Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay
Sara Bay Country Club
Sarasota, Florida
Pre-Tournament News & Notes
April 23, 2015

SARASOTA, Fla., April 23, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, tees off at the fourth annual Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay on Friday, April 24. Play begins at 7:45 a.m. from the first and tenth tees.

The top 144 up-and-coming future LPGA Tour professionals will compete for a purse that has grown to $110,000. The winner of the event will earn $16,500 and take a significant step towards the top 10 on 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.

There will be a cut made to the top 70 and ties after second-round play on Saturday, April 25.

Eight of the top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list are in the field this week including No. 1 Augusta James, No. 2 Brianna Do and No. 3 Lee Lopez.

The 2012 Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay winner, Esther Choe, is also in the field this week. Choe won twice in 2012 on the Epson Tour and finished first on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to earn her LPGA Tour card. Choe played in 11 LPGA Tour events in 2013 and has made a total of 18 starts on the LPGA.

PLAYERS TALK CHALLENGE OF DONALD ROSS DESIGN: Sara Bay Country Club is a challenging course in particular because of the Donald Ross designed greens. Of the 569 rounds played last year, there were just six rounds that broke into the 60’s.

“The green complexes are tough, it is a true test of short game and approach accuracy,” said Daniela Iacobelli of Melbourne, Florida. “The person that has the best approaches onto the green and the one that brings out her best short game is the one that is going to excel.”

“Because of the difficulty of the greens, you basically play for the center of the greens,” continued Iacobelli. “Unless you have a green light pin and can go hunting you have to be careful. If you hunt and miss it can get very difficult.”

Lindsay Gahm of Louisville, Kentucky is a rookie on the Epson Tour and understands the challenge.

“The greens are definitely challenging,” said Gahm. “Especially the par-3 holes because they are playing long so some of those greens can be difficult. Sometimes you may even have to play short of the green and try to get up and down. It’s a course where you may not go for a lot of pins and just try to manage the round.”

SIGNIFICANT LPGA EXPERIENCE IN FIELD: There are a number of players in the field this week with a significant amount of LPGA Tour experience. Mindy Kim of Diamond Bar, California has made 104 starts on the LPGA Tour and has posted seven top 10 finishes. Veronica Felibert of Caracas, Venezuela has made 43 starts on the LPGA Tour with a single top 10 finish. Kathleen Ekey of Sharon Township, Ohio has made 53 starts on the LPGA Tour while Cindy LaCrosse of Tampa has made 84 LPGA Tour starts and has earned over $500,000.

Silvia Cavalleri has the most experience of all. She has played in 272 LPGA Tour events with ten top 10 finishes including a win at the 2007 Corona Championship. Nicole Jeray is not far behind with 239 career LPGA starts.

LOCALS ARE READY TO PLAY: Ericka Schneider (Lakewood Ranch High School) was the ninth alternate two weeks ago. When the final field came out last week, she was the third alternate so she had an idea she would get into the field.

“I had my fingers crossed and I’m not going to lie, I was really excited when I got the email that I was in,” said Schneider. “I’m happy with my game right now, I am hitting the ball well and I got some tips on putting from some of the Legends Tour players last week and putting helps a lot out here.”

Schneider grew up playing Sara Bay Country Club and is excited to play in this local event for a second time.

“We grew up playing here and the people that supported us for so many years are out here,” said Schneider. “It’s nice to be in your hometown and play a golf course that you know. Sometimes you can take advantage of it because you have played it so many times, but it is a real treat to get to play in your hometown in front of the people that have followed you from the start to now.”

Schneider says that Sara Bay Country Club will be a mental grind.

“This is a course that you have to think for a full 18 holes,” said Schneider. “There are flat spots on the greens and you have to hit them there. You don’t really go for pins and you don’t really go for putts. You hit the flat spots and lag putts and if they go in you nod your head and say ‘thank you’.”

Schneider’s professional debut came last year at the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay. She feels much better prepared this time around.

“I really, really wanted to play well last year in my hometown and I think I put too much pressure on myself,” said Schneider. “I need to just stay in the moment and not think about my score this year.”

Jennifer Neville, also a rookie on the Epson Tour from Bradenton, is in a similar position to Schneider.

“I’m definitely looking forward to playing here,” said Neville. “I grew up playing this course and I know everyone in the pro shop and it will be nice to have support from Bradenton Country Club. I think a lot of people are going to come.

