MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, August 17, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, is back in Milwaukee this week for the 2nd annual PHC Classic at Brown Deer Park. First-round play begins on Friday, August 19 and the final-round is scheduled for Sunday, August 21. There are just seven events remaining in the 2016 season so it is crunch time for players trying to earn LPGA Tour membership.

Play begins at 7:30 a.m. all three days of the tournament. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second-round play. The final-round will be a single-tee start with an estimated finishing time of 5:00 p.m.

The field of 129 professionals and one amateur will compete for a total tournament purse of $100,000. The winner will earn $15,000 and move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the money list at the conclusion of the season will earn LPGA membership for the 2017 season. The season wraps up October 13-16 with the Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.

NO. 12 ON MONEY LISTS SAYS IT’S ‘CRUNCH TIME’: Dana Finkelstein, No. 12 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, has never been the tallest, strongest or most highly touted. However, she has always found a way to prove people wrong. In college, she turned herself into a three-time Mountain West Player of the Year and a three-time winner as a senior at UNLV.

“I’ve always loved to kind of prove the haters wrong,” said Finkelstein after playing in the pro-am on Wednesday at Brown Deer Park. “It’s the same position Clariss (Guce) has been in. She missed a bunch of cuts and people were starting not think great of her and now she just won two events. She proved all the people wrong and I hope to do that also.”

Finkelstein and Guce have become good friends this year.

“I take a lot of motivation from what she has done,” said Finkelstein. “Knowing that your fellow rookie competitor can win makes you feel like you can do it as well.”

Finkelstein said the hardest adjustment has been the physical grind of the season. After playing six to seven tournaments a year in college, she has already made 13 starts this year. Finkelstein admitted some physical fatigue and dealing with that over the final stretch will be crucial.

“It has been a decision I’ve been teetering back and forth on, I don’t know if I want to skip Arkansas or the second Garden City event or play them all,” said Finkelstein. “My body is starting to break down a little bit. I know it’s important to play all the events, but I also know that I’ve played my best when I’ve taken time away.”

Finkelstein said she plans on consulting another former UNLV Rebels golfer, Therese O’Hara, who has not played the last two weeks and is 18th on the money list.

The Chandler, Arizona native has had a really strong first year on Tour regardless of the final outcome. She has five top 10 finishes and ten top 30 finishes.

“It’s crunch time with seven events left and jumping in and out of the top 10,” said Finkelstein. “I just need to stay positive and know that my golf game is in a good place and a couple more good finishes and I will get my (LPGA) card.”

5 EPSON TOUR GRADS IN OLYMPICS: The women’s golf portion of the 2016 Olympics began on Wednesday in Rio. There are five former Epson Tour graduates in the Olympics: Inbee Park (Korea), Gerina Piller (USA), Alejandra Llaneza (Mexico), Giulia Molinaro (Italy) and Alena Sharp (Canada).

Both Llaneza and Molinaro played in the PHC Classic in 2015. Llaneza finished in a tie for 15th and Molinaro finished T22.

Llaneza and Molinaro aren’t the only two Olympians that had success on the Epson Tour in 2015. Brooke Henderson won the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend last year and is now No. 3 in the world and in the Olympics.

Nicole Broch Larsen (Denmark), who has made three starts on the Epson Tour this year, is in a tie for fourth after day one.

PHC Classic Wednesday Pre-tournament Notes

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