IOA Golf Classic
Alaqua Country Club
Longwood, Florida
October 5, 2015
Storylines

LONGWOOD, Fla., October 5, 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. The season started in Mesa, Arizona on February 20 and nine months later the season is set to conclude over the next two weeks and ten players will earn LPGA Tour cards for the 2016 season.

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.

The field is even stronger this week because 32 LPGA Tour members including nine that played with full-time status on the LPGA Tour this year (Laetitia Beck, Karlin Beck, Mallory Blackwelder, Cydney Clanton, Simin Feng, Yueer “Cindy” Feng, Stephanie Meadow, Marissa Steen and Jackie Stoelting) are in the field.

Alaqua Country Club is playing 6,117 total yards for the tournament at a par-71. Accuracy will be favored over length as the 6,117 yards is the shortest course of the season.

GIVE KIDS THE WORLD APPEARANCE: Epson Tour professionals Carleigh Silvers, Caroline Powers, Kathleen Ekey, Alice Kim, Michelle Shin, Carlie Yadloczky and Krista Puisite will make a special appearance at Give Kids the World’s Marc’s DinoPutt (210 S Bass Rd, Kissimmee, FL 34746) on Monday, October 5 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. The professionals will interact with the kids and their families while also playing a friendly game of miniature golf with a “halloween spooktacular” theme. Give Kids the World is one of two benefitting charities of the IOA Golf Classic.

Give Kids The World is a non-profit organization that exists only to fulfill the wishes of all children with life-threatening illnesses and their families from around the world to experience a memorable, joyful, cost-free visit to the Central Florida attractions, and to enjoy the magic of Give Kids The World Village for as long as there is a need.

Over 140,000 children have had their dream come true at Give Kids The World.

TWO CARDS SECURED, EIGHT CARDS UP FOR GRABS: With two events left and $250,000 in prize money still available, the top two players on Tour - No. 1 Giulia Molinaro and No. 2 Annie Park - have officially guaranteed a spot in the final top 10. The other eight Tour cards are still up for grabs as the Tour is experiencing the most competitive season in history. For the first time in Tour history, the top 11 with earn at least $50,000. For the first time in Tour history, seven 2015 winners are currently outside the top 10.

Further, the gap between No. 3 and No. 11 is narrower than ever. No. 3 Lee Lopez (Whittier, Calif.) is only $8,624 ahead of No. 11 Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu (Takamatsu, Japan). For perspective, in 2014 No. 3 had an $18,694 cushion over No. 11 heading into the Epson Tour Championship.

“Recently we communicated in the media that a number of players had secured their 2016 LPGA Tour cards,” said Chief Business Officer of the Epson Tour Mike Nichols. “This projection was based on the review of similar historic scenarios, as opposed to current statistical data. Having run the actual numbers from current standings, we have determined that the communication that some of these cards were “secure” was unfortunately premature. At this point, the two players who are statistically/mathematically guaranteed to have secured their LPGA Tour cards for 2016 are Giulia Molinaro and Annie Park. We apologize for any confusion.”

The players in the top 10 have been so consistent this year. No. 3 and No. 7 are separated by just $1,443. Every player in the top has posted at least four top 10 results and eight of the ten have hoisted at least one trophy. Annie Park, who is not in the field this week, has won three tournaments while No. 7 Vicky Hurst has won two - the W.B. Mason Championship and the Garden City Charity Classic.

It has become extremely difficult to fit into the top 10. Number 16 on the money list, Chie Arimura, has seven top 10 finishes this year as does No. 20, Samantha Richdale. How about No. 8 on the money list, Casey Grice? She shares the Tour high with nine top 10 finishes and will have to grind to secure her Tour card over the final two weeks.

For those in the top 10, this week is simple - win and take a deep breath with a card secured before the Epson Tour Championship. Anyone from No. 11 through No. 20 can slide into the top 10 with a win this week.

Finally, everyone inside the top 48 is still mathematically alive to earn a card assuming a win at the IOA Golf Classic and the Epson Tour Championship. Mia Piccio is currently No. 48 on the money list and is $36,894 outside the top 10. A win at the IOA Golf Classic and the Epson Tour Championship would net $37,500.

DON’T RULE OUT THE EXEMPTIONS THIS WEEK: This year, two sponsor exemptions have won tournaments. Hannah O’Sullivan won the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club and Brooke Henderson won the Four Winds Invitational. O’Sullivan and Henderson have had fantastic seasons since their wins on the Epson Tour. O’Sullivan won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and is now the No. 2 ranked amateur in the world while Henderson won the Cambia Portland Classic on the LPGA and was granted membership by commissioner Mike Whan.

