Epson Tour's best coming to The Highlands for inaugural Great Lakes Championship
Well, summer feels like it's arrived and come this Friday to Sunday, June 13-15, some of the best women's golfers in the world will hope to turn The Highlands of Harbor Springs Heather Course into paradise.
Advertisement
The inaugural Great Lakes Championship at The Highlands presented by Johnnie Walker and part of the Epson Tour will tee off this weekend on The Heather Course.
The Epson Tour, once know as the LPGA Futures Tour, is the official qualifying tour for the LPGA Tour, much like the Korn Ferry Tour for the PGA.
Events are taking place throughout the week by BOYNE Golf and The Great Lakes Sports Commission, including a pair of Pro-Am events on Wednesday and Thursday, June 11-12.
Epson Tour No. 4 ranked Yana Wilson is one of a handful of top ranked golfers that will take to The Highlands at Harbor Springs' Heather Course this Friday to Sunday, June 13-15 for the inaugural Great Lakes Championship. (Photo by)
'The Highlands and BOYNE Golf are honored and excited that the Great Lakes Sports Commission and the Epson Tour have selected The Heather golf course at The Highlands to host the Great Lakes Championship,' said Josh Richter, Boyne Resorts SVP of golf. 'The Heather was the first BOYNE Golf course and is widely credited as the spark that started the golf boom in northern Michigan.
Advertisement
"The Heather launched the region as America's summer golf capital and has hosted many prestigious championships, including five Michigan Amateur Championships since it opened in 1966. We look forward to the test it will provide the outstanding golfers on the Epson Tour on their journey to the LPGA.'
From Epson to LPGA: Here are 15 of the most successful LPGA players to graduate from the Epson Tour since 1999, including two Hall of Famers
Play will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Great Lakes Championship will feature a field of 144 golfers competing for Epson points of course, though also a $250,000 purse and $37,500 to the winner.
Advertisement
The field will be cut from 144 to 60 on Sunday, with a 5 p.m. awards ceremony and trophy presentation taking place.
General admission is free to attend the 72-hole tournament, though there is a VIP ticket package available at $100 per day or $250 for the full weekend. Slots for the Pro-Am event are full.
More: Michigan's best 20 public golf courses rankings: Arcadia Bluffs remains No. 1
More: Best Michigan private golf courses ranked: Alister MacKenzie gem still No. 1
It comes as the third Epson Tour event taking place in Michigan, following the recent FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creak, along with the Island Resort Championship in Harris to follow, with the three making up the new Pure Michigan Cup.
Advertisement
The highest points earner within the three events receives extra prize money from the Epson Tour.
'Bringing the Epson Tour to The Heather Golf Course at The Highlands at Harbor Springs will have a big impact on the Petoskey area and the northern Michigan region,' said Great Lakes Sports Commission Executive Director, Eric Marvin. 'The expansion of the Tour's Michigan stretch will not only showcase the unparalleled beauty and unique charm of northern Michigan but also promises to create significant economic impact and international exposure. We are confident that adding another high-profile Epson Tour event will enhance our reputation as a premier destination for golf and we look forward to welcoming the world's top women's golfers to northern Michigan in 2025.'
Sophia Schubert of the Epson Tour highlights a talented field that'll be on hand this weekend in Harbor Springs when golfers tee off in the inaugural Great Lakes Championship on BOYNE Golf's Heather Course. (Photo by)
The inaugural field of the Great Lakes Championship will feature many of the top Epson Tour's current top points leaders, including the top five.
Advertisement
Current No. 1 with 1,176 points, Gina Kim, will be included in the field, with two wins to her credit already this season. The field will also include second ranked Sophia Schubert and third ranked Laetitia Beck, both with over $200,000 in career earnings.
Yana Wilson, an 18-year-old with four career top 10 finishes and a May victory to her credit, will also be in the field, along with No. 5 ranked Minji Kang, who currently leads the Epson Tour with five top 10 finishes in eight events.
All-Americans: Golfweek's 2024-25 Women's College Golf All-Americans
Michigan natives will also take part in tournament, including BOYNE Golf ambassador and East Kentwood graduate, Sarah White. With an average driving distance of 270.48 yards, White is currently the Epson Tour leader.
Advertisement
The former Western Michigan and Texas State golfer earned a 2014 MHSAA Division 1 state championship at East Kentwood and has been with the Epson Tour since 2020.
Many of the current top golfers of the LPGA Tour have made their way to the top ranks through the Epson Tour, including current LPGA No. 1, Nelly Korda. Korda has 15 career wins and over $15 million in career earnings. LPGA standouts Inbee Park and Lorena Ochoa are also former Epson Tour competitors, among others.
