Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills

Capital Hills at Albany

Albany, NY

July 22, 2015

Pre-Tournament News & Notes

ALBANY, N.Y., July 22, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, tees off the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills on Friday, July 24 at 7:30 a.m. The three-day tournament will conclude on Sunday, July 26 with an estimated finishing time of 4:45 PM.

The top 144 professionals from the United States and around the world will compete for a $100,000 total tournament purse. The winner will earn $15,000 and make a move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the year-end money list will LPGA Tour membership for the 2016 season.

PLAYERS TALK ABOUT POTENTIALLY WINNING A CAR: The winner of the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills will drive away with a 2015 Snow White Pearl Kia Optima LX courtesy of Fuccillo Kia of Schenectady. It is the first time in Tour history that the winner of an event will receive a brand new car.

“It is definitely something that we will think about, even coming down the stretch when there is a lot on the line and the leaders might be thinking like ‘oh, I might win a car’,” said Haley Italia, who ranks 20th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. “It could throw people off or make people push a little harder, it is definitely neat.”

Italia said she was recently talking to Tour friend Lacey Agnew about all their car problems and the fact that they have long drives upcoming to Milwaukee, Wisconsin (PHC Classic) and Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge).

“I was telling Lacey that we should just try to win the car,” joked Italia. “I was also thinking that maybe I could give it to Marco (husband). If someone has a two shot lead on 16, they might start thinking ‘oh my gosh, I can win a car’ and that is obviously not what you want to be thinking about. It is great that they (Fuccillo) put up the car.”

Katherine Perry, a rookie on Tour, was on the phone with her mom last night, who joked that it is going to be a long ride to Milwaukee with two cars.

“I think it is a really neat incentive and extra prize,” said Perry, who played college golf at UNC. “It makes it even more fun out here when you can win a car and $15,000.”

Giulia Molinaro, who has eight top 10 finishes, but no wins said this week would be a great time to pick up her first.

“Of course you think about winning a car, but once you tee off you have to focus on golf,” said No. 1 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. “My goal is to win every week I play and the car definitely makes you hungrier to win.”

LAST WEEK’S WINNER GREW UP ON PUBLIC COURSES: After one glance at Capital Hills at Albany, Annie Park, who won the Toyota Danielle Downey Classic in Rochester last week, felt at home.

“The course reminds me of the public courses I played in Nassau growing up,” said Park, who won the 2012 Nassau County Boys High School Golf Championship. “This course is in great shape, but it is definitely very hilly.”

2010 WINNER LACROSSE IN FIELD: In 2010, Cindy LaCrosse won the Price Chopper Tour Championship at Capital Hills in a playoff over Jennifer Song. It was her third win on the Epson Tour (FUTURES Tour) that year and she led the money list ($94,578), which is still a single-season earnings record.

In 85 starts from 2011-2014 on the LPGA Tour, Lacrosse made 49 cuts and earned over a half million dollars. However, she missed 12 of 16 cuts on the LPGA in 2014 and her status suffered.

Therefore, LaCrosse is now playing full-time on the Epson Tour and has made 12 starts this season and ranks 80th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with her best finish coming at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial (T12).

She is in the field this week at the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills.

ROHANNA’S HOST MOM RUNNING TRIATHLON ON SUNDAY: Rachel Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) first came to Albany in 2013, her rookie season on Tour, and was placed at Debby Goedeke’s home for the week.

“I remember walking into her house that first time thinking I was some hot-shot professional golfer,” Rohanna told the Times Union on Tuesday. “And there she was, just getting back from a three-hour run at 60 years old. It was unbelievable; I was really impressed with that.”

Goedeke, who turns 62 next week, will be competing on Sunday (final-round of Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills) in her second Ironman Lake Placid, a grueling triathlon that includes swimming, 112 miles of biking and a marathon.

“Rachel is going to kill it this week,” Goedeke said. “If we both finished in first, I would start crying. I would be so happy. We would be very blessed, indeed.”

QUICK NOTES: Chella Choi, who won her first LPGA Tour event last week (Marathon Classic), finished in a tie for sixth at the ILOVENY Championship at Capital HIlls in 2008. Choi played in 17 events on the Epson Tour in 2008 and finished 17th on the money list. Choi has made 157 starts on the LPGA since her appearance in Albany and has 29 top 10 finishes and over three million dollars in earnings...Two players in the Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills represented their countries at the Pan Am Games in Toronto last week. Margarita Ramos (Mexico) finished in eighth place while Veronica Felibert (Venezuela) finished 13th...Brianna Do is the highest returning finisher from last year’s event (T3). Numa Gulyanamitta (5), Hye-Min Kim (T6) and Veronica Felibert (T6) were also high finishers last year that are in the field this year.

Fuccillo Kia Championship at Capital Hills Pre-tournament News & Notes

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