The Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY returns to Albany, New York, and Capital Hills at Albany from July 27-29. This is the 15th consecutive year the Epson Tour (dating back to 2004) has played at Capital Hills. The 2018 event is the thirteenth event of the 2018 season and ends a three-week stretch.
The field of 144 players from the United States and around the globe will compete for a $125,000 total purse. The winner will earn $18.750.
Looking for Another Win
Nine players who have already won this season are in the field this week looking to become the first in 2018 to win for the second time. Through the first 12 events of the year, there hasn’t been a multiple winner on Tour. By this same point in the schedule of the 2017 season, Nanna Koerstz Madsen had won twice. Her first victory came at the Epson Classic in April and her second of the season at the Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY when it was contested the first week of June.
2018 winners in the field include IOA Championship champion Stephanie Meadow, IOA Invitational winner Elizabeth Szokol, Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic champion Vicky Hurst, Valley Forge Invitational winner Louise Ridderstrom, Four Winds Invitational champion Maia Schechter, Island Resort Championship winner Ruixin Liu, Prasco Charity Championship champion Muni He, Donald Ross Classic winner Stephanie Kono and Danielle Downey Credit Union Classic champion Eun Jeong Seong.
Eight of Top 10 on Money List to Compete
Eight of the top 10 on the current Volvik Race for the Card money list are scheduled to compete at Capital Hills this week including No. 1 Dottie Ardina, who has three runner-up finishes in six starts. Ardina has accumulated nearly $60,000 without the benefit of a win. The only players in the top 10 not on the field list are No. 3 Jenny Haglund of Sweden and No. 4 Isi Gabsa of Germany, who will be competing in Scotland this week at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open on the LPGA Tour; a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour where many of the top players on LET are in the field. Haglund is No. 1 in the Order of Merit and winner of the Lalla Meryem Cup earlier this year.
Sponsor Invites
Colleen Cashman-McSween is one of two sponsor invites and will be playing in her fourth consecutive Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY. She is in her 5th year as the UAlbany Women’s Golf Coach. As a professional golfer, she competed in over 100 tournaments on the former LPGA FUTURES Tour and won the 2003 Tampa Bay Next Generation FUTURES Golf Classic. Cashman-McSween was the 2015 MAAC Coach of the Year at Albany. Meanwhile, Tessa Teachman, the New York native makes her second start of the season in Albany. At age 13, Teachman won the New York State Girls Junior Championship. Her family moved to Louisiana at 16, and she went on to play collegiate golf at Louisiana State University. The Tigers four-time Academic All-American will tee it up for the second time at the Fuccillo Kia Classic.
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