Note: the Decatur-Forsyth Classic was an unofficial event last week because it was shortened to 18 holes and therefore the latest Volvik Race for the Card money list is from the end of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek.
Four Winds Invitational
Blackthorn Golf Club
South Bend, Indiana
June 15, 2015
Storylines
SOUTH BEND, Ind., June 15, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, heads to South Bend for the 4th annual Four Winds Invitational at Blackthorn Golf Club from June 19-21. First-round play begins at 7:30 a.m. on June 19 with the final-round scheduled for Sunday, June 21. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties following second-round play on Saturday.
The top 144 up-and-coming professionals will compete for a $150,000 tournament purse, the second largest on Tour. The winner will earn $22,500 and take a significant step up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the year-end money list earn LPGA Tour membership for 2016.
The Four Winds Invitational is the 11th event of the season and third during a stretch of five events in a row in the Midwest. It is the only event in the state of Indiana.
Last week in Decatur, Illinois, Jimin Kang was declared the unofficial winner of the Decatur-Forsyth Classic after weather forced officials to shorten the event to 18 holes. It was an unofficial event and therefore money earned does not count towards the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
One of the strongest fields of the season will descend on South Bend with the entire top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list scheduled to play along with one of the top rising stars in women’s golf, Brooke Henderson, who is playing on a sponsor exemption. Henderson finished in a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last week. Further, 27 of the top 30 on the money list are in the field this week. With the high purse, very few Epson Tour players skip this event unless they have a prior commitment.
There are also 24 LPGA Tour members in the field, a season high.
COMMUNITY EVENTS OPEN TO MEDIA: Epson Tour professionals will visit Memorial Children’s ‘Hospital on Wednesday, June 17 at 1:00 p.m. Players will interact with the children and paint rocks together that will used as the official tee markers for the Four Winds Invitational. Players will also sign Epson Tour hats for the children.
Golfing on the Gridiron will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, at the College Football Hall of Fame Gridiron in downtown South Bend. The event is free and will include a meet and greet with several of the professionals, children’s games and races, kids’ interactive golf activities, face painting, balloon artists, and other live entertainment. Children will also have the opportunity to make arts and crafts for children at Memorial Children’s Hospital and practice fire safety with South Bend firefighters. Golfing on the Gridiron is sponsored by DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in South Bend, which will also provide cookies and lemonade.
17-YEAR-OLD HENDERSON IMMEDIATE FAVORITE: This past week, 17-year-old Brooke Henderson, the younger sister of Epson Tour professional Brittany, went toe-to-toe with the best women’s golfers in the world and finished in a tie for fifth at 10-under with LPGA winner Morgan Pressel. Henderson finished just in front of 41-time LPGA winner Karrie Webb and 15-time LPGA winner Suzann Pettersen. The performance earned her a payday of $132,725.
In seven events on the LPGA Tour this season as a non-member, Henderson has made six cuts, has two top 10 finishes and five top 25 results. She has earned $317,470 and would rank 20th on the official LPGA money list if her money was official. She needs to earn the equivalent of top 40 money in order to earn her LPGA Tour card or she will have to go to LPGA Qualifying Tournament.
Henderson turned professional in December of 2014 after a run as the No. 1 amateur in the world.
Brittany, six years older than Brooke, has had a strong rookie season on the Epson Tour. In seven events, she ranks 24th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Her best finish is a tie for second with her sister at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. It was Brooke’s first and only Epson Tour event until this week.
RECENT NOTRE DAME GRAD NICOLE ZHANG RETURNS: Nicole Zhang played on the Notre Dame golf team for one year (2010-11) and earned all-BIG EAST honors and a spot on the NGCA (National Golf Coaches Association) All-Central Region Team. She led the Irish in scoring average that season.
Zhang transferred to Northwestern for a year and then returned to Notre Dame for her final two years of school. She didn’t play on the golf team and instead focused on her academics and her business venture. She was an Entrepreneurship major in the Mendoza College of Business.
Zhang founded Yogapeople Bags, an online company that sells “bags that reflect the beauty of yoga” according to her website. She plans to start a second business in the near future.
Simultaneously, she is also a rookie on the Epson Tour. She has made four of six cuts with her best finish a tie for 27th at the Mission Health Wellness Classic in Asheville, North Carolina.
NOTRE DAME’S HUFFER BACK IN FIELD AND BROTHER HEADED TO ND: Becca Huffer was a four-year star on the Notre Dame golf team from 2008 through the 2011-12 season. As a senior, Huffer led the Fighting Irish in scoring average, rounds in the 70’s, top-10 finishes and wins. Huffer won the Hoosier Invitational and was named an All-BIG EAST honoree.
“It is always nice to get back to South Bend and Notre Dame, it is like going back to an old home,” said Huffer. “I will get to visit my old coaches which will be nice and my younger brother is coming in to caddie for me and he is going to Notre Dame in the fall so it will be extra fun to show him around campus and South Bend.”
