The first field of the 2017 season is out! The season-long race for ten LPGA Tour cards for the 2018 gets underway with the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at our new home of Country Club of Winter Haven in Central Florida. Here is a look at seven storylines to watch from Friday, March 10 through Sunday, March 12 as the 2017 season begins.

12-14 on 2016 Money List Headline Field – The disappointment of not earning an LPGA Tour card can definitely sting, especially when you can basically count the two or three strokes that turned out to be the difference over the course of a long season. Erica Popson, Augusta James and Sophia Popov return to the Epson Tour after finishing 12th, 13th and 14th respectively on the 2016 Volvik Race for the Card money list. Popson, who won eight times in college at Tennessee, finished just $1,191 short of No. 10 and a spot on the LPGA. She won the Epson Classic last year and totaled six top 10’s, but fell a little short. James, who was a three-time All-ACC selection at N.C. State, came up just short for a second year in a row. She finished 12th on the money list in 2015. James has 11 top 10 finishes over two seasons on the Epson Tour. Popov, who won a national title at USC and played on the LPGA in 2015, had five top 10 finishes last year, but couldn’t get in the winner’s circle to get a big enough boost to slide into the top 10. Of the trio, only James has partial LPGA Tour status through Qualifying Tournament so expect all three to contend on the Epson Tour in 2017.

LPGA Winners in Field including Million Dollar Baby – When Julieta Granada was 20 years old in 2006, she became the first LPGA player to cash a million dollar check by winning the season-ending ADT Championship. Fast forward 11 years and she will begin the 2017 season on the Epson Tour at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. Granada has earned over $4 million in her stellar career on the LPGA that has included 28 top 10 finishes. Unfortunately, she missed 14 cuts in 2016 on the LPGA and finished 130th on the LPGA money list. Granada finished T90 at Final Stage of Qualifying Tournament and therefore is No. 239 on the LPGA priority list in category 18 (Tournament Winners). We will wait and see how often Granada plays on the Epson Tour in 2017. Other past LPGA winners in the field for the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic include 4-time winner Lorie Kane and 2007 Corona Championship winner Silvia Cavalleri.

Two Olympians from LET are Intriguing Watches on Epson Tour – Marianne Skarpnord, a Ladies European Tour veteran, won Stage II of LPGA Qualifying Tournament in Venice going away. She posted rounds of 69-68-69-71 to win by five shots. She didn’t have her “A” game in December at Final Stage and finished T123. At Stage II, Skarpnord made it clear that her goal was to compete on the LPGA again so maybe she will play a full or partial season on the Epson Tour. She last competed full-time on the LPGA in 2010. Skarpnord represented Norway at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and finished T25. She carded a 66 in round two. Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who finished 6th on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit in 2016, is another intriguing player to watch in 2017. Madsen represented Denmark at the 2016 Olympics and finished T13. She is by far the highest ranked player in the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at No. 66 according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She is off to a stellar start in 2017 with a second place finish at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. The finish does not count towards the LPGA money list because Madsen is not a Tour member. She actually failed to advance out of Stage II.

Mariah Stackhouse Back, for now, on Epson Tour – Immediately after graduating from Stanford in 2016, Stackhouse received five sponsor exemptions on the Epson Tour in 2016. She used them as a tune up for LPGA Qualifying Tournament where she narrowly missed full status on the LPGA with a T21 result. Stackhouse will likely get a significant amount of starts on the LPGA, but she may also play some on the Epson Tour. The 2015 NCAA national champion missed the cut at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open last week and is currently 10th on the alternate list for the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, which is the week after the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. So, well see how many events she gets into on the LPGA. Stackhouse was a four-time All-American at Stanford and should be considered a player to watch in Winter Haven and beyond. Stackhouse’s good friend and forming running mate at Stanford, Lauren Kim, is also in the field this week.

2016 Epson Tour Championship Winner in Field – Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark has the game to compete amongst the best. She won the Epson Tour Championship in a playoff over Ally McDonald last year and finished T24 at Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament to earn partial LPGA status. She finished 12th on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit in 2016 and was the Player of the Year on the LET in 2015. In just four, yes four, events on the Epson Tour last year she finished 20th on the money list. She almost won the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay, but fell short in a playoff against Brittany Altomare. If she plays a full year, watch out. Larsen is another player in the top 100 in the world at No. 100 according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

Local Shelby Brauckmuller Knows CC of Winter Haven – Shelby Brauckmuller, who was a standout at Auburndale High School in Polk County, received a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. She finished runner-up at the Junior Citrus Open in 2015 at Country Club of Winter Haven. Brauckmuller, who signed to play college golf at Marshall, was a four-time First-Team All-County selection.

Erynne Lee Won the Opener Last Year and Richdale Defends – Former UCLA standout Erynne Lee won the season opener as a rookie last year at the IOA Championship in Beaumont, California. She had an impressive first year on Tour with five total top 10 finishes and closed 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Lee was an All-American at UCLA and competed on the U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2014. Another name to keep an eye on is Samantha Richdale, the defending Florida’s Natural Charity Classic champ. She won at Lake Wales Country Club last year with a three-day total of 7-under, 209. She birdied three of the final four holes to overcome a three-shot deficit at the start of the final round. She has four career Epson Tour wins and 28 top 10 finishes.

The Field is Set for the Florida's Natural Charity Classic

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