HARRIS, Mich. June 22, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, is set 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.

MARINA CHOI MOVING ON FROM PENALTY AND PROUD OF FINISH: Marina Choi (Los Angeles, Calif.) had one of the best finishes of her career on Sunday in South Bend at the Four Winds Invitational.

She was firing on all cylinders on the front nine with five birdies including a 25-footer on the ninth hole. She overcame a three-shot deficit to start the day and had the lead with nine holes remaining. Choi, who was making her 118th career Epson Tour start and gunning for her first win, made bogey on 10 and 12. She was still in a share of the lead. After making par on 13, she was accessed a 2-stroke pace of play penalty on the 14th tee.

Choi finished the day with five pars and closed in third at 5-under, 211, two shots back of the winner Jackie Stoelting.

“It was unfortunate of course, but it’s in the past and I’m just proud of my fight,” said Choi on Wednesday before the Island Resort Championship pro-am. “I still feel like I’ll have more chances to win a tournament with 13 events remaining. I’ll learn from the experience and try to prevent it in the future.”

Choi’s solo third place finish moved her from 52nd to 23rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list heading into the Island Resort Championship.

“I feel like I am striking the ball well and putting decent too so I feel like I can definitely do better and make a push for an LPGA card,” said Choi. “I played fearless golf on the front nine on Sunday in South Bend.”

Choi said that two years ago, she never would have been able to deal with the immense pressure of playing with the lead on a Sunday.

“I definitely proved to myself that I can do it,” said Choi. “I had some misses on the back nine, but other than the penalty, I’m just proud that I fought and played solid golf.”

Choi said that one of the major differences this year is the trust she has in her caddy, former Epson Tour player, Rachael Schmidt.

“I didn’t give her 100 percent trust with yardages and reads because I played golf on my own for so long,” explained Choi. “I think that our numbers, club selection, reads on the greens were so similar. Now, I feel like I can overcome pressure better knowing that I’ve done it before and can do it again. I trust myself now. I feel like I can win now.”

Choi, who started playing on the Epson Tour in 2007 after a great college career at Pepperdine, came into the season knowing that this could be her final year if she doesn’t earn an LPGA card.

“If I don’t improve, I am considering this being my final year on Tour,” admitted Choi. “I want to earn my LPGA card badly because I know this could be it. It’s go big or go home for me this year.”

With three top 20 finishes, Choi has put herself in position to prolong her golf career.

MICHIGAN NATIVE HOPES FOR BIG WEEK: Samantha Troyanovich of Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan made the seven hour trip to the Upper Peninsula yesterday and played the front nine this morning in preparation for Friday’s start.

“I loved being in Michigan,” said Troyanovich. “It’s awesome when I hear girls say stuff like ‘oh my gosh, we’re still in Michigan and it is so pretty here’. When you’re driving up here, you are thinking ‘wow, it is beautiful up here’ and I think it is awesome that we have a swing that hits different parts of Michigan.”

The Tour will play near Grand Rapids next in Stanwood for the Tullymore Classic and then in Western Michigan for the FireKeeper Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek.

“Usually, during the summer people think of Michigan as the frozen tundra, but now we get to play really nice golf courses,” said Troyanovich. “Everyone in the state of Michigan is nice. It makes sense that there are two LPGA and three Epson Tour events because Michigan is either one or two in golf courses per capita. It’s insane to think about how many great golf courses there are up here and it is nice to take
advantage.”

DORIS CHEN MAKES FIRST CAREER ACE IN PRACTICE ROUND: Doris Chen (Chinese Taipei) started playing golf when she was 10 years old. On the third hole of her practice round with Ember Schuldt and Katie Jean on Wednesday at Sweetgrass Golf Club, she did something she has never done - make a hole-in-one.

She grabbed her 5-iron on the 3rd hole and found a slope to the right of the pin and the ball rolled in. Schuldt said she knew it was a good shot and then walked to the hole and didn’t see Chen’s ball.

“Ember had my phone ready to take a picture and we walked up and the ball was in the hole,” said an overjoyed Chen. “I was happy, I just raised my arms and screamed ‘yay!’”

Chen said she has had hole outs on par-5’s, but never an ace on a par-3.

The Epson Tour rookie said she hopes to carry the momentum into tournament play this weekend.

“I’m sure I will have good memories every time I walk up to the hole this week,” said Chen. “The course is in great shape, but the greens are tough with the slopes so you have to hit the ball in the right spots.”

After walking away, Chen raised her arms and uttered “finally, it has taken 13 years” and then went to the driving range.

Island Resort Championship Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes

Related Articles