HARRIS, Mich. June 20, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, heads from South Bend, Indiana to Harris, Michigan for the sixth Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass Golf Club from June 24-26. The top 144 professionals from the United States and 25 countries around the globe will compete for a $125,000 total tournament purse and the winner will earn $18,750.

First-round play begins on Friday, June 24 at 7:30 a.m. from the first and tenth tees. There will be a cut made to the low 60 and ties following second-round play on Saturday. The final-round will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday and is expected to conclude at approximately 5:00 p.m. with the trophy ceremony on the 18th green.

This is the 11th event of the 2016 season and the first of three in the state of Michigan. The Tour will play next week in Stanwood (Tullymore Classic) and in Battle Creek (FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship) the week of July 18.

The 2016 season concludes October 13-16 in Daytona Beach, Florida with the Epson Tour Championship. The top 10 players on the final Volvik Race for the Card money list will earn LPGA membership for the 2017 season.

In 2015, Dani Holmqvist set the Island Resort Championship scoring record with a three-day total of 10-under, 206, to win her first Epson Tour event. She went onto finish fifth on the money list and is playing full-time on the LPGA Tour this year. In 2014, wind was a major factor as Molly Aronsson won with a total score of 1-under, 215, which is the highest in the five years of the event. Sweetgrass Golf Club is a beautiful links style course that will play 6,303 yards this week.

The field is strong this year as nine of the top 10 on the current money list are scheduled to compete. Of the top 20 players, 19 are scheduled to tee it up in the Island Resort Championship. The field also includes 18 current members of the LPGA Tour.

There are also six - Liv Cheng, Peiyun Chien, Nelly Korda, Sophia Popov, Madelene Sagstrom, Jackie Stoelting - players in the field that also qualified for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open.

PLAYERS RAVE ABOUT ISLAND RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP: Year after year, the Island Resort Championship has ranked as a favorite for players on the end of season surveys. We asked players to comment on the event.

“Last year was my first time playing this tournament and also my first time playing golf in Michigan and I loved it. The course is such a fun track, was in really good shape and the support we had last year from the community and all volunteers is just hard to beat!” - Julia Roth

'Everyone is so friendly and they take really good care of us! Everyone from the spectators to host families. You just feel really welcome. It’s also a great golf course.” - Caroline Westrup

“Love being in this part of the country. This is my favorite Epson Tour event of the Year.” - Alexandria Jacobsen

“We Epson Tour professionals love being in Harris, Michigan for the Island Resort Championship. Sweetgrass Golf Course is gorgeous and a tough enough test of golf to host a PGA TOUR event. The best part about the championship is the way all the different folks from Escanaba, Harris and the Potawatomi tribe welcome us into their community with so much kindness and then also come out to the course to watch us golf.” - Allie White

“Sweetgrass Golf Course is one of the purest golf courses I’ve ever played on. I have so many great memories from each event, but the Island Resort Championship stood out to me the most! Everything about this course and community is incredible. Everyone made us feel welcome and the support from the sponsors and fans were truly amazing. Last year this event was one of my best finishes so I am looking forward to playing and improving this year.” - Amy Ruengmateekhun

"This is my first year playing at the island resort championship but I've only heard fabulous things from all the other players about the sweet grass golf course, the island resort and casino, and of course, the natural beauty of #puremichigan" Samantha Troyanovich

"The Island Resort Championship is a great event on a spectacular course. When the wind is blowing (which it usually does) it become very challenging and fun!” - Marita Engzelius

NO. 1/2 WITH CHANCE AT LPGA THIS YEAR WITH THIRD WIN: The first seven events of the season were dominated by Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden), who set the all-time single-season earnings record in middle May. She is the first player in the 36-year history of the Tour to earn north of $100,000 ($104,903). Sagstrom has two wins and six top 5 finishes. Even with the recent surge of Jackie Stoelting, Sagstrom still has earned $51,957 more than second place.

Stoelting has been red hot with wins in the last two Epson Tour events. She won the Fuccillo Kia Championship to move from 28th to sixth on the money list and last week won the Four Winds Invitational to jump to second. Stoelting has earned $41,250 in the last two events.

Both Sagstrom and Stoelting now have an opportunity to earn a “Battlefield Promotion” to the LPGA with a third win this season. If you win three times in a single-season on the Epson Tour, you get to jump to the LPGA right away in category 13 on the LPGA priority list.

