Event champion receives sponsor exemption into 2017 Women’s Health Classic, the premier event on the LPGA Symetra Tour, which will be played May 11-14 at the Links at Stoney Point.
GREENWOOD, SC. (March 24, 2017) – In partnership with the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation, the LPGA Symetra Tour’s Women’s Health Classic and the Peggy Kirk Bell Girls’ Golf Tour (PKBGT) are pleased to announce the official field for the Women’s Health Classic Junior Challenge Qualifier.
The qualifier, to be contested at the Links at Stoney Point in Greenwood, S.C., will feature 30 of the top junior girls ages 11-18 from across the East Coast. The Junior Challenge participants earned their spot in the field through a series of six pre-qualification tournaments contested over the last two months. The Series featured 152 players from 14 states.
The champion of this qualifier receives a sponsor exemption into the 2017 Women’s Health Classic – the premier event on the LPGA Symetra Tour – played May 11-14 at the Links at Stoney Point. The Women’s Health Classic Junior Challenge represents the first east coast opportunity for a junior player to earn access to an LPGA professional event.
Previously called the LPGA Futures Tour, the Symetra Tour is the official developmental tour of the LPGA Tour. Known as “the Road to the LPGA,” the Symetra Tour has graduated a total of 117 women to the LPGA since 1999.
The first round begins Saturday, April 1 at 11:00 a.m. from the first tee. The final round Sunday will begin at 9:00 a.m. The trophy ceremony will take place at the scoreboard immediately following play around 3:00 p.m. There is no admission for the Qualifier and spectators are welcomed to come out to watch the girls.
“The Links at Stoney Point is very excited about hosting the PKBGT Junior Challenge and promoting women’s golf,” said Jim Medford, chairman and owner of The Links at Stoney Point and the Women’s Health Classic Tournament Director. “This series of events enhances our continued efforts to support and promote women’s golf.”
STORYLINES FROM THE FIELD:
• Pre-qualification points leader sophomore Caroline Wrigley, from Wexford, Pennsylvania comes in as the hottest player on the tour. Wrigley claimed two wins and a runner-up finish in the pre-qualification series. Wrigley is ranked 13th on PKBGT Performance Index and 213 nationally by the Golfweek Junior Rankings.
• The No. 1 player on the PKBGT Performance Index, junior Emily Hawkins of Lexington, North Carolina enters as the highest ranked player in the field. The reigning AJGA Girls champion and Campbell University committee is the 96th highest ranked junior girls golf in the country by Golfweek. Hawkins claimed her fifth PKBGT tournament title last weekend at the Palmetto Classic at USC Cobblestone Park Golf Club in Columbia, South Carolina.
• Senior Louise Yu, a Vanderbilt University committee from Duluth, Georgia is another player to watch. The 102nd ranked junior girl in the country by Golfweek, Yu captured the PKBGT RocketTour Players Championship in February to pace her qualification.
• Three local players to the Greenwood, South Carolina area are in the field. Sophomore Anna Grace Brock of Greenwood, senior Anna Parramore of Greenwood and freshman Phoebe Carles of Clinton, South Carolina. Brock is the highest ranked amongst them, as the 462nd ranked player in the country by Golfweek.
• In total, seven players from the state of South Carolina will be represented in the field. They are senior Carleigh Greene of Anderson, SC, senior Anna Parramore of Greenwood, SC, junior Gaby Martinez of Mt Pleasant, SC, junior Kerington Lamb of Easley, SC, junior Carly Lyvers of Greenville, SC, sophomore Elle Johnson of Inman, SC, sophomore Anna Grace Brock of Greenwood, SC and freshman Phoebe Carles of Clinton, SC.
• Eleven players in the field have already committed or signed to play collegiate golf. They include:
o Emily Hawkins of Lexington, NC – Campbell University
o Kathryn Carson of Mooresville, NC – East Carolina University
o Anna Parramore of Greenwood, SC – Erskine College
o Carly Lyvers of Greenville, SC – James Madison University
o Muskan Uppal of Cornelius, NC – University of Richmond
o Holly McCann of Raleigh, NC – University of Maryland
o Amanda Sambach of Davidson, NC – University of Virginia
o Riley Smyth of Cary, NC – University of Virginia
o Nicole Adam of Pinehurst, NC – University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
o Louise Yu of Duluth, GA – Vanderbilt University
o Carleigh Greene of Anderson, SC – Winthrop University
About PKB Girls’ Golf Tour
Founded in 2007 by the Triad Youth Golf Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, as a local girls’ golf tour in the Triad region of North Carolina, the tour began as a simple concept from Tour Founder Robert Linville, PGA: create more effective competitive playing opportunities for girls in the Carolina’s. Developed as a partnership with Tour Director Mike Parker and two LPGA teaching professionals, the tour set out to change the landscape of junior girls’ golf. By utilizing innovative yardage-based divisions instead of the traditional age-based format, the tour focused on developing tournament experience at the players pace. Learn more about the PKBGT at http://www.pkbgt.org/.
About LPGA-USGA Girls Golf
LPGA-USGA Girls Golf prepares juniors for a lifetime of enjoyment of the game and provides a solid foundation for girls who want to play for fun with friends and family, to compete at the high school, college, and/or local, state and national levels or to learn for future career purposes, both inside and outside of the golf industry. The only national initiative of its kind, Girls Golf is administered through a partnership between The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Foundation and the United States Golf Association (USGA), both non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. With more than 300 Girls Golf programs in communities across the country, Girls Golf members receive golf instruction overseen by LPGA and PGA teaching professionals who are equipped to take participants from beginner to advanced players. Girls Golf programs also focus on inspiring girls to feel confident, build positive self-esteem and live active and healthy lifestyles by incorporating the “Five E’s of Girls Golf” into their curriculum. Learn more about the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf program at http://www.girlsgolf.org/.
About Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic
The Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic will be held May 11-14, 2017 at the LINKS at Stoney Point in Greenwood, South Carolina. The premier event on the LPGA Symetra Tour, the event will host the top aspiring LPGA professionals with the largest prize pool on the tour. Situated on beautiful Lake Greenwood in South Carolina, this Championship-style links course delivers an unparalleled lifestyle that’s truly one of a kind. The Self Regional Healthcare Foundation as well as other area agencies, will receive funds from the event to support community outreach services for Lakelands area women and their families, primarily through the Self Regional Health Express, a mobile health unit equipped to provide exams, education and preventive services. Learn more about the Women’s Health Classic at http://www.stoneypointclassic.com/.
Contact:
Mike Parker, Tour Director, 336-347-8537, mparker@pkbgt.org
