LAKE WALES, Fla., April 4, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, returns to action after a five-week hiatus with the 8th annual Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at Lake Wales Country Club from Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10. The field of 156 players will compete for a total purse of $175,000, the largest in tournament history. The winner will earn $26,250 and likely move into the top spot on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all three days of the tournament. There will be a cut to the top 60 and ties following Saturday’s second round. The expected finish time on Sunday is approximately 5:00 p.m.

The Florida’s Natural Charity Classic begins a three-week Florida swing for the Epson Tour. The Tour heads to Fort Myers for the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial April 14-17 and closes the stretch in Sarasota with the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay April 22-24. With no scheduled events in March, the Tour will play eight of the next nine weeks.

The strong field of 156 includes 140 Epson Tour members, 12 from the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) and four exemptions. Highlighting the field are 30 LPGA Tour members, one top 100 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (No. 98, Ssu Chia Chang) and four golfers with ties to the area (Kendall Griffin - Sebring, Erica Popson - Davenport, Jackie Stoelting - Florida Southern College and Abbey Williams - Florida Southern College). The 12 players from the TLPGA will also play in the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial next week and then head to San Francisco to compete on the LPGA in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic April 21-24.

There are also three players in the field that would qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games if they started today - Stephanie Meadow (No. 48, Northern Ireland), Liv Cheng (No. 56, New Zealand) and Paz Echeverria (No. 59, Chile). The number in the parenthesis is the player’s International Golf Federation ranking. The top 60 on July 11 will qualify.

Interestingly enough, there are four past champions in the field. Sue Kim (Langley, British Columbia) won in 2015, Megan McChrystal (Stuart, Florida) won in 2013, Tzu-Chi Lin (Taichung, Taiwan) won in 2011 and Jean Reynolds (Newnan, Georgia) won in 2009. All four will try for their second Florida’s Natural Charity Classic trophy this week.

Proceeds from the 2016 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic will once again benefit the Florida’s Natural Growers Foundation. Over the last seven years, the tournament has raised over a million dollars for the Florida’s Natural Growers Foundation, which distributes grants to local charities.

LOCALS GRIFFIN, POPSON AND TWO FLORIDA SOUTHERN MOCS HEADLINE FIELD: Kendall Griffin (Sebring, Florida) knows she has the opportunity of a lifetime this week to compete against professionals. The No. 64 ranked junior according to Golfweek has already committed to play college golf at LSU and could be on her way to a career after college.

Griffin has already accumulated an impressive amateur career. In May of 2015, she won the inaugural U.S Women’s Four-Ball with fellow local Athena Yang defeating USC commits Robynn Ree and Hannah O’Sullivan, who won the 2015 Epson Tour season opener.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity and will remember this for the rest of my life,” said Griffin, who has placed in the top five in the FHSAA Class 2A Florida State Championship each of the last three years. “I’m looking forward to seeing girls I’ve played against like Nelly Korda and just learning from all the professionals.”

Popson was a star at Ridge Community High School where she was a four-time individual state qualifier and two-time Polk County Player of the Year. Popson went onto to win eight times in college at Tennessee. She made 22 starts on the Epson Tour in 2015 with one top 10 finish. She missed the cut at the 2015 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic (75-81).

Abbey Williams is a sophomore at Florida Southern College and is playing on a sponsor’s exemption.

Williams has two top 10 finishes this season and has the lowest scoring average on the team. Jackie

Stoelting played at Florida Southern College from 2004-2008 and was a two-time All-American. Stoelting won twice on the Epson Tour in 2015 and finished T2 at the 2014 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

10 TEENAGERS TEE IT UP IN LAKE WALES: The future of women’s golf will certainly be on display at Lake Wales Country Club as 10 teenagers are in the field. The teenagers from youngest to oldest are: Tzu-Yi Chang (14), Ya-Chun Chang (15), Kendall Griffin (17), Nelly Korda (17), Ruixin Liu (17), Greta Voelker (18), Ssu Chia Cheng (18), Kana Nagai (18), Ziqi Ye (18) and Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (19).

Tzu-Yi Chang was born on May 8, 2001. Chang, Chang, Griffin, Liu and Voelker are all playing the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic as amateurs.

2 LPGA TOUR WINNERS IN THE FIELD: The Epson Tour doesn’t just provide the “Road to the LPGA” for players starting their careers. There are two veterans in the field that have won on the LPGA. Lorie Kane, 51, has four career LPGA Tour wins (2000 Michelob Light Classic, 2000 New Albany Golf Classic, 2000 Mizuno Classic and the 2001 Takefuji Classic). Kane has made 435 career starts on the LPGA dating back to 1991 and has 99 career top 10 finishes. Kane has only played in one Epson Tour event over the years in 2013.

The other LPGA winner in the field is Silvia Cavalleri (Milano, Italy), who won the 2007 Corona Championship. Cavalleri made 12 starts in 2015 on the Epson Tour. Her best finish was a fourth place result at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

DEFENDING CHAMP RETURNS HEALTHY: The highlight of Sue Kim’s (Langley, British Columbia) 2015 season was her victory at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic by three shots (-5). The win moved her to the top spot on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and it appeared she was on her way back to the LPGA. Kim spent most of the Spring and Summer competing on the LPGA Tour, but health issues comprised her year. She had a tear in her shoulder and wrist issues as well.