At the last event (Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout), Ally McDonald finished solo second after receiving a sponsor exemption.

This week, talented UCF junior Ashley Holder and Casselberry native Carlie Yadloczky, who works in the Alaqua Country Club pro shop, will try to join O’Sullivan and Henderson. Holder is the reigning two-time American Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year. She led the Knights in scoring average each of her first two seasons and is having a strong junior season. Holder recently finished in a tie for 28th at the Annika Intercollegiate and was the Knights top finisher. While at Lake Nona High School, Holder won medalist honors at the 84th Florida State Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship and was a two-time Metro Conference Champion.

Yadloczky, a second year Epson Tour player, has played in just two events this year. She played in 18 events on Tour in 2014 with her best finish coming at the Four Winds Invitational, a tie for 12th. Yadloczky made her LPGA debut in late August when she Monday Qualified for the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and made the cut. Yadloczky was a part of three state championships at Lake Howell High School.

WHO’S PLAYING WELL INTO IOA GOLF CLASSIC: The most consistent player over the last month has been No. 8 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, Casey Grice. The former UNC All-American has posted a top 10 finish in each of the last four events to move up to eighth. The key to Grice’s success over the last four starts has been her play in the final round. She is 9-under in the final round of her last four tournaments. Grice ranks fifth on Tour in scoring average (71.37) and first in total birdies (227) and eagles (8).

Daniela Iacobelli, No. 5 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, stopped a mini slump with a tie for third in Arkansas to jump from eighth to fifth. Iacobelli was fourth on the money list after the W.B. Mason Championship before going MC-T51-MC to drop to eighth. Her strong finish in Arkansas was huge to move her back to fifth with two events left.

Nobody has a better percentage of top 10 finishes than No. 16 on the money list Chie Arimura. She has seven top 10’s in 12 starts (58.3%) including a tie for third at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout to move from 19th to 16th. Arimura ranks fourth on Tour in scoring average (71.13). She is an experienced player with 13 victories on the JLPGA and seven top 10’s on the LPGA Tour.

Samantha Richdale is also a player to keep an eye on. At No. 20 on the money list she’ll need strong finishes to have a chance, but she has finished inside the top 10 in two straight events. Richdale is a three-time winner on the Epson Tour and has made 42 career starts on the LPGA. She graduated through the Tour in 2009 by finishing fourth on the money list.

SUNSHINE STATE REPRESENTS: The IOA Golf Classic is the fourth of five total events in the Sunshine State this year. The Tour had a Florida Swing in late March when it played in Lake Wales, Fort Myers and Sarasota.

There are 15 players from the state of Florida in the IOA Golf Classic. No state has more representatives.

Central Florida colleges are also represented in the field. Joanna Coe had a stellar four-year career at Rollins College including winning the 2008 Division II individual national championship. Jessy Tang played college golf at UCF.

33 EPSON TOUR WINNERS IN FIELD: Almost 30 percent of the field has won on the Epson Tour. A total of 33 players have hoisted a trophy including 12 (Breanna Elliott, Dani Holmqvist, Vicky Hurst, Daniela Iacobelli, Augusta James, Jimin Kang, Katie Kempter, Alejandra Llaneza, Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu, Madeleine Sheils, Jackie Stoelting and Caroline Westrup) that have won in 2015.

The 33 winners in the field have combined for 61 wins.

12 WITH LPGA TOP 10 FINISH IN FIELD: There are 12 players in the field this week with at least one top 10 finish on the LPGA Tour. They have combined for 107 top 10’s on the LPGA. Heather Bowie Young (27) and Charlotta Sorenstam (23) have the most among the 12. The other ten with a top 10 finish are Chie Arimura (7), Silvia Cavalleri (10), Cydney Clanton (1), Veronica Felibert (1), Candy Hannemann (6), Vicky Hurst (9), Nicole Jeray (1), Jimin Kang (14), Mindy Kim (7) and Stephanie Meadow (1).

OF NOTE: Katelyn Sepmoree (Tyler, Texas) is the top finisher from last year’s IOA Golf Classic that is back in the field this year. She started strong with a 69-66 in the first two rounds and closed with a 72...The Annika Academy exemptions are Charlotta Sorenstam and Ruixin Liu. The Annika Academy, founded by Annika Sorenstam, is the official elite golf training academy of the Epson Tour...2013 IOA Golf Classic champion, Katy Harris, is in the field...Harris won the event when it was played at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club with a three-day score of 7-under 209...The hunger project will take place all three tournament days from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. near the 18th hole. The event is a collaboration between U.S. Hunger and Feeding Children Everywhere. Volunteers will pack meals for children in the Orlando area.

IOA Golf Classic Top Storylines

Related Articles