SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, August 28, 2017 - The Epson Tour, the official qualifying Tour for the LPGA, returns to South Dakota for the third annual Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge at Willow Run Golf Course. After a three-week break, the Epson Tour kicks it into high gear and finishes the season with six tournaments over the next six weeks. The first-round is Thursday, August 31 and the 72-hole event concludes on Sunday, September 3.

The Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge has become the biggest event of the season on the Epson Tour. It holds the highest total purse ($210,000) and the largest winner’s payout ($31,000). The winner will either supplant themselves inside the top 10 on the Volvik Race for Card money list or move into the running with five events left.

The field features 144 of the top rising stars in the game of women’s golf from the United States and 28 countries around the globe.

Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all four days of the tournament. There will be a cut made to the low 60 and ties following second-round play on Friday. The Tour will use a split-tee format all four days in Sioux Falls.

This is the 17th event of the 2017 season, which will wrap with the Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida from October 5-8. The top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list following the championship will earn LPGA Tour membership for the 2018 season.

The Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge will likely go a long way in deciding who earns a Tour card. In 2016, the top four finishers (Nelly Korda, Wichanee Meechai, Madelene Sagstrom and Ally McDonald) all finished in the top 10 on the final money list and are currently competing on the LPGA Tour. While the winner will earn a potentially life-changing payday of $31,500, the second place finisher will earn $20,331, which is more than the winner earns at 13 of 22 events on the schedule this year.

Both winners used the major payday to change the course of their career. In 2016, Korda used the win to vault up the money list and eventually earned her LPGA card. She is now a rising star on the LPGA with three top 10 finishes in her rookie campaign. Meanwhile, Caroline Westrup picked up her first career win in 2015. Her win essentially continued her golfing career as she was close to ending her career to pursue coaching.

The field is strong this week as eight of the top 10 on the current Volvik Race for the Card money list are scheduled to compete. The only players in the top 10 not in the field are No. 1 Nanna Koerstz Madsen and No. 6 Yu Liu. Of the top 20 players on the money list, 17 will tee it up this week. There are also 15 LPGA Tour members in the field.

Willow Run Golf Course is a par-71 and will play 6,238 yards.

SEVERAL HOUSTON PLAYERS IN FIELD COPING WITH CARNAGE BACK HOME

There are several Epson Tour players that live in the Houston area in the field this week. They are playing with their thoughts and prayers on the damage that Hurricane Harvey has caused and continues to.

Chirapat Jao-Javanil, Shannon Fish and Jayde Panos are all in Sioux Falls. Portland Rosen was unable to get a flight out of Houston and is still back in Houston.

“My whole street is flooded and I’m lucky to be here right now,” said Panos, whose home hasn’t been damaged as it is on the second level of a duplex. “It’s just really crazy stuff. John (caddy) and I left Friday to drive north to avoid getting stuck in Houston.”

Jao-Javanil said that about 15 inches of water has crept into her garage and she’s hoping that is the extent of the damage. Her husband Nat Bhanthumachinda evacuated the area and went to stay with some of her former college teammates at Oklahoma in Norman.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Houston,” said Jao-Javanil. “I’m praying for everyone’s safety and for Hurricane Harvey to dissipate.”

Regan Bremer is also a native of Houston and is in the field this week.

“I’m proud of Texans and Houstonians coming together in such a time of devastation to help their neighbors in need,” said Fish. “We will rebuild and recover stronger than ever. My prayers this week and going forward will be with my hometown, it’s residents, first responders, volunteers and folks coming from all around for their strength and safety.”

NEW #1 AFTER GREATLIFE CHALLENGE?

Since Nanna Koerstz Madsen, a three-time winner on the Epson Tour this year, is not in the field this week there is a good chance a new number one will emerge. Benyapa Niphatsophon (Bangkok, Thailand) ranks second on the money list and is just $3,055 behind Koerstz Madsen. Niphatsophon has seven top 10 finishes this season including four second place results. Niphatsophon also has a chance to become the third player in Tour history to cross the $100,000 mark in single-season earnings with a win or second place result. No. 3 Erynne Lee could also cross over $100,000 in earnings with a win.

