LONGWOOD, Florida, September 25, 2017 - The Epson Tour, the official qualifying Tour of the LPGA, is in Longwood for the 21st tournament of the season, the IOA Golf Classic at Alaqua Country Club. This is the second to last event of the season.

Tournament play begins on Friday, September 29 and the 54-hole event wraps on Sunday, October 1. Play will begin at 8:00 a.m. all three rounds. There will be a cut made to the low 60 and ties following Saturday’s second round. Tickets to the IOA Golf Classic are complimentary courtesy of IOA.

The field of 108 players from the United States and 27 countries around the globe will compete for the highest purse in the history of the IOA Golf Classic, $150,000. The purse was increased by $50,000 two weeks ago. The winner will earn $22,500 and move up the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

The top 10 on the final money list after the Epson Tour Championship (Oct. 5-8) will earn LPGA Tour membership for 2018.

The race for 10 LPGA cards has reached the final two events. The top 10 is starting to separate from the rest, but anyone in the top 21 could move into the top 10 with a win this week. No. 10 on the money list, Daniela Darquea (Quito, Ecuador), is now $5,302 in front of No. 11 Sophia Popov (Heidelberg, Germany). Anything can happen next week also as the Epson Tour Championship carries a purse of $200,000 and a winner’s payout of $30,000.

The top four on the money list - No. 1 Benyapa Niphatsophon (Bangkok, Thailand), No. 2 Celine Boutier (Montrouge, France), No. 3 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark) and No. 4 Hannah Green (Perth, Australia) - have already secured spots on the LPGA for the 2018 season.

The field is the strongest of the season to date with the top 23 players on the money list. There are also 22 LPGA Tour members in the field.

There are 14 players in the field from the state of Florida: Kellie Edelblut (Lake Mary), Ashley Holder (Orlando), Ginger Howard (Bradenton), Daniela Iacobelli (Melbourne), Casey Kennedy (Venice), August Kim (Saint Augustine), Cindy LaCrosse (Tampa), Alexandra Newell (Tampa), Catherine O’Donnell (Ponte Vedra), Erica Popson (Davenport), Madison Pressel (Boca Raton), Sierra Sims (Tampa), Jessy Tang (Daytona Beach) and Carlie Yadloczky (Casselberry).

Alaqua Country Club is one of the shorter courses on the Epson Tour. It’s a par-71 and will play a maximum of 6,216.

This is the third year the Epson Tour has played the IOA Golf Classic at Alaqua Country Club. Kendall Dye, who is in the field this week, won in 2014 while Jackie Stoelting, who now plays on the LPGA, won in 2015. The event was cancelled in 2016 due to Hurricane Matthew.

FORMER UCF STAR IS A HEADLINER

Former UCF star Ashley Holder is playing in the tournament for a second time on a sponsors exemption. She played in 2015 while at UCF and finished in a tie for 20th. Holder advanced past Stage I of LPGA Qualifying Tournament and will be at minimum a Epson Tour member in 2018.

She was the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year three of her four years of college and won the conference tournament this past April.

She played high school golf at Lake Nona and took medalist honors at the 84th Florida State Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship.

The second sponsors exemption is Kellie Edelburt, who resides in Lake Mary and played college golf at William & Mary.

RECAP OF LAST WEEK

Lindsey Weaver (Bellefontaine, Ohio) carded a final-round 4-under, 68 to come from four shots off the lead to win the Guardian Championship on Sunday at Capitol Hill at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Prattville, Alabama.

Weaver picked up her first win of the season and moved from ninth to eighth on the new money list. She notched her tenth top 10 finish of the season in 20 starts.

Weaver, the former Arizona Wildcats star, made a critical 8-foot par putt on the last hole to stay at 12-under while Yu Liu (Beijing, China) three-putted for bogey on 18 to close at 11-under. Liu moved from eighth to seventh on the money list.

“It’s awesome, it was good to have a solid final-round because sometimes when I have been in contention I have petered back a bit,” said Weaver. “It feels really good to get the job done and get a win out of it.”

Weaver’s boyfriend is professional golfer Tom Lovelady, who earned his PGA TOUR card for 2018 through the Web.com Tour.

FOUR OVER 80K FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR:

Purses on the Epson Tour continue to grow and for a second straight season, four players have earned over $80,000 and two players have eclipsed $100,000.

No. 5 on the money list Erynne Lee is just $1,872 from crossing $80,000 this year. It would be the first time in Tour history that five players in one season earn at least $80,000.

THE AMAZING YEAR OF NIPHATSOPHON

Benyapa Niphatsophon ($109,028) has earned the third most in a single-season in the history of the Epson Tour. Amazingly, she has accumulated the money without the benefit of a win. Niphatsophon has 11 top 10 finishes in 18 starts including five second place finishes. The 11 top 10’s are one off the record set by Madelene Sagstrom (12 top 10’s) in 2016.

The record for the most money earned in a single-season without a win is held by Ally McDonald, who won $110,359 in 2016.

WHO WILL MOVE INTO TOP 10 AT END OF YEAR?

It seems to happen every year at the end of the season where someone from outside the top 10 moves into the top 10. Last year, Laura Gonzalez Escallon moved from 11th to fifth at the Tour Championship and Nelly Korda jumped from 12th to ninth.

In 2015, Brianna Do was 18th on the money list with two events remaining and finished in second place in back-to-back events to finish third to earn an LPGA card. In 2014, Demi Runas finished in a tie for second at the last event to jump from 15th to ninth.

NANNA KOERSTZ MADSEN MAKES RETURN TO EPSON

Nanna Koerstz Madsen, a three-time winner on the Epson Tour this year, hasn’t played on Tour since winning her third on July 20 at the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic. Since, she has played in four LPGA Tour events and has made the cut in two.

Koerstz Madsen has seven top 10 finishes in 11 starts. She will play in the final two Epson Tour events and has already secured her LPGA card for 2018.

OF NOTE

There are eight different countries represented in the current top 10 (Thailand, France, Denmark, Australia, USA, Canada, China and Ecuador).
China’s Yu Liu has finished fourth and second in the last two events to move to seventh on the money list. Liu has eight top 10 finishes this year.
Alaqua Country Club has yielded some low scores over the years. In 2016, the four-round Epson Tour Championship was played at Alaqua and the winning score was 18-under. Jackie Stoelting won in 2015 with a three-day score of 12-under while Kendall Dye won in 2014 at 11-under.

IOA Golf Classic Top Storylines

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