SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — After a week off to charge the batteries, the Epson Tour is back in business as the road to the LPGA Tour makes a stop at Willow Run Golf Course for the fourth annual Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2.

Greeting the 144-player field in Sioux Falls, S.D. is a total purse of $210,000, the third highest on Tour this season. Individuals are set to compete in a 72-hole stroke play format with a cut to the low 60 players and ties after 36 holes.

“This tournament begins what we are calling the Million Dollar Drive—a stretch of six consecutive events to the end the season with a cumulative purse of greater than $1 million, roughly one-third of the total prize money for 2018,” said Mike Nichols, the Chief Business Officer of the Epson Tour. “The opportunity for players to make drastic moves in the Volvik Race for the Card is there for the taking and you can expect a wild sprint to the finish. It all ends with the top-10 on the money list at the conclusion of the Epson Tour Championship earning LPGA Tour membership for 2019.”

Defending champion Celine Boutier (Montrouge, France) is not among the competitors this week, as she was a 2017 Epson Tour graduate. However, nine members of the current Volvik Race for the Card top-10 are in the Mount Rushmore State.

“I am really excited for the closing stretch of the season,” said Dottie Ardina (Laguna, Philippines), who is No. 1 in the Volvik Race for the Card with $69,453 through 11 starts. “We have six good size purses left, which will help me reach my goal of six figures. It is going to be a fun finish to the season and I am looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, most recent Epson Tour champion Marta Sanz Barrio (Madrid, Spain) looks to become the first two-time winner this year following her victory at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship on Aug. 19.

“When you win and get that awesome feeling, it motivates you to keep pushing and working hard to see your name at the top of the leaderboard,” Sanz Barrio said. “Obviously, I would love to win again, but seeing as how no one has won twice this year gives you a good sense of how competitive it is out there.”

Action gets underway at 7:30 a.m. CT all four rounds, with play beginning off No. 1 and No. 10 tees each day. For ticket information, one can visit https://greatlifechallenge.com/tickets/.

ARVIDSSON KNOWS WILLOW RUN LIKE THE BACK OF HER HAND

Entering the 16th stop on the Epson Tour schedule, Elin Arvidsson (Falkenberg, Sweden) comes in with strong connections across the greater Sioux Falls area, and state of South Dakota as a whole.

When Arvidsson began her collegiate career at Texas Tech University in the fall of 2011, Kim Kaufman (Clark, South Dakota) was entering her junior year for the Red Raiders. The lone LPGA Tour player that hails from South Dakota took the Sweden native under her wing and the two immediately bonded.

“We quickly became very good friends,” said Arvidsson. “After two years at Texas Tech we stayed best friends. I think we both feel like we can ask the other for advice and both understand the reality of traveling so many weeks out of the year. We are always going to be there for each other.”

In addition, Arvidsson and Kaufman each work with swing coach Todd Kolb out of Willow Run Golf Course. Beside the Texas Tech alumnae, Kolb also works with LPGA player Angela Stanford (Fort Worth, Texas).

Arvidsson credits her work with Kolb as the main reason she has progressed to this point in her golf career.

“This is where I have been spending most of my time taking lessons from Todd, so I would say my relationship with Willow Run is great,” said Arvidsson, who played a role in leading Texas Tech to three NCAA Regional appearances, including a program-best fifth place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. “I started to work with Todd about four years ago. He is one big reason why I am at this point today. He makes me better and is very passionate about teaching the game, no matter who wants to learn.”

With a strong inner circle, Arvidsson continues to work toward joining Kaufman on the big stage. A two-time winner during her time on the Epson Tour, Kaufman has 10 career top-10 finishes and amassed greater than $1 million in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.

Arvidsson opens play in the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge on Thursday at 2:21 p.m. CT off No. 1 tee with Margarita Ramos (Mexico City, Mexico) and Lakareber Abe (The Woodlands, Texas).

“I have been here since Thursday for some extra time to work with Todd,” Arvidsson said. “It sure is a perfect setup for me to be able to play one event here and then get going for the rest of the year. Just the feeling of staying with some good friends of mine and know where I’m going around town is always nice.”

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