Neville hopes to use her experience on the course to her advantage.

“I know this is a tough course, especially with the greens,” said the former St. Johns golfer. “Having experience out here and confidence out here is definitely going to help me.”

Neville said that her ball striking must be fine in order to have a chance to win.

“Hitting middle of the green is really important out here so I’ve been really honing in on my tempo and ball striking,” said Neville. “Since the summer, my short game has come a long way so I’m going in even more confident that even if I miss greens I can get up and down.”

BOLAND THANKFUL FOR GREAT MENTORS: Julia Boland (Tamworth, NSW, Australia), who tees off at 8:29 a.m. on Friday, truly knows and appreciates the value of mentors. As an amateur, she received the Karrie Webb scholarship and had the opportunity to stay with the 41-time LPGA Tour winner at the U.S Women’s Open.

Fast forward to 2013 when Boland was a rookie on the LPGA Tour, Webb took her under her wing and they played practice rounds and ate together when time allowed. They even have a friendly state vs. state wager back in Australia.

“I had to take her out to dinner my rookie year and lets just say she has not cheap taste in wine,” joked Boland. “Last year, my team won for the first time in seven years and I made her pay back the debt. Truthfully, she is a great mate and it is hard for me to see anyone that has had a greater career than Webby.”

The point of the story is not to decide who is the greatest of all-time, but two in the conversation with Webb are Nancy Lopez and Sandra Haynie, who Boland played with on Sunday at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial. Lopez and Haynie combined for 90 LPGA Tour victories.

“It was a fantastic experience,” said Boland, of the chance to play alongside two legends. “It was a mix between you want to play well in the tournament, but a bigger part of you just wants to stand back and applaud these women.”

“Without the ladies of the generation before me (Legends Tour players), the LPGA Tour would have just gone away,” continued Boland. “There were so many times that the LPGA didn’t have money and because of these people, we now have an amazing opportunity to play this game for a living.”

While Boland focused on having a strong Sunday round, she also kept her eyes and ears open.

“They still both have this intensity and desire to compete,” said Boland, who carded a 71 on Sunday. “Sandra Haynie’s rhythm and tempo is so consistent and I asked her about it and she said ‘I just have one speed’. I knew that I could learn a lot from both of those ladies.”

Boland and Haynie, who works with LPGA player Ilhee Lee, spent time after the round on the driving range.

“I told them both after the round that I could keep playing and they said ‘we’re done’,” said Boland while laughing. “Sandra said lets go to the range and it was just a great opportunity to pick her brain about tempo primarily. She is also quite good about visualizing shots.”

It might sound like Boland is a golf historian, but that’s not quite accurate.

“I’m not a golf nut or golf historian, but having played on the LPGA Tour, Lorie Kane and others do a great job to make sure rookies know what their generation did,” said the 29-year-old Boland, who is aiming for a return to the LPGA through the Epson Tour. “That has really given me an appreciation for what they have done because it is so great out there now and it is a great way to make a living.”

On the 17th hole at Cypress Lake Country Club, Boland and Lopez were in tight to the pin. Haynie was short and she chipped on and then made a 25-foot par putt. They all came together for a fist pound.

It’s one that Boland will not soon forget.

Boland didn’t win the tournament, but the chance to thank the greats for paving the way was enough for her.

“We owe our career to them (LPGA legends) and it was neat to be able to show them the respect they deserve while playing with them.”

QUICK BRIEFS

SELANEE HENDERSON TO THROW FIRST PITCH AT RAYS GAME: Epson Tour professional Selanee Henderson will throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays game on
Saturday, April 25th. Game time is 6:10 p.m. and the first pitch will take place at about 5:50 p.m.

EMILY TALLEY VISITS BOOKER MIDDLE SCHOOL: On Wednesday morning, Emily Talley of Napa,
California paid a visit to Booker Middle School to speak to students about golf, travel, education and life as a professional.

Talley has been communicating with one of the classes at Booker Middle School as part of the Epson Tour’s Pin Pal program.

DAVID LEADBETTER AT SARA BAY: Top teaching instructor David Leadbetter will be at the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay on Saturday to be on the Tee it Up radio show with Nate Ditchfield, which airs on WSRQ 106.9 and 1220 AM in Sarasota. The show will originate live from the course from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

Leadbetter will be sticking around after the show to sign copies of his new book “The A Swing” after the show from 9:00-10:00.

Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay Pre-Tournament News & Notes

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