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The Florida’s Natural Charity Classic kicks off the 2023 Epson Tour season and the 132-player field is loaded with some of the best up-and-coming players in professional golf. Here are three players to watch this week in Winter Haven.
Alexa Pano
Pano is heading into her second season on the Epson Tour after a strong rookie year. She made 16-of-18 cuts and had five top-10 finishes. Her best results came at the Carolina Golf Classic presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and the Garden City Charity Classic at Buffalo Dunes where she took home second place. Last year she finished T10 at the 2022 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic with a -3 overall score. Pano capped off her rookie season with a T21 finish at LPGA Q-Series, which earned her LPGA status for the 2023 season. Heading into her sophomore campaign on Epson and rookie season on the LPGA, Pano is looking to build of last year’s momentum and is hunting for that first professional win.
Ashley Lau
Lau is heading into her rookie season after making it to LPGA Q-series last year. She competed in one Epson Tour event in 2022, finishing solo third at the Ann Arbor’s Road to the LPGA power by A2 Sports Commission with a 6-under 210. Lau was the first University of Michigan Wolverine to be named Big Ten Player of the Year in 2022. She earned First-Team All-America honors for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association and was a two-time All-Big Ten First Team member. Lau also won the Big Ten’s Mary Fossum Award in 2022.
Natasha Andrea Oon
Another rookie in this week’s field, Oon is a former San Jose State University golfer looking to build off a successful college career. In 2022 she won the Juli Inkster Senior Award, given to the highest-ranked woman senior collegiate golfer, which earned her a sponsor exemption into the LPGA’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and AmazingCre Portland Classic. Oon has also competed in a major tournament, the 2022 Chevron Championship, in what was her first LPGA start. Her best finish on the LPGA came at the Dana Open presented by Marathon where she was T49. With a slew of professional experience under her belt, Oon is more than prepared for her debut event on the Epson Tour and as a professional golfer. She declared her professional status in January 2023.
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