Kim had to withdraw from her final LPGA event of the year at the end of August. In four Epson Tour events during the same time period, she went DNS (did not start), T4, WD (withdraw), DNS.

“I went through a tough injury period between the mid-season and the end of the season, which held me back from finishing up my season out on Epson Tour and LPGA,” said Kim. “It was difficult for me to end the season with disappointing withdrawals especially with top 10 finishes right in front of my eyes. Regardless of how disappointed I was, I went to Korea to spend some quality time to get the tear in the shoulder tendon and the wrist rehabilitated and it is still in the process.”

When healthy, Kim proved last year that she is a force to be reckoned with. In the four Epson Tour events she completed, she finished in the top 25 in three of them including the win.

“I am very excited to be back at Lake Wales Country Club this year, of course,” said Kim. “It’s always exciting to go back to where you had a successful tournament in the past.”

Kim had a very strong start to the 2016 season with a fifth place finish at the IOA Championship. It was her 10th career top 10 finish on the Epson Tour.

“I have been working very hard with my coach Kevin Smeltz over the winter,” explained Kim. “It’s not anything major, more of fine tuning. The first tournament in California went well enough for me to gain confidence for this upcoming tournament in Lake Wales.”

Kim’s lone hiccup on the way to the win last year was forgetting her yardage book at her hotel on a tournament day. Kim’s mom had to rush back and get it. Kim finally got her yardage book on the third hole. It turned out to be a non-issue and something she can look back on and laugh at.

LIV CHENG MAKING OLYMPICS PUSH: When you think of New Zealand women’s golf, there is one player that comes to mind - the number one player in the world, Lydia Ko. Epson Tour professional Liv Cheng, who grew up playing with and against Ko, is trying to secure a second spot in the Olympics for New Zealand. She currently ranks 56th on the IGF rankings and is the second highest ranked player from New Zealand (No. 404 in the world and 14 spots in front of Cathryn Bristow).

“Definitely would be a dream come true to be able to represent New Zealand at the Olympics,” said Cheng, who played in 17 events as a rookie in 2015. “Golf being brought back to the Olympics is very exciting. I’ve always represented New Zealand and it would be an amazing experience to compete in golf at the Olympics, which is a world class event.”

Cheng’s breakthrough came early in 2016 when she finished in a tie for eighth at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open, an event co-santioned by the LET and the ALPG. She moved up approximately 125 spots in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings over a two event stretch.

Cheng had a much shorter offseason than most of her counterparts. She played on the ALPG from January 5 to March 3.

“I’ve had maybe a week or two weeks off here and there,” explained Cheng. “I’ve been focusing on maintaining the fundamentals of my swing and keeping it simple, which will help me improve my consistency under pressure.”

Cheng last competed alongside Lydia Ko in 2010 at the Trans Tasman Cup representing New Zealand. Cheng and Ko helped New Zealand defeat Australia for the first time in 27 years. Cheng hopes to represent New Zealand with Ko at the 2016 Olympics.

2014 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPION TO MAKE TOUR DEBUT: Doris Chen (China Taipei) won the 2014 NCAA Division I individual national title competing for the University of Southern California where she was a three-time All-American. Chen will make her Epson Tour debut this week at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

Chen finished T5 at Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament to earn Epson Tour status and T113 at Final Stage. She has already made seven career starts on the LPGA Tour as an amateur including a T50 finish at the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open.

She played high school golf in Florida at the IMG Academy in Bradenton.

NO. 67 IN WORLD MAKES TOUR DEBUT NEXT WEEK, FUTURE UNCERTAIN: Nicole Broch Larsen (Denmark), No. 67 in the world, will be making the trip to the United States to compete on the Epson Tour to get competitive rounds in during a long break on the LET. She has committed to the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial and the Guardian Retirement Championship. For now, that’s the extent of her Epson Tour schedule, but she left the door open for sticking around.

“I’m looking forward to playing a few events on the Epson Tour, but my focus is not on the top 10,” explained Larsen, who is currently 4th on the LET Order of Merit. “I haven’t planned on playing more events this year on the Epson Tour, but if I play well it will maybe change, who knows.”

Larsen, 22, made a name for herself on the LET in 2015 by finishing third on the Order of Merit. She captured her first win at the Helsingborg Open in Sweden.

“I think I’ve grown a lot as a person and as a golfer since I turned pro in August 2013,” said Larsen. “I’m not sure if there’s been anything specific, but I had a really good state of mind last year and had a lot of confidence last summer.”

Oozing with confidence, Larsen took aim at LPGA Qualifying Tournament with hopes of earning her LPGA Tour card. She finished T20 at Stage II, but narrowly missed earning any LPGA status with a T50 finish. Larsen carded a 77 on the final day.

This is a big year for Larsen. In addition to competing on the LET and the Epson Tour, she is in a comfortable position to represent Denmark in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. She is currently No. 28 on the International Golf Federation (IGF) rankings and the top 60 qualify.

“It’s really important to me,” said Larsen. “It’s been a big goal for me the last couple of years, an representing Denmark in Rio in August, would be a dream come true."

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