ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 11, 2016 - The Epson Tour, Road to the LPGA, returns to action with the 2nd annual Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic at Brook-Lea Country Club from July 14-17. The event marks the 40th year of women’s professional golf in Rochester. First-round play begins on Thursday, July 14 and the 72-hole event concludes on Sunday, July 17.
Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. all four days of the tournament. Players will tee from the first and tenth holes in rounds one and two. There will be a cut to the low 60 and ties following second-round play. Play will begin from the first tee only on Saturday and Sunday. The estimated finishing time on Sunday is 4:30 p.m. and the trophy ceremony will take place on the 18th green after the final putt.
The top 144 aspiring LPGA Tour professionals from the United States and 27 countries around the globe will compete for an increased purse of $200,000. The winner will earn $30,000 and likely move into or close to the top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the year-end money list earn LPGA membership for the 2017 season.
The Danielle Downey event started in 2015 to honor the life of Danielle, who was one of the most successful golfers to come out of Rochester. There was a void in Rochester when the LPGA left until local organizers stepped in. In 2015, former NCAA national champion Annie Park posted four rounds in the 60’s (-16) to best former Solheim Cup member Vicky Hurst. Park won $22,500 last year. The total tournament purse is up $50,000 over 2015.
Park went onto win Epson Player of the Year honors and she is now playing full-time on the LPGA Tour. As a rookie, she has two top 10 finishes and ranks 81st on the official money list.
The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic is the 13th event of the 2016 season. The season is past the midway point with 11 events remaining. The season wraps up with the Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach from October 13-16. There is still just over $1.5 million in prize money available over the final 11 events. As is the case every year, it will be a furious fight to the finish to fit into the top 10. Currently, No. 10 (Augusta James) and No. 11 (Samantha Richdale) on the money list are separated by a mere $412.
The Tour was off last week for the U.S. Women’s Open. The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic starts a three-week stretch of events. The Tour heads to Battle Creek, Michigan next week for the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship and then to Kansas City, Missouri for the Kansas City Championship.
There were twelve 2016 Epson Tour members in the U.S. Women’s Open last week and eight are in the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic this week (Liv Cheng, Peiyun Chien, Sue Kim, Nelly Korda, Sandra Angulo Minarro, Sophia Popov, Madelene Sagstrom and Jackie Stoelting). Of the players in Rochester, Sagstrom was the highest finisher last week in CordeValle at T46.
The field is incredibly strong this week in Rochester as the entire top 10 on the money list will compete. Of the top 20 on the money list, 19 are in the field for the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic. Since the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic is now one of five tournaments that offers at least a $200,000 purse, 25 of the top 30 are scheduled to compete.
The field also includes 11 current members of the LPGA Tour.
WEBSTER’S TEACHMAN KNOWS IMPORTANCE: There may not be anyone in the field that understands the importance of the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic more than Tessa Teachman, who grew up in Webster and was a standout at Webster Thomas and winner of the 2003 New York State Amateur Championship.
“Rochester is a wonderful golf city and it’s great to see the community support golf the way it has for 40 years,” said Teachman, who played in the Corning Classic on a sponsors exemption in 2005 and 2008 and the Wegmans LPGA in 2005. “There is something special about playing golf in front of a Rochester crowd and you can feel the support and excitement surrounding the tournament.”
Downey, who won the New York State Amatuer three times from 1999-2001, was a role model for many young golfers coming behind her including Teachman.
“Danielle was a role model of mine who I looked up to while growing up in Rochester,” said Teachman, now 26-years-old. “I admired her golfing skills, but also learned what an even better person she was when she took the time to encourage me as a junior golfer. I think it’s very fitting that I get to play in a tournament honoring her.”
Teachman made the cut at the inaugural event last year and finished in a tie for 52nd. She was most impressed, but not surprised, with how the community embraced the Epson Tour.
“Brook-Lea and the tournament committee have done an amazing job organizing the Danielle Downey Classic,” said Teachman. “This tournament is an event that the community can enjoy as well as a memorable tournament for the players. I’m looking forward to playing in this second year event because I’m sure the tournament committee and Brook-Lea will only go above and beyond the success of last year.”