Huffer is now in her second season on the Epson Tour. She currently ranks 49th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Her best finish is a tie for fourth at the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club. Last week, she finished in a 12-way tie for fourth.
“I loved the people and friends I met in South Bend,” said Huffer. “The interest and support everyone has in sports and athletics was an awesome thing to be a part of while I was at Notre Dame.”
DEFENDING CHAMPS VANDERMADE/BOLAND BACK: Nicole Vandermade (Brantford, Ontario) won the Four Winds Invitational in 2014 and is back to defend her title. Vandermade carded an 8-under 64 (tournament record) in the first-round and then held off Lee Lopez with a 4-under 68 in the final-round to earn her first professional win.
“The biggest thing I remember about winning last year was being really sick during the final round, but staying mentally tough through the whole round and making eagle on 16 to take the lead,” said Vandermade. “It was also really nice to pull off the win with my host family watching because we have become very close over the past few years.”
Vandermade went onto finish 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. This year, she has started slow. The former University of Texas golfer has missed the cut in six of the eight events she has played.
“I love everything about Blackthorn,” said Vandermade. “It reminds me of courses at home with the big trees. The course is always in great shape and it rewards good ball strikers who can hit the ball a good length off the tee. I can’t wait for the week to start.”
Julia Boland won the inaugural Four Winds Invitational in 2012 with a 3-under 69 in the final-round. Boland finished 8th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in ‘12 and played on the LPGA Tour in 2013 and 2014. Boland’s best finish this year is a tie for 34th at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial.
CARMEL, INDIANA’S SAVICH NOW A REALITY STAR: Milena Savich of Carmel is in her first year on the Epson Tour. She played at Carmel High School and then the University of Georgia through the 2011-12 season.
Milena and her sister, Ariana, will debut on the new Golf Channel reality series, Altered Course, which starts tonight.
Savich was an IHSAA All-State member in 2006 and 2007. She was also Indiana’s top prospect according to the AJGA and Golfweek.
Savich ranks 97th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in her rookie season on Tour.
There are plenty of other Indiana connections in the field including four players in the field that played college golf at Purdue: Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Kishi Sinha, Laura Gonzalez-Escallon and Numa Gulyanamitta.
Martinsville, Indiana native Carleigh Silvers is also in the field. She was an All-Mid State Conference selection all four years at Martinsville High School. She played college golf at Northern Colorado and is a second year professional on Tour.
TWO PLAYERS IN FIELD IN 2016 OLYMPICS FOR NOW: There are two players in the field this week that would be in the 2016 Olympic Games if they started today. Alejandra Llaneza of Mexico and Veronica Felibert of Venezuela are both inside the top 60 on the official International Golf Federation rankings and would represent their countries in the golf portion of the 2016 Olympic Games.
Women’s golf in the Olympic Games is a four-round event from August 17-20, 2016 at Barra da Tijuca in Brazil. There are several other Epson Tour members that dream of playing in the Olympics.
12 EPSON TOUR MEMBERS QUALIFY FOR U.S. OPEN: There are 12 Epson Tour members that qualified for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, which will be played in Lancaster, Pennsylvania July 9-12. It is the biggest event on the LPGA Tour schedule with the highest purse of $4 million. The 12 Epson Tour members that qualified are Liz Nagel, Alejandra Llaneza, Jennifer Coleman, Jimin Kang, Lee Lopez, Lauren Doughtie, Su Oh, Haley Italia, Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu, Nontaya Srisawang, Breanna Elliott and Stephanie Connelly.
Eleven of the 12 are in the field this week for the Four Winds Invitational.
SECOND POTAWATOMI CUP EVENT OF THE YEAR: Madeleine Sheils won the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship two weeks ago and has the early advantage in the second annual Potawatomi Cup, a series of five Epson Tour events sponsored by Potawatomi nation tribes. The Four Winds Invitational is the second Potawatomi Cup event of the season with an additional $8,800 up for grabs to the top six on the Potawatomi Cup points standings after the Four Winds Invitational. The player with the most points after the event will earn $3,000. Money earned through the Potawatomi Cup does not count towards the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
For each Potawatomi Cup event, the player that wins will earn 500 points. Second place receives 300 points, third place earns 190 points, fourth place earns 135 points, fifth place earns 110 points and sixth place earns 100 points. The top six on the cumulative points standings will be paid out after each event.
There is a total of $50,000 in bonus money available this season with a $6,000 bonus going to the player that finishes with the most Potawatomi Cup points after the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic from September 11-13.
BY THE NUMBERS: Here are a few numbers about the field and the Epson Tour.
8 - Of the top 11 finishers last year at the Four Winds Invitational (T8 and better) eight are back this year
19 - Number of players inside the top 20 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in the field
23- Number of events on the Epson Tour schedule in 2015, the most in 27 years
24 - Number of LPGA Tour members in the field
25 - Number of countries represented this week outside the United States
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