From the LPGA:
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, May 12, 2014 – The Symetra Tour, the Road to the LPGA, transitions to Asheville for the second-annual Friends of Mission Charity Classic this week. The three-round event begins on Friday, May 16 and concludes on Sunday, May 18.
The tournament will take place at the Country Club of Asheville, a Donald Ross designed course that overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The 144 professionals in the field will be competing for their share of the $100,000 total purse. The winner of the event will earn $15,000 and the chance to move into the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
The top-10 on the year-end Volvik Race for the Card money list will receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.
Last year, Guilia Molinaro fired a final round 7-under-par 65 to win the inaugural Friends of Mission Charity Classic. She carded a three-day total of 13-under, five strokes better than second place.
Molinaro’s win at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic helped her finish second on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2013. She is now playing full-time on the LPGA Tour.
Angela Buzminski and Tracy Stanford, who both finished in the top-5 last year, are back in the field this week.
The Symetra Tour has been busy over the last month. The Friends of Mission Charity Classic is the fourth event in a stretch of five consecutive weeks. It is the first of two events on the schedule in the state of North Carolina.
ONE MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE: Wei-Ling Hsu, who won the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic on Sunday, now has a chance to win $1 million.
If she wins the Friends of Mission Charity Classic this week and the Symetra Classic next week in Charlotte she will win the Park Sterling Cup and $1 million.
The Park Sterling Cup is awarded to the player that wins all three Symetra Tour tournaments in the Carolinas.
The last time one player won three consecutive tournaments was 1989 when Jennifer MacCurrah won the Bahamas FUTURES Classic, the Kelly Greens FUTURES Invitational and the Charleston FUTURES Classic.
CHEYENNE WOODS EXCITED TO BE IN NC: Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods’ niece, is excited to back in the state of North Carolina. She played college golf at Wake Forest and was the 2011 individual ACC champion.
Woods fired a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and finished in a tie for 22nd.
She is currently 57th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
“I went to Wake Forest so it will be nice to be close to my alma mater,” said Woods. “I’m looking forward to Asheville.”
LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER IN FIELD: North Buncombe High School freshman Callista Rice received a sponsor exemption into the field this week for the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.
The 15-year-old was honored by the Asheville Citizen Times as the WNC Player of the Year and the Mountain Area Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2013.
“I’m very excited, just to know that the members of my community and the members of Country Club of Asheville decided to nominate me as their representative and the local is great,” said Callista Rice. “I’m just going to play my game and my game only, it could go really good and I could have the best rounds so far or I won’t do my best. Whatever it is, I will still learn from the experience.”
Rice has played Country Club of Asheville many times before, but is putting no pressure on herself this week.
“I just want to see the difference from my age to their age. I also want to learn how they handle different situations.”
SYMETRA TOUR FIELDS ARE STRONG: Based on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, the field at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic was the strongest field in the 34- year history of the Symetra Tour.
There were a total of 20 players will LPGA Tour status in the field.
BIG BREAK FLORIDA CONTESTANTS: The Golf Channel’s reality series Big Break Florida is back on the air Monday at 9:00 p.m. Three players from the Big Break Florida are in the field this week at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.
Jackie Stoelting, Mary Narzisi and Sadena Parks are all playing this week in Asheville. Stoelting and Narzisi are still alive on the show.
Tonight, two will be eliminated from Big Break Florida.
THREE TAR HEELS IN THE FIELD: Three players that played college golf at the University of North Carolina are in the field this week. Allie White, Casey Grice and Catherine O’Donnell will tee off at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.
Grice is coming off her best finish of the year at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic when she placed T8 and earned $4,490. Grice was an Honorable Mention All American following her 2011-12 season at UNC. She finished fifth at the ACC Championships that same year.
White, who was named to the NGCA (National Golf Coaches Association) All-America Scholar Team three times at UNC, finished sixth at the 2012 ACC Championships. White was named to the All-ACC teams in 2009 and 2011. Her best finish on the Symetra Tour this season is a tie for 54th at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial.
O’Donnell was a three-time All-ACC selection in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She was named the 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year. She was also named to the PING Golfweek All-America Third Team in 2011. O’Donnell is in her second season on the Symetra Tour with three top-10 finishes on her resume.
7 PLAYERS WITH LPGA STATUS IN FIELD: There are seven players with LPGA Tour status in the field this week at the Friends of Mission Charity Classic.
The list includes Brittany Altomare, Cindy Feng, Louise Friberg, Jamie Hullett, Natalie Sheary, Marta Silva and Jackie Stoelting.
FOUR DEMON DEACONS IN FIELD: There are four players in the field this week that played collegiately at Wake Forest. The four players are Cheyenne Woods, Nannette Hill, Natalie Sheary and Michelle Shin.
Woods was a two-time All-American and three-time All-ACC member while in school at Wake Forest. She is in her first season on the Symetra Tour.
Hill was a two-time All-ACC selection at Wake Forest. She placed in a tie for 13th at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Hill has won victory and two top-10 finishes on the Symetra Tour. She won the City of Hammond Classic in 2010.
Sheary, who has conditional LPGA Tour status, was the 2009 ACC Player of the Year. She was also a 2011 NGCA Honorable Mention All-American. Sheary has seven career top-10 finishes on the Symetra Tour.
Shin played two years of college golf at Wake Forest before turning professional. She was a two-time NGCA Honorable Mention All-American.
VOLVIK RACE FOR THE CARD PLAYER TO WATCH: With her tie for second finish at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic, Marta Silva jumped from 20th to sixth on the latest Volvik Race for the Card money list.
She finished 3-under over the four-day event and earned $14,172 to increase her year-long total to $20,091.
Through five events this year, Silva already has three top-10 finishes. She has made the cut in all 13 career Symetra Tour events and has four top-10 finishes.
Silva won the Honda Award in 2011 while playing collegiately at the University of Georgia.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM TO TALK TO SYMETRA PLAYERS: The Symetra Tour signed a three-year agreement with the ANNIKA Academy in January to be the official elite golf training academy of the Symetra Tour.
Five times throughout the year, the ANNIKA Academy hosts professional development sessions for Symetra Tour players.
This week in Asheville, Annika Sorenstam will be hosting a session via Skype with Symetra Tour professionals.
Sorenstam’s decorated golf career includes 72 LPGA Tour wins and 10 major titles.
Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Symetra Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292
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