VENICE, FLORIDA, October 19, 2016 - The “Road to the LPGA” continues this week in Venice, Florida with Stage II of LPGA Qualifying Tournament at Plantation Golf & Country Club from Thursday, October 20 through Sunday, October 23. The field of 193 women from the United States and 37 countries around the globe will compete for a chance to move to Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament, which will be contested in Daytona Beach at LPGA International from December 1-4.

The field of 193 will rotate between then Panther and Bobcat courses, playing twice on each. Play will begin at 8:00 a.m. all four days and is expected to finish around 6:15 p.m. each day.

The low 80 and ties following Sunday’s final-round will advance to Final Stage of Qualifying Tournament where they will have a chance to earn full-time and partial LPGA Tour status for 2017. Players that do not advance to Final Stage will earn Epson Tour status for 2017 based on where they finish this week.

There are 10 players in the field that are from the state of Florida: Megan McChrystal (Stuart), Alex Milan (Lutz), Christina Miller (Bradenton), Catherine O’Donnell (Ponte Vedra Beach), Madison Pressel (Boca Raton), Kaitlyn Price (Jacksonville), Ericka Schneider (Bradenton), Jessy Tang (Orlando) and Carlie Yadloczky (Casselberry).

The youngest player in the field is 17-year-old Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who ranks No. 149 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and recently became the first amateur to win a JLPGA major when she won the Japan Women’s Open Golf Championship on October 2. Beth Allen, the highest ranked player in the field at No. 72 in the world, is also the oldest at 34.

There are three 17 year olds and a total of 11 teenagers. There are a total of 28 players under the age of 22 and only nine 30 and older. Additionally, there are 27 amateurs that will tee off in Stage II.

The Bobcat Course will play 6,536 yards while the Panther Course will play 6,363. Both are par 72’s.

Of the 92 that advanced out of Stage I, 91 are at Stage II. The only player that decided to withdraw from Stage II is Yunjie Zhang (Chongqing, China).

TOP AMATEUR(S) IN THE FIELD IN Q-SCHOOL
The No. 1 ranked amateur in the world - Leona Maguire (Cavan, Ireland) - is in the field this week looking to play her way into Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying Tournament. Maguire, a junior at Duke, represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games and finished T21, which was the low amateur. She is a two-time First Team All-American and was the 2014-15 National Player of the Year.

Maguire has already competed in five LPGA majors and finished T25 at the RICOH Women’s British Open this year.

The No. 2 ranked amateur in the world, Bronte Law (Manchester, England), is also in the field. Law, who is the reigning ANNIKA award winner from UCLA, recently won her record seventh title while at UCLA at the Stanford Intercollegiate. The record was previously held by Golf Channel reporter Kay Cockerill. Law played in three LPGA Tour majors this year, making the cut and finishing T50 at the RICOH Women’s British Open.

Maguire and Law were both exempt into Stage II and therefore did not have to play Stage I.

No. 3 in the WAGR, Hannah O’Sullivan, decided to withdraw from Stage II.

Other top ranked amateurs in the field include No. 10 Katelyn Dambaugh (North Charleston, S.C.), a senior at South Carolina and No. 17 Tiffany Chan (Hong Kong), who competed in the 2016 Olympic Games.

ONE TOP 100 PLAYER IN THE WORLD IN STAGE II
The highest ranked player in the field this week according to the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings is American Beth Allen, who has played primarily on the Ladies European Tour (LET) for the last several years. Allen currently is ranked No. 72 in the world. She is the only top 100 player in the field this week.

Allen ranks second on the LET money list behind LPGA star Shanshan Feng. She has six top 10 finishes and a win at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France. Allen finished fifth on the LET money list in 2015 and eighth in 2014.

Allen has some big finishes in co-sanctioned LPGA events this year. She finished T4 at the ISPS Handa Australian Open and T14 at the RICOH Women’s British Open. She has made 59 career starts on the LPGA and last played in domestic LPGA events in 2008.

The 34-year-old turned professional in 2004.

