The Epson Tour season is in the books, LPGA Qualifying Tournament Stage II has wrapped up and Emily Talley nearly won $100,000 at the Big Break Invitational last week. So, when is the next time Epson Tour players will be back in the spotlight? Tonight – when Big Break Myrtle Beach premieres on Golf Channel.
Four Epson Tour members - Krista Puisite (Riga, Latvia), Carolin Pinegger (Schladming, Austria), Katie Detlefsen (Eagan, Minnesota) and Tessa Teachman (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) plus likely 2015 Epson Tour member Emily Tubert (Burbank, California) are contestants on the show.
Puisite, who recently advanced past Stage II of LPGA Qualifying Tournament with three consecutive rounds of 70, says the talent pool on this show surprised her.
“I think that the level of the players this year was pretty high,” said Puisite, who played in 11 Epson Tour events in 2014. “Even though the last Big Break had good players like Jackie (Stoelting), Sadena (Parks) and Mallory (Blackwelder), if you look at the achievements of the players on this show I think it is pretty impressive.”
“When I went to film (June), I was actually pretty surprised with the players that were there. Katy Harris plays on the LPGA, Emily Tubert was the medalist at the first Q-School. Then, the guys, there was one guy that went to Wake Forest, which is obviously a great school. I was like, this is not going to be that easy.”
Pinneger played in 14 events in her rookie season on the Epson Tour and will likely play on the Epson Tour in 2015.
Detlefsen, who played college golf at UCF, got her feet wet on Tour this year when she got into both events in Kansas. Teachman, who played college golf at LSU, played in one Epson Tour event in 2013.
Tubert, who won the 2014 Dinah Shore Trophy, missed advancing through Q-School Stage II so will have category I status on the Epson Tour priority list for 2015.
“I haven't seen any of the show, just the previews and a few snippets," said Tubert to the Burbank . "It was a really incredible experience for me to be a part of it, but it was also hard. They shoot the show with 12 cameras and I don't think many people realize all that goes into a production like that during filming and what it takes to make a TV show.”
"I just have a lot of respect for anyone who has done the show before. You put in a lot of hours and there is a lot of pressure, that's really constant pressure. You want to execute well and you don't want to embarrass yourself on national TV."
Tubert was a four-time All-SEC First-Team selection while in college at the University of Arkansas.
Former Epson Tour member Katy Harris is also a contestant on the show. Harris won on the Epson Tour in 2013 (IOA Golf Classic) and finished 21st on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Harris has played in 11 LPGA Tour events in 2014.
The winner of Big Break Myrtle Beach will receive more than $100,000 in cash and prizes plus an exemption into the 2015 Portland Classic on the LPGA Tour.)
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