Garden City Charity Classic
Buffalo Dunes Golf Course
Garden City, Kansas
September 16, 2015
Wednesday Pre-Tournament News & Notes

GARDEN CITY, Kan., September 16, 2015 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, is now two days away from the 2nd annual Garden City Charity Classic presented by the Mariah Fund from September 18-20 at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course.

Wichita resident Taylor Schmidt will tee off at 7:45 a.m. from the first tee while Garden City resident Julie Sanchez will begin the first round at 2:15 p.m. from the tenth tee.

LAST TO WIN 4 IS IN FIELD: Volvik Race for the Card No. 2 Annie Park (Levittown, NY) has been the talk of the Tour since making her professional debut on June 19 at the Four Winds Invitational. She has gone from an unknown in the professional ranks to Golf Digest tabbing her as the “LPGA’s potential next star” in an article on Tuesday about Annie and her mom/caddie, Ann.

Park won her third event last week and could become the first player to win four events in a single-season since Vicky Hurst won four in 2008. Park and Hurst have become good friends this year on Tour.

Park has already locked up her LPGA Tour card and decided to withdraw from next week’s event in El Dorado, Arkansas to focus on the 20 credit hours she is currently taking at USC. Park’s goal is graduate in 2016 while balancing golf and academics. It’s a similar endeavor that Michelle Wie famously undertook at Stanford and current LPGA player Alison Lee is tackling at UCLA.

Only a handful of players have won four or more events in a single-season in Tour history; Laurel Kean (9, 1987), Jenny Lidback (4, 1988), Jennifer MacCurrach (4, 1989), Beth Bauer (4, 2001), Song-Hee Kim (5, 2006) and Vicky Hurst (4, 2008).

LLANEZA CELEBRATES MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY: One of the top players on Tour is No. 4 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, Alejandra Llaneza, of Mexico. She won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and has four total top 10 finishes.

Wednesday is Mexican Independence Day and the three Mexican players in the field celebrated Tuesday night. Lili Alvarez and Margarita Ramos are the other two Mexican born players in the field.

Llaneza had a tough tournament in Mayetta last week, but she’s excited to try and finish the season in the top 10 and earn her full LPGA Tour status. She has had partial status on the LPGA for the last two years.

“I’m really excited for the last few events,” said Llaneza. “Last week I didn’t play well and it was a wake up call to keep focusing on playing my best each week.”

Llaneza, who grew up idolizing Lorena Ochoa, spoke highly of Buffalo Dunes.

“I love the golf course, I feel like it is more of a traditional style golf course, which is what I grew up playing,” said Llaneza, who started playing golf at age six. “The greens are rolling well and it makes you be precise on your targets.”

BROOKE HENDERSON IN KANSAS AS CADDIE: Brooke Henderson, the 18-year-old who has won both on the Epson Tour (Four Winds Invitational) and the LPGA Tour (Cambia Portland Classic) this year, is in Garden City this week working as a caddie for her older sister Brittany, who ranks 43rd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with one top 10 finish.

Brittany has not played on the Epson Tour since the Fuccillo Kia Championship in Albany. She has been on the bag for Brooke on the LPGA Tour.

OF NOTE: Taylor Neidy of Clinton, Oklahoma got into the field on Tuesday. Neidy will make her Epson Tour debut and will tee off on Friday at 1:53 p.m. from the tenth tee. Neidy played college golf at the University of Central Oklahoma. She was named the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) Golfer of the Year in 2014.

Garden City Charity Classic Pre-tournament News & Notes - Wednesday

Related Articles