmidt posted seven top 10 finishes and 12 top 20 finishes in her four years. Schmidt now lives in Wichita, Kansas. She has played in three Epson Tour events this year.

HARDER AND HARDER TO GET A CARD: Tenth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list earned $41,381 last year. With three more events and an increased total purse, tenth place this year has already earned $47,632. There are now seven players outside the top 10 that have won an event this year.

It has never been more competitive to earn a card and consistency has become a must. Everyone in the top 10 has at least three top 10 results.

Seven players have now earned north of $50,000, which ties the Tour record set in 2014. No. 8 on the money list, Augusta James (Bath, Ontario), is just $372 short of crossing the $50,000 mark. For perspective, two short years ago in 2013, no player on Tour made more than $50,000.

OF NOTE: Jessica Wallace (T2), Veronica Felibert (4), Hye-Min Kim (T5) and Emily Talley (T5) each finished in the top five at the Garden City Charity Classic last year and are in the field this week...Dani Holmqvist has finished inside the top 10 in two straight events to move from 17th on the money list to fifth. Holmqvist finished second in Sioux Falls and T6 last week. She has earned $22,359 in the last two weeks...The 2012 (Chirapat Jao-Javanil) and 2013 (Annie Park) NCAA individual national champions are in the field this week.The 2001 individual champion Candy Hannemann is also in the field...Brittany Altomre (Schrewsbury, Massachusetts) has achieved a course record round in back-to-back tournaments. She carded an 8-under 63 in Sioux Falls and a 7-under 65 in Mayetta. She carded an 8-under 63 in Sioux Falls and a 7-under 65 in Mayetta.

Garden City Charity Classic Storylines

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