SYRACUSE NATIVE JILLIAN FRACCOLA GETS INTO FIELD: Jillian Fraccola, who was born in Rochester and grew up in Manlius, got into the field off the alternate list on Monday. She was a four-year letterwinner and team captain as a senior at Fayetteville-Manlius High School. Fraccola won the New York Public School Championship and the New York Public School Section Tournament as a senior in 2007.
Fraccola played college golf at the University of Richmond.
Fraccola has played in three Epson Tour events this year. She played in one Tour event in 2015.
NO.1 AND NO. 2 GUNNING FOR THIRD WIN: The top two players on Tour, No. 1 Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden) and No. 2 Jackie Stoelting (Vero Beach, Florida), have both won twice this year. A win this week for either would earn them a “Battlefield Promotion” to the LPGA for this season. There are still two events on the LPGA that they would likely get into (Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and Manulife LPGA Classic) with the promotion.
Sagstrom, who set the single-season earnings record in May and continues to shatter it ($114,157), leads the Tour with seven top 10 finishes in nine starts (all seven of her top 10 finishes have been top 5’s). She also paces the Tour in scoring average (70.821) and driving distance (278.607). Sagstrom did not play in the Tullymore Classic two weeks ago in order to prepare for the U.S. Women’s Open. She is a rookie on the Epson Tour after earning SEC Player of the Year honors at LSU in 2015.
Stoelting, who won back-to-back events in June and has four career wins, narrowly missed winning three straight events at the Island Resort Championship where she finished in a tie for second. Like Sagstrom, Stoelting did not play in the Tullymore Classic to gear up for the U.S. Women’s Open. She has finished inside the top two in her last three Epson Tour starts. Stoelting will turn 30 on day two of the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic (Friday). She has 23 career top 10 finishes on the Epson Tour including seven in 2014 when she finished 3rd on the money list.
40 CONSECUTIVE YEARS IN ROCHESTER: The Epson Tour is entering its second year in Rochester, but women’s golf has been played in the Rochester community for 40 years. The LPGA Tour played in Rochester for 38 years starting in 1977. The tournament was originally known as the Bankers Trust Classic. Wegmans took over the title sponsorship in 1998.
“Rochester was the favorite venue for all of us on the LPGA; the support of the fans and the community in general stands far above the rest,” said Jane Blalock. “The most memorable moment was during the Past Champions/Legends one day competition for the 35th Anniversary as 25,000 spectators showed up to cheer us on with ovations on every hole. Rochester will always be special.”
Looking back at the winners over the years is an incredible “who’s who” of women’s golf. Pat Bradley won the inaugural event in 1977 and then Nancy Lopez won the following year. Blalock won in 1979 and then Lopez won back-to-back years in 1980 and 1981.
Nobody has won more times in Rochester than Patty Sheehan, who won in 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1995. Sheehan won 35 LPGA titles and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
In the early part of the 21st century, superstars dominated in Rochester. Meg Mallon won in 2000, Laura Davies in 2001 and Karrie Webb won in 2002.
Former Epson Tour graduate (FUTURES Tour at the time) Lorena Ochoa won in Rochester in 2005 and 2007. In 2010, the tournament became the LPGA Championship presented by Wegmans at Locust Hill Country Club. Cristie Kerr won in 2010, Yani Tseng won in 2011, Shanshan Feng won in 2012 and then Inbee Park won back-to-back years including the final year of the LPGA in Rochester in 2014.
FORMER AUBURN PLAYER; ‘THIS IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN GOLF’: Diana Fernandez played at Auburn from 2010-2014 and was on the team when Danielle Downey took over when Coach Kim Evans was diagnosed with cancer.
“She always gave us a lot of good energy,” said Fernandez on the range at Brook-Lea. “After the first day at nationals we were in last place and we finished sixth and it was a lot of her (Danielle). Coaching is not an easy job and she kept us together and pushed us forward.”
Fernandez is playing in the Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic for a second time and is overjoyed to play in honor of Danielle.
“This tournament is way more than just golf,” said Fernandez with a wide smile everytime Danielle’s name was mentioned. “This event is a way to honor Danielle and it feels great to be where she is from and be at her course and see her family. Knowing that we are from Auburn and Auburn was such a big thing to her in a way we feel like we are doing this for her.”
