FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship
Battle Creek Country Club
Battle Creek, Michigan
June 6, 2015
Second-Round News & Notes
Note: Please be advised that due to the Sunday, June 7 forecast, the final-round of the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship will now begin at 7:00 a.m. In addition, players will tee off from the first and tenth tees.
The lead group will tee off at 9:10 a.m. and finish at approximately 2:00 p.m. The trophy ceremony will be on the 18th green if the weather allows. If not, the ceremony will take place in the clubhouse ballroom.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., June 6, 2015 - Although Chie Arimura (Kumamoto, Japan) has won 13 times as a professional in Japan, Sunday is an important day for her as she goes for her first win in the United States. Arimura carded a 3-under 69 to move to 9-under 135 to take a two shot lead into the final day.
Daniela Iacobelli (Melbourne, Fla.), who was born in Detroit and spent the first 12 years of her life in Michigan, is 7-under 137. Jacey Chun, Brittany Altomare, Madeleine Sheils and Caroline Westrup are three shots back at 6-under 138.
Arimura had a more up-and-down day than Friday, but she finished strong with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. She also made three consecutive birdies between the ninth and 11th holes.
“I think my short game was better than yesterday, but I couldn’t make a birdie putt longer than three feet,” said Arimura, who carded a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Friday. “My putting wasn’t really that good today that is why I made a few bogeys.”
Arimura’s last win came three years ago before she decided to come to the United States to play golf.
“I’ve had a very tough time in the States so far and if I can win the tournament tomorrow I will be so impressed with myself,” said Arimura. “I’m not sure what I will feel tomorrow, but it is a big day for me.”
Arimura has six career top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 55 starts.
BORN/RAISED IN DETROIT AND MAYBE A 2ND WIN: Although Iacobelli now considers herself a
Floridian, she was born in Detroit and played in Michigan until she was 12.
“I remember playing on the bent grass and loving it,” said Iacobelli, who carded a 4-under 68 to get to solo second. “I was really little when I was playing here in the kid club championships when I was seven and eight and it is fun to be back where it all started.”
Iacobelli still has family in Michigan.
“My dad, my family, nieces and nephews still live just north of Detroit in Clinton Township,” said Iacobelli. “I also still have family in Windsor.”
Iacobelli won the 2012 Daytona Beach Invitational and earned her 2013 LPGA Tour. This year, she has three top 10 finishes and currently ranks 11th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
“I think the win will come and I can’t be hunting it,” said Iacobelli regarding her mindset for Sunday. “If I can keep knocking on the doorstep at tournaments, my goal of getting back to the LPGA will be accomplished.”
Iacobelli also spoke very highly of the events run by Potawatomi nation tribes.
“This area and the events that the Potawatomi tribes run put out such a good vibe for me that I love them all,” said Iacobelli. “The tournaments are so fun and they bring out my best golf.”
DUNCAN’S BOXING STYLE GOLF: Lindy Duncan (Jupiter, Fla.) carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday to move from T19 to a tie eighth. She made four birdies on the day, three of which came on her first nine.
“The wind was swirling like crazy and I think I played pretty smart,” said Duncan, who ranks 16th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. “I hit the ball pretty well, putted OK and got out of trouble well.”
Duncan sustained a right ring finger tendon injury at the end of the 2014 Epson Tour season. She puts a piece of tape on her finger so she doesn’t “grind her finger on the club” all the time. In order to keep the tape on her finger the entire round, she has to wear the glove. However, she doesn’t like the feeling of the glove on her fingers so she cut the fingers off the glove so it looks like a boxing glove.
“When I went to the doctor, he recommended that I wear a glove on my right hand and I messed around with that for awhile, but I just didn’t have good feeling on my right fingers,” said Duncan. “I decided to cut the fingers and everyone makes fun of me, but I will probably use it as long as I have to and I’m very comfortable in it now so I won’t change.”
SPARTANS TEAM UP: Caroline Powers (Toledo, OH) was a star at Michigan State and carded a 2-under 70 in the second-round on Saturday to move from T46 to T18. Her caddie was one of her best friends and former Michigan State field hockey player Kristen Henn, who was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and part of the 2013 Big Ten Championship field hockey team.
“She was doing me a big favor, especially since she is getting married next Saturday,” said Powers, who is her maid of honor and therefore missing the Decatur-Forsyth Classic. “She was my freshman year roommate and we lived together four out of the five years at Michigan State.”
Powers and Henn worked well last year at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship when Powers finished in a tie for fourth.
On Friday, Aimee Neff, who is the assistant women’s golf coach at Michigan State caddied for Powers. Neff played on the Epson Tour.
“The past two days I’ve played really well,” said Powers. “This year has been a downward spiral so I’m happy that I’m back in the Midwest and I feel like things are moving in the right direction. It’s almost like a home game here so that is nice.”
QUICK NOTES: Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu, who won the Epson Classic two weeks ago, carded a 1-under 71 to move to a tie for eighth. The last player to win back-to-back events on the Epson Tour was Esther Choe in 2012...Battle Creek Country Club employee Adrienne Plourde carded a 5-over 77 and missed the cut at 11-over...Christina Vosters made a hole-in-one from 169-yards out with a 7-iron.
“The really cool thing is that I thought about hitting it in the hole before the shot,” said Vosters, a rookie from Penn State. “I thought that it would be cool for a hole-in-one and there were all these people by the green and there was a prize for a hole-in-one.”
She gets a $500 shopping spree for the ace.
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