A win by anyone in the top five could potentially move the player to No. 1.

NOBODY ON BETTER STRETCH THAN MARCHAND

Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ontario) comes to the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge as the latest Epson Tour winner. She picked up her first career win at the PHC Classic in Milwaukee three weeks ago to move up to 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

Last week, Marchand competed on a sponsors exemption in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open on the LPGA Tour. She closed with a 69 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 30th. It’s the second time this season that she had made the cut in an LPGA Tour event. She finished T46 at the Manulife LPGA Classic.

Marchand has registered five top 10 finishes in nearly two full seasons on the Epson Tour.

For her win last month at the PHC Classic, Marchand earned an exemption into The Evian Championship, the fifth major on the LPGA schedule.

KIM KAUFMAN’S GOOD FRIEND IN FIELD

Kim Kaufman (Clark, South Dakota) is the lone LPGA Tour player from the state of South Dakota. Kaufman’s good friend and former teammate, Elin Arvidsson, is in the field this week. Like Kaufman, Arvidsson is coached by Todd Kolb out of Willow Run Golf Course.

“I came to Texas Tech when she (Kaufman) was a sophomore and she took me under her wing,” said Arvidsson. “We were at Tech for two years together and then she turned professional. We talk everyday and help each other out with the golf game and just everything about playing professional golf. She’s always there for me and I love having her as a best friend.”

Arvidsson, who hails from Sweden, is in her third season on the Epson Tour. She had a big breakthrough this year when she qualified and competed in the U.S. Women’s Open.

She trains and practices at Willow Run and is excited to play this week for a major purse.

“I always come here for practice so I’m going to have to really get my game face on,” said Arvidsson. “It’s just nice to know your way around. I know the golf course, I know where to eat at night, I know where not to drive because of traffic and I know where the grocery store is. It kind of feels like playing a golf tournament at home.”

Kaufman, who won twice during her Epson Tour career, has nine career top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour and passed the $1 million earned mark this year.

EMMA TALLEY TALKS ‘BIG TOURNAMENT’ IN SIOUX FALLS

Emma Talley (Princeton, Ky.) is seventh on the Volvik Race for the Card money list and recognizes the importance of the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge.

“This is a really big tournament, obviously with the biggest purse of the year,” said Talley, who won the Island Resort Championship earlier this season. “I’m really excited to get it started, the weather is going to be great and we are coming off a three-week break. Six more weeks and hopefully I won’t be back.”

Talley said she used the three weeks off to practice for the final stretch of events.

She finished in a tie for 33rd at the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge in 2016 and is excited to try and improve on that.

“I love the town, we went down to the falls last year and I’m staying downtown and there are a lot of cool places down there,” said Talley. “The golf course is in great shape and it looks beautiful. The greens are fast and you’ve got to hit the ball straight so hopefully those two things work in my favor this week.”

KDLT NEWS ANCHOR EXCITED FOR OPPORTUNITY

Local television anchor, Kelsie Passolt, will play in the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge this year on a sponsors exemption. The former Division I golfer at Northern Illinois was on hand at press availability at Willow Run on Monday.

“I’ve always had a passion for golf, but as you get into the working world, you start to run out of time to put that passion into actual practice so I thought I was nearing the end of my golf career outside of fun scrambles,” said Passolt. “This opportunity came about to play alongside these women and I just decided that I’m going for it.”

Passolt, who uses golf lessons to raise money to help fight breast cancer locally through the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Pink Powerhouse Pull fundraiser, is excited to just be around the professionals and experience everything they go through.

“I want to walk alongside them, watch what they do, watch the conversations they have with their caddies, watch their pre-shot routine and watch how they practice,” said Passolt. “Watching them is inspiring to me and it has reignited the fact that golf is a lifelong sport and a lifelong journey.

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