Fernandez, a second-year player on the Epson Tour, missed the cut last year.
Fernandez has another connection to the Rochester area. She is good friends, through Auburn, with Dominic Bozzelli, who played high school golf at McQuaid Jesuit. Bozzelli lost in a playoff last week at the LECOM Heath Challenge on the WEB.com Tour where he currently ranks fourth on the money list.
“I’m supper happy for Dom’s success,” said Fernandez. “There is a Web.com Tour event in Auburn this week and I’m sure he’ll be playing. We definitely keep tabs on him.”
ALEXANDRA “AJ” NEWELL WINS QUALIFIER, PLAYING FOR PAT SUMMITT: Last Tuesday at Brook-Lea Country Club, AJ Newell outlasted 11 golfers to win the Morgan Stanley Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic Qualifier.
Newell carded an even-par 72 to earn the final spot. She will tee it up in her first Epson Tour event.
“I really didn’t have any idea where the other girls were at,” said Newell after winning the qualifier. “I stuck with my game plan. The golf course was absolutely fantastic and I’m super excited that I get to come back next week. I gave myself a lot of looks at birdie and converted a few on the back nine.”
Newell made bogey on 17 and said she had a feeling it was going to be close. She made a two-putt par on 18 to win by one shot.
“I was thrilled to see that it got me through into next week,” said Newell. “I want to carry it over and I’ve already started to write down what I learned this week and find things to improve on.”
Newell was a 2014-15 WGCA (Women’s Golf Coaches Association) Honorable Mention All-American at the University of Tennessee. She posted four top 10 finishes as a senior including a win. She went through LPGA Qualifying Tournament in 2015, but did not advance out of Stage I.
“It is going to be one of the most exciting tournaments I’ve ever played,” said Newell. “Last week, with the passing of Pat Summitt, I was looking back at some of her quotes and she always said that it is not always the most talented or most gifted, but the most competitive and hardest worker. It’s going to mean everything that I fought for this spot.”
Newell grew up a Volunteers fan as both of her parents, Robin and Jon, graduated from Tennessee. She was clearly inspired by Summitt.
“She was our coach at Tennessee, but she was everyone’s coach around the country,” said Newell. “Everything she has done for women’s sports is amazing and to be able to participate in a women’s professional golf tournament next week after her passing is amazing too. I’m super happy to be able to represent the Tennessee Volunteers family next week.”
EXEMPTIONS ARE BOTH TOP COLLEGE PLAYERS: The two sponsor exemptions this year are Lauren Coughlin (University of Virginia) and Maddie McCrary (Oklahoma State). Coughlin was a WGCA (Women’s Golf Coaches Association) Second-Team All-American in 2015-16. She won the ACC individual title this year and finished 16th at the NCAA championships. McCrary, who finished her sophomore year at OSU, made it to the round of 16 at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. McCrary, of Wylie, Texas, earned All-Big 12 honors as a freshman in 2014-15.
McCrary’s coach is Rick Woodson, Jr., whose father is Rick Woodson, Sr., longtime sportswriter at the Rochester Business Journal. Woodson became a sports columnist in 1996. He was also a writer for the Rochester Times Union and Democrat & Chronicle.
“My father covered Nancy Lopez and all the greats in Rochester and had a really good repoire with her,” said Rick Woodson, Jr., who played on the Web.com Tour and played in the Byron Nelson. “It is a great opportunity for Maddie and this is what she wants to do with her life to pursue a career on the LPGA. It’s just a different intensity level.”
QUICK NOTES
•Two players that finished in a tie for third last year at the inaugural event are in the field this year - Laura Gonzalez Escallon and Marina Choi. Both finished at 8-under, 280.
• Emma Talley, the 2015 NCAA individual champion, has two top 10 finishes in four events on the Epson Tour so far and ranks 31st on the money list. She finished in a tie for fourth two weeks ago at the Tullymore Classic.
• Paola Moreno won the last event (Tullymore Classic) to pick up her first Epson Tour win since 2012. She now has three career wins and nine top 10 finishes. Moreno now ranks 16th on the money list.
• There have been six first-time winners through 12 events.
• The Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic is one of five 72-hole events on the Epson Tour.
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