There are also five players ranked between 100 and 200 in the world in the field: No. 103 Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark), No. 108 Emily Kristine Pedersen (Denmark), No. 144 Melissa Reid (England), No. 149 Nasa Hataoka (Japan) and No. 188 Marianne Skarpnord (Norway).

2016 ALL-AMERICANS IN THE FIELD
There are 15 2016 All-Americans that will tee it up this week in Venice.

The Women’s Golf Coaches Assocation (WGCA) First Team All-Americans are Katelyn Dambaugh (South Carolina), Lauren Kim (Stanford), Bronte Law (UCLA) and Leona Maguire (Duke).

There are also five WGCA Second Team All-Americans: Tiffany Chan (USC), Lauren Coughlin (Virginia), Harang Lee (Georgia), Mariah Stackhouse (Stanford) and Charlotte Thomas (Washington) and six WGCA Honorable Mention All-Americans: Karen Chung (USC), Marissa Chow (Pepperdine), Daniela Darquea (Miami), Emma Henrickson (San Diego State), Ying Luo (Washington) and Elizabeth Szokol (Virginia).

STACKHOUSE LOOKING TO KEEP ADVANCING
One of the most well-known college players in 2016 was Mariah Stackhouse of Stanford, who turned professional in June and made her LPGA Tour debut at the Cambia Portland Classic and made the cut.

Stackhouse played in five Epson Tour events including the Epson Tour Championship where she finished T21. Stackhouse easily advanced out of Stage I of Qualifying Tournament by finishing T17 with rounds of 67-73-68-78.

Stackhouse, who anchored Stanford’s run to a national title in 2015, signed with KPMG as a global brand ambassador immediately after turning professional.

INTERNATIONAL CROWN STAR IN FIELD
Melissa Reid (Loughborough, England) made headlines in June at the UL International Crown when she nearly singlehandedly defeated the Japanese team after her playing partner, Charley Hull, came down with a fever and had to withdraw. Reid took the pair of top 50 players in the world all the way to the 18th hole in match play by herself.

Reid has played in 33 LPGA Tour events since 2007, mostly majors in Europe, with her best finish a T9 at the 2015 RICOH Women’s British Open.

Reid is a 5-time Ladies European Tour winner and played in the Solheim Cup in 2011 and 2015.

EIGHT OLYMPIANS IN THE FIELD
One of the biggest names in the field this week is 2016 Olympian, Aditi Ashok (Bangalore, India). She finished 41st, but started with rounds of 68-68 and was near the top of the leaderboard into the weekend. Ashok advanced out of Stage I by finishing T20 with rounds of 72-74-67-74 in California.

Ashok, 18, has played in nine LET events this year and ranks 26th on their Order of Merit with four top 10 finishes.

She made the cut on the LPGA last year at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and finished T42.

There are eight total Olympians in the field this week. The other seven are Tiffany Chan (Hong Kong),

Leona Maguire (Ireland), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Denmark), Marianne Skarpnord (Norway), Christine Wolf (Austria), Noora Tamminen (Finland) and Michelle Koh (Malaysia).

ONE 2016 EPSON TOUR WINNERS IN THE FIELD
There is one 2016 Epson Tour winner in the field this week. Laura Wearn (Charlotte, N.C.) narrowly missed bypassing Stage II. The top 15 players on the Epson Tour after the ten graduates get to advance right to Final Stage.

Wearn won the Gosling’s Dark ‘n Stormy® Classic, but finished 32nd on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

QUICK NOTES

There are two players in the field that competed at the 2016 UL International Crown, which pitted the top four players from eight different countries around the globe. The two competing this week are Rebecca Artis (Australia) and Melissa Reid (England).
Nelly Korda, who earned her LPGA Tour card through the Epson Tour this year, earned medalist honors at Plantation Golf & Country Club last year with a four-day total of 4-under, 284. Only one other player (Grace Na) was under-par for the four days.

Stage II of LPGA Qualifying Tournament Top Storylines

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