GARDEN CITY, KANSAS, September 12, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, stays in Garden City for the second week of the back-to-back for the Garden City Charity Classic presented by Mariah Fund at Buffalo Dunes. The Tour announced last week that Buffalo Dunes would host the second week due to a unforeseen fungus that developed over the last few weeks at The Golf Club at Southwind. There are now just four events remaining in the 2016 season.
The tournament will be held Thursday, September 15 through Saturday, September 17. The 54-hole event boosts a field of 113 professionals from the United States and 23 countries around the globe. Play will begin at 8:00 a.m. all three days. A split-tee format will be used on Thursday and Friday while Saturday’s final-round will be a single-tee start. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties after the second-round.
This week, the field will compete for a $100,000 total tournament purse and the winner will earn $15,000. As the season winds down, the importance of each event is magnified for players chasing a spot in the final top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
The chase for a spot on the LPGA is incredibly competitive. No. 6 Marissa Steen (West Chester, Ohio) is just $5,094 clear of No. 12 Nelly Korda (Bradenton, Florida). No. 10 Laura Gonzalez Escallon (La Hulpe, Belgium), who is not in this week’s event because she qualified for The Evian Championship in France, is just $1,110 in front of No. 11 Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (Thailand).
For the first time in the history of the Epson Tour, there are 12 women that have earned over $60,000 in a single-season and there are still four events left. For perspective, only seven women earned over $60,000 in 2015 and nobody earned over $60,000 in 2013.
The top of the Tour has separated itself so much from the rest of the pack that only No. 11-15 on the money list could potentially jump into the top 10 with a win this week. One through 12 on the money list have 13 of the 19 wins this season.
This is the 20th event of the 2016 season, which concludes with the 23rd and final event from October 13-16 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Following the Epson Tour Championship, there will be 10 new members of the LPGA.
Seven of the top 10 on the current money list are in the field this week. No. 3 Ally McDonald and No. 10 Laura Gonzalez Escallon are not in the field in order to compete in The Evian Championship. Numbers 11-20 on the money list are all in the field.
When the Tour played three round events at Buffalo Dunes the past two years, the winning scores were 8-under (2015, Vicky Hurst) and 6-under (2014, Min Lee).
FINKELSTEIN CLIMBS TO 4TH WITH WIN: Dana Finkelstein (Chandler, Ariz.) climbed to fourth on the new Volvik Race for the Card money list with her breakthrough win on Sunday. She had an incredible four days at Buffalo Dunes with rounds of 65-71-70-71 to win by four shots. Finkelstein was indecisive following her win as to whether she would play this week, but has decided to stay in Garden City.
Finkelstein has seven top 10 finishes on the year and has earned $73,282.
Seven of her last eight rounds have been under-par dating back to a T5 finish two weeks ago at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge.
SOPHIA POPOV RETURNS TO U.S. AFTER T17 ON EUROPEAN TOUR: Sophia Popov, who now ranks 13th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, did not play in Garden City last week because she was in her home country of Germany playing on the Ladies European Tour at the ISPS Handa Ladies European Masters. Popov posted a final-round 66 to finish in a tie for 17th.
She will play this week at Buffalo Dunes.
Popov, who won a national title at USC, is just over $8,000 shy of the current top 10.
MARCHAND COLLECTS THIRD TOP 10: Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ontario) collected her third top 10 finish of the season on Sunday at Buffalo Dunes. She posted four rounds of even-par or better and figures to be a favorite this week if she can maintain her form.
Marchand moved up to 27th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and now is in position to earn an exemption to Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament. The top 15 after the top 10, excluding current LPGA members, get to bypass Stage II of Qualifying Tournament.
Since the beginning of July, Marchand has four top 15 results.
MARISSA STEEN MOVED FROM 10TH TO 6TH WITH FOURTH PLACE: Marissa Steen (West Chester, Ohio) got out of that precarious tenth spot on the money list with a fourth place finish on Sunday. Steen is now 6th on the money list and hoping to graduate to the LPGA for a second time. Steen was the Epson Player of the Year in 2014 after winning three times.
She doesn’t have a win this season, but does have eight top 10 finishes and 14 top 20 results.
NELLY KORDA POSTS 6TH TOP 10: Nelly Korda (Bradenton, Florida) moved down to 12th on the money list (from 11th), but still finished in a tie for 6th on Sunday. Korda, who won two weeks ago, has finished inside the top 10 in five of the last seven events.
Korda has certainly saved her best golf for the last stretch of the season. She has been under-par in ten of her last 14 rounds.
Korda’s younger brother, Sebastian, got to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open Junior Tennis Championships in New York City last week. Her older sister, Jessica, is playing in The Evian Championship this week on the LPGA Tour.
BREAKDOWN OF FINAL STRETCH OF EVENTS: Following the Garden City Charity Classic presented by Mariah Fund this week, the Tour will take a week off and then close the season with three events in three weeks. After the off week, the Tour heads to El Dorado, Arkansas for the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, a $100,000 purse. Then, the penultimate event is the IOA Golf Classic at Alaqua Country Club, a $100,000 event. The Epson Tour Championship at LPGA International carries a $200,000 purse and a $30,000 payout for the winner so that could go a long way in deciding the final spots. Second place pays out $18,784 so there could definitely be some shake up before the Tour cards are handed out.
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