IOA Golf Classic
Alaqua Country Club
Longwood, Florida
October 6, 2015
Tuesday Pre-Tournament Notes

LONGWOOD, Fla., October 6, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, has reached the penultimate event, the IOA Golf Classic at Alaqua Country Club, from October 9-11.

On Tuesday, players got their first look at Alaqua Country Club in practice rounds. No. 5 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list Daniela Iacobelli (Melbourne, Florida) says she feels right at home.

“They re-did the greens and they are nice,” said Iacobelli. “It’s narrow, which is nice because I’m hitting so many woods and hybrids. It’s classic Florida golf, it goes in between a sub-division and this is the stuff I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”

Joanna Coe, who played college golf at nearby Rollins College, was also impressed with the course.

“It is in much better shape than last year,” said Coe. “All the greens are really nice. It is a bit wet, but it will always be wet in Florida, so the course is really setting up nicely.”

The 3rd annual IOA Golf Classic will feature 118 professionals and two amateurs competing in a 54-hole stroke play event for a $100,000 total tournament purse. The winner will earn $15,000 and take an important late season step up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Following the final round of the Epson Tour Championship in Daytona, the top 10 on the money list will earn LPGA Tour membership for 2016.

First-round play begins on Friday, October 9 at 7:45 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties following second round play on Saturday. The final round will begin at 8:00 a.m. and a one-tee start will be used with an approximate finishing time of 4:30 p.m.

The field for the IOA Golf Classic is one of the strongest the Tour has ever seen. There are four LPGA Tour winners - Charlotta Sorenstam (2000 Standard Register Ping), Heather Bowie Young (2005 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic), Silvia Cavalleri (2007 Corona Championship) and Jimin Kang (2005 LPGA Corning Classic and 2010 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia). There are 12 players in the field with at least one LPGA Tour top 10 finish and they have combined for 107 total.

Late in the season, nine of the top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list are in the field and hoping to guarantee a spot in the final top 10 before the final event. Furthermore, 19 of the top 20 and 28 of the top 30 players on the money list will play in the IOA Golf Classic.

RECENT LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WINNER IN FIELD: France native Celine Herbin, who now resides in Pedrena, Spain, won the Lacoste Ladies Open De France on the Ladies European Tour (LET) a week and a half ago. She is now except into the Evian Championship, an LPGA major, and the Australian Open next year. It was Herbin’s first professional win and she was so overcome with emotion that she fell down after sinking a par putt on the third playoff hole to win.

The win for Herbin was most impressive because the field included five Solheim Cup players - Charley Hull, Cristie Kerr, Azahara Munoz, Carlota Ciganda and Gwladys Nocera.

“It was a strong field so it was great to be able to win,” said Herbin before practicing on Tuesday. “I played three really good rounds and came from five shots back with nine holes to play. I have a lot of confidence in my game now based on how I’m practicing and playing.”

Herbin’s coach, Vicente Ballesteros, was on the bag for Celine for her win. Vicente is the brother of the late great Seve Ballesteros, who won nine times on the PGA Tour and 50 times on the European Tour. The event was on the border of France and Spain and not far from where Herbin and Ballesteros live and train.

The win was also big for Herbin because it moved her to No. 168 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She ranks fourth amongst players from France and has her eyes on qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Herbin has played most of the year on the Epson Tour and is in Florida for the final two events of the season including the IOA Golf Classic. She ranks 44th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with one top 10 finish in 12 starts.

“I want to play my best here, obviously my chances of top 10 are slim, but you never know,” said Herbin. “It’ll be good to play next week at LPGA International where we play for Q-School.”

Herbin is exempt to Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament because of her LPGA Tour status. She finished T35 at final stage in 2014 to earn partial LPGA status.

WHAT DID WE LEARN LAST YEAR AT PENULTIMATE EVENT: There is so much at stake this week as the Tour plays the second to last event of the year. So, how important is the penultimate event? Last year, the second to last event was the Garden City Charity Classic.

Min Lee won the event and moved from ninth to fourth to secure her card with one event left. Lee went onto finish in a tie for seventh at the Epson Tour Championship and ended the year fifth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to earn LPGA membership.

It was Lee’s first win on the Epson Tour and eased the enormous pressure that the final event creates.

COE HAS GOOD MEMORIES FROM ROLLINS DAYS: The IOA Golf Classic is always Joanna Coe’s favorite tournament. She doesn’t have to leave the course and head to host housing or a hotel. She just hops in her car and heads to her Winter Park home.

“You get to sleep in your own bed which is awesome,” said Coe. “We played a home tournament here (Alaqua) right before we went to Hawaii in college and our coach (Julie Garner) surprised us with the news that we were going to Hawaii so I always have good memories coming here.”

Coe was a four-time All-American at Rollins and also won the 2008 NCAA Division II national championship. When she graduated in 2011, she moved to Windermere with her sister and recently moved back near the Rollins campus.

Coe recalled the day in Houston when she won the national championship.

“I played bad at regionals that year, it was my worst tournament in college golf, and I really just wanted to help my team since we had four seniors,” said Coe, who was a freshman at the time. “My expectations were so low and all of a sudden I started out hot and just completed the week. It was just so cool, the last round I barely remember since I was so nervous.”

Coe maintains a great relationship with coach Garner, who may come and watch this weekend.

“She was very influential in my golf and my career,” said Coe. “She knew I would be with the right people at Rollins so she was a big factor in me getting to this point. We keep in touch quite a bit and one year when I played in the ShopRite event on LPGA she flew up to watch me.”

Coe now works and practices out of Falcon’s Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee.

IOA Golf Classic Pre-tournament News & Notes

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