SOUTH BEND — The Symetra Tour, Road to the LPGA, heads to South Bend for the fourth annual Four Winds Invitational at Blackthorn Golf Club this weekend.

First-round play begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday with the final-round scheduled for Sunday. There will be a cut to the top 70 and ties following second-round play on Saturday.

The top 144 up-and-coming professionals will compete for a $150,000 tournament purse, the second largest on Tour. The winner will earn $22,500 and take a significant step up the Volvik Race for the Card money list. The top 10 on the year-end money list earn LPGA Tour membership for 2016.

The Four Winds Invitational is the 11th event of the season and third during a stretch of five events in a row in the Midwest. It is the only event in the state of Indiana.

Last week in Decatur, Illinois, Jimin Kang was declared the unofficial winner of the Decatur-Forsyth Classic after weather forced officials to shorten the event to 18 holes. It was an unofficial event and therefore money earned does not count towards the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

One of the strongest fields of the season will descend on South Bend with the entire top 10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list scheduled to play along with one of the top rising stars in women’s golf, Brooke Henderson, who is playing on a sponsor exemption. Henderson finished in a tie for fifth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last week. Further, 27 of the top 30 on the money list are in the field this week. With the high purse, very few Symetra Tour players skip this event unless they have a prior commitment.

There are also 24 LPGA Tour members in the field, a season high.

 

17-year-old Henderson immediate favorite

This past week, 17-year-old Brooke Henderson, the younger sister of Symetra Tour professional Brittany, went toe-to-toe with the best women’s golfers in the world and finished in a tie for fifth at 10-under with LPGA winner Morgan Pressel. Henderson finished just in front of 41-time LPGA winner Karrie Webb and 15-time LPGA winner Suzann Pettersen. The performance earned her a payday of $132,725.

In seven events on the LPGA Tour this season as a non-member, Henderson has made six cuts, has two top 10 finishes and five top 25 results. She has earned $317,470 and would rank 20th on the official LPGA money list if her money was official. She needs to earn the equivalent of top 40 money in order to earn her LPGA Tour card or she will have to go to LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

Henderson turned professional in December of 2014 after a run as the No. 1 amateur in the world.

Brittany, six years older than Brooke, has had a strong rookie season on the Symetra Tour. In seven events, she ranks 24th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Her best finish is a tie for second with her sister at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. It was Brooke’s first and only Symetra Tour event until this week.

 

Recent ND grad Nicole Zhang returns

Nicole Zhang played on the Notre Dame golf team for one year (2010-11) and earned all-Big East honors and a spot on the NGCA (National Golf Coaches Association) All-Central Region Team. She led the Irish in scoring average that season.

Zhang transferred to Northwestern for a year and then returned to Notre Dame for her final two years of school. She didn’t play on the golf team and instead focused on her academics and her business venture. She was an Entrepreneurship major in the Mendoza College of Business.

Zhang founded Yogapeople Bags, an online company that sells “bags that reflect the beauty of yoga” according to her website. She plans to start a second business in the near future.

Simultaneously, she is also a rookie on the Symetra Tour. She has made four of six cuts with her best finish a tie for 27th at the Mission Health Wellness Classic in Asheville, North Carolina.

 

Former champs Vandermade and Boland return

Nicole Vandermade (Brantford, Ontario) won the Four Winds Invitational in 2014 and is back to defend her title. Vandermade carded an 8-under 64 (tournament record) in the first-round and then held off Lee Lopez with a 4-under 68 in the final-round to earn her first professional win.

“The biggest thing I remember about winning last year was being really sick during the final round, but staying mentally tough through the whole round and making eagle on 16 to take the lead,” said Vandermade. “It was also really nice to pull off the win with my host family watching because we have become very close over the past few years.”

Vandermade went onto finish 17th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. This year, she has started slow. The former University of Texas golfer has missed the cut in six of the eight events she has played.

“I love everything about Blackthorn,” said Vandermade. “It reminds me of courses at home with the big trees. The course is always in great shape and it rewards good ball strikers who can hit the ball a good length off the tee. I can’t wait for the week to start.”

Julia Boland won the inaugural Four Winds Invitational in 2012 with a 3-under 69 in the final-round. Boland finished 8th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in ‘12 and played on the LPGA Tour in 2013 and 2014. Boland’s best finish this year is a tie for 34th at the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial.

 

Two players in field in 2016 Olympics for now

There are two players in the field this week that would be in the 2016 Olympic Games if they started today. Alejandra Llaneza of Mexico and Veronica Felibert of Venezuela are both inside the top 60 on the official International Golf Federation rankings and would represent their countries in the golf portion of the 2016 Olympic Games.

Women’s golf in the Olympic Games is a four-round event from August 17-20, 2016 at Barra da Tijuca in Brazil. There are several other Symetra Tour members that dream of playing in the Olympics.

 

12 Symetra Tour members qualify for U.S. Open

There are 12 Symetra Tour members that qualified for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, which will be played in Lancaster, Pennsylvania July 9-12. It is the biggest event on the LPGA Tour schedule with the highest purse of $4 million. The 12 Symetra Tour members that qualified are Liz Nagel, Alejandra Llaneza, Jennifer Coleman, Jimin Kang, Lee Lopez, Lauren Doughtie, Su Oh, Haley Italia, Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu, Nontaya Srisawang, Breanna Elliott and Stephanie Connelly.

Eleven of the 12 are in the field this week for the Four Winds Invitational.

 

Second Potawatomi Cup event of the year

Madeleine Sheils won the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship two weeks ago and has the early advantage in the second annual Potawatomi Cup, a series of five Symetra Tour events sponsored by Potawatomi nation tribes. The Four Winds Invitational is the second Potawatomi Cup event of the season with an additional $8,800 up for grabs to the top six on the Potawatomi Cup points standings after the Four Winds Invitational.

The player with the most points after the event will earn $3,000. Money earned through the Potawatomi Cup does not count towards the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

For each Potawatomi Cup event, the player that wins will earn 500 points. Second place receives 300 points, third place earns 190 points, fourth place earns 135 points, fifth place earns 110 points and sixth place earns 100 points. The top six on the cumulative points standings will be paid out after each event.

There is a total of $50,000 in bonus money available this season with a $6,000 bonus going to the player that finishes with the most Potawatomi Cup points after the Prairie Band Casino & Resort Charity Classic from September 11-13.