After the second tournament of the 2019 Epson Tour season the Volvik Race for the Card welcomes a fresh top-10, including a big leap from most recent Epson Tour champion Kelly Tan (Batu Pahat, Malaysia) as she went unranked to No. 3.
Landing in the top position after a tied for 20th effort at the Country Club of Winter Haven is Lauren Coughlin (Charlottesville, Virginia) at $22,088 across two starts. She is followed closely by Julieta Granada (Asuncion, Paraguay), who did not make the trip to Winter Haven, and then it is Tan checking in, along with her $18,750 winner’s check.
“It definitely feels amazing to get off to a strong start,” said Tan, who just missed the cut at the SKYiGOLF Championship. “I’m excited to see how well I can do this year, but at the same time stay in the moment. Winning the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic gives me confidence as the season gets going. To know I can win out here is a great feeling.”
Tan’s opponent for the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic sudden-death playoff Demi Runas (Torrance, California) is next in the standings, having two top-10 finishes to open the year and $17,224 earned. From there Karen Chung (Livingston, New Jersey) and Kyung Kim (Chandler, Arizona) slot into the mix with $14,711 and $12,552, respectively.
“It makes me want to play harder and keep up this level of golf for the rest of the season,” said Kim, who finished third at Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. “Not going to be too concerned about it yet since we have a long way to go, but will keep playing the way I’m capable of and hopefully it works out.”
Rounding out the group is Allison Emrey (Charlotte, North Carolina) at $10,859, then Csicsi Rozsa (Budapest, Hungary), Ssu-Chia Cheng (Taipei, Chinese Taipei) and Katelyn Sepmoree (Tyler, Texas). Only $2,542 separates Sepmoree from Emrey in the No. 7 spot.
At the end of the season, the top-10 players in the Volvik Race for the Card standings will graduate onto the LPGA Tour for the 2020 season.