STOELTING CAN JOIN RARE COMPANY WITH THIRD STRAIGHT: The last time a Epson Tour player won three consecutive tournaments was all the way back in 1989. Jackie Stoelting has a chance to do something that only two women in the history of the Tour have accomplished - three in a row.

In 1989, Jennifer MacCurrach won the Bahamas FUTURES Classic, the Kelly Greens FUTURES Classic and the Charleston FUTURES Classic. Tammie Green also won three in a row in 1986.

Stoelting also won two straight last year.

Eight of her last nine rounds have been under-par.

SECOND POTAWATOMI CUP EVENT THIS WEEK: The Island Resort Championship is one of four Epson Tour events sponsored by Potawatomi nation tribes. The 3rd annual Potawatomi Cup will award $40,000 worth of bonus money to players based off performance in the four events.

The other three events are the Four Winds Invitational (last week), the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship (July 22-24) and the PHC Classic (August 19-21).

There is $8,500 up for grabs at each tournament. The player that wins the Potawatomi Cup (most points) will receive a $6,000 bonus.

Current Standings
1. Jackie Stoelting ($3,000)
2. Ally McDonald ($2,500)
3. Marina Choi ($1,500)
T4. Catherine O’Donnell ($300)
T4. Therese O’Hara ($300)
T4. Marissa Steen ($300)
T4. Erica Popson ($300)
T4. Nelly Korda ($300)

SISTER ACT FROM WISCONSIN: Epson Tour member Allyssa Ferrell (Edgerton, Wisconsin) gets a treat this week as her younger sister, Brooke, is in the field on a sponsor exemption. Brooke was named a First-Team All-Big Ten performer as a junior at the University of Wisconsin in 2016. She also netted the best single-season scoring average in school history.

Brooke is not unfamiliar with the Epson Tour as she has caddied for Allyssa this year.

Allyssa, who played college golf at Michigan State, has made four cuts in eight starts on the Epson Tour this year.

“This is a big week in the Ferrell house,” said Allyssa. “I’m so happy that my sister was given the opportunity to play in this week’s Epson Tour event. I’m so happy that she has the chance to see what this Tour is all about and that I get to share what I do week in and week out all summer long. She has had a successful college career thus far and this is the next stepping stone in the career path so it’s a great chance to compete with future LPGA players. We are very close as sisters so sharing this week together will be very special to both of us.”

FIVE MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS IN FIELD: There are five in the field this week that played college golf in East Lansing at Michigan State (Caroline Powers, Laura Kueny, Christine Meier, Allyssa Ferrell and Liz Nagel).

Samantha Troyanovich is another Michigan native in the field from Grosse Pointe Shores. She played college golf at Tulane.

FINAL OLYMPIC PUSH: There is one player in the field this week, Liv Cheng, that would qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games if the cut off was today. The final women’s golf Olympics field will be set on July 11. The top 60 (Cheng currently ranks No. 55) on the International Golf Federation rankings will qualify.

Cheng is hoping to represent her country of New Zealand. Cheng had her best Epson Tour finish of the season last week at the Four Winds Invitational, a tie for 15th. Cheng has made the cut in each of her last four starts and has finished inside the top 20 in three of them.

Other players in the field this week that have a chance to qualify for the Olympics include Dottie Ardina (Philippines), Paz Echeverria (Chile) and Laura Gonzalez Escallon (Belgium).

The Olymic golf course is in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

INTERNATIONAL CROWN PARTICIPANT IN FIELD: One of the biggest LPGA Tour events on the schedule this year is the 2nd annual UL International Crown, which will be held July 22-24 in Chicago. The top eight countries (four players per country) will battle it out to see which country reigns. The fourth member of Team Australia, Rebecca Artis, is in the field this week at the Island Resort Championship. Artis is part of a team that includes budding superstars Minjee Lee and Su Oh plus legend Karrie Webb. Team USA for the UL International Crown will feature Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Cristie Kerr.

Artis is ranked number 158 in the world. She has two career wins on the Ladies European Tour (LET) including the 2015 Scottish Open. Artis has played in two Epson Tour events this year. She finished T5 at the W.B. Mason Championship.

QUICK NOTES

Sagstrom and Stoelting have combined for four of the 10 wins this season.
There are four rookies currently inside the top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list (Sagstrom, Ally McDonald, Wichanee Meechai and Dana Finkelstein).
There are eight different countries represented in the top 20 on the money list.
2013 Island Resort Championship winner, Kim Kaufman, currently is No. 83 in the world according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Island Resort Championship Top Storylines

Related Articles