More information on the Great Lakes Championship can be found at: www.thegreatlakeschampionship.com
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Epson Great Lakes Championship teeing off Friday in Harbor Springs
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Mirabel Ting, college golf's No. 1 player, will make pro debut at Evian Championship
Before the world knew of her plans, Mirabel Ting wanted to first share the good news with her ailing grandfather. Growing up in Malaysia, she'd get out of school at 1:30 p.m. and head to the golf course with her older brother Malcolm and their grandfather for a quick nine holes. They'd do the same on the weekends at Miri Golf Club. Five days a week, every week. When she and Malcolm needed money to play tournaments internationally or go to school in Australia, grandpa was there. 'He always wanted me to turn professional and play in a major,' said Ting. The family's dream comes true next week at the Amundi Evian Championship, where Ting will make her professional debut in her first major championship. The best player in college golf last year, Florida State's Ting is poised to take her supreme ball-striking skills to the next level. In nine starts for the Seminoles last season, Ting won five times, finishing outside the top 3 only once – a T-6 at the Moon Invitational. She was 80 under par for the season, amassing a school single-season scoring record of 68.77. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Ting faced a total of 786 competitors and had an overall record of 770 wins, 10 losses and six ties. 'In my 25 years, she's by far the best ball-striker I've ever seen,' said FSU head coach Amy Bond. After helping the Seminoles win their first ACC title, Ting finished the season No. 1 in the college rankings and clinched the 2025 Annika Award presented by Stifel, which came with an exemption into the Evian. She credits much of her success in 2025 – particularly her putting – to the addition of Kris Assawapimonporn, longtime swing coach of Jeeno Thitikul, to her team. 'The season I had, I was shocked,' said Ting, who leaves the Seminoles ahead of her senior year. And while she has learned the importance of not putting too many expectations on herself, she does have one clear goal – become the first player from Malaysia to win on the LPGA. With teammate Lottie Woad on the cusp of earning her LPGA card through the tour's new LEAP program, the Seminoles are likely to be without the two best players in the world this fall. Woad is currently No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking while Ting is No. 2. "It's our job as coaches to get them ready for the next level," said Bond, "and they're ready." Ting has signed with Fidelity Sports Group for representation and will be managed by FSG's CEO David Moorman and President Drew Carr. After the Evian, she hopes to play on Malaysia's professional tour to keep sharp ahead of LPGA Qualifying School. She'll continue to rely heavily on Michelle Koh, a former touring pro who now coaches in Malaysia and has become like a sister to Ting. After Ting lost her father, Thomas, shortly after she arrived at Augusta University as a fresh-faced 17-year-old in the fall of 2022, it was Koh who pulled her out of a dark place. The Augusta team was en route to a tournament in Statesboro, Georgia, when then head coach Caroline Haase-Hegg heard players saying 'Coach, Coach,' from the back of the van. Haase-Hegg looked back to see a devastated Ting, who'd just received word that her father had died from a massive heart attack. 'It was horrible,' said Haase-Hegg. 'We were right about to Statesboro, and I didn't know what to do. Do we turn around; do we keep going?' She called Georgia Southern coach Mimi Burke, who, like Haase-Hegg, has Purdue roots. They drove to Burke's home, sat together as a team and cried. Just a few years prior, Ting lost her beloved grandmother while she was studying abroad in Australia. It was during the COVID pandemic in 2020, and she couldn't go home. 'I'm the only granddaughter in the family,' said Ting. 'My grandma really, really adores me. … When she was gone, it just feels like a piece of me just disappeared.' When her dad died not long after, it felt like another part had vanished. Ting was up late in Thailand on Wednesday night talking about the past and looking ahead to the future because she was afraid to go to sleep. Doctors had already told the family that her grandfather, Ng Siaw Pheng, had taken a turn for the worse, and she was anxious to get back home. She couldn't wait to show him a graphic made by the Florida State athletic department declaring the news of her decision. While next week's Evian Championship offers an opportunity to make life-changing money, Ting isn't thinking about that. The week will ultimately be a chance to honor her family. 'I'm not actually playing for myself at the Evian,' said a grateful Ting. 'I'm actually playing for three people – my grandma, my dad and my grandfather.' They'll be with her the whole way.
NBC Sports
14 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Inside LPGA's Collegiate Advancement Pathway
LPGA Senior Vice President of Tournament Operations Thomas Tangtiphaiboontana joins Golf Central to discuss the league's Collegiate Advancement Pathway, explaining why it was created and the purpose it will serve.
NBC Sports
17 hours ago
- NBC Sports
With LCAP, college seniors will have another pathway to pro status, just not LPGA yet
The LPGA is expanding the pathway to the Epson Tour for top college players. The tour announced Wednesday the LPGA Collegiate Advancement Pathway, or LCAP, a program that beginning next summer will award 10 graduating seniors with some form of Epson Tour status and Q-School exemptions. LCAP resembles the regular PGA Tour University program, which doles out varying statuses under the PGA Tour umbrella to 25 graduates. It also comes on the heels of last year's announcement of the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway, which was designed to award LPGA cards to top amateurs who achieve certain benchmarks, like the PGA Tour U's Accelerated program. Florida State senior Lottie Woad is currently at 18 of the required 20 points to become LEAP's first alumnus. As for LCAP, the LPGA's SVP of tour operations, Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana, told that the tour is still finalizing its ranking system, which will include both college and non-college events recognized by the World Amateur Golf Ranking and feature a two-year cycle concluding with the NCAA Championship of a player's senior year. Without knowing the exact formula, it's tough to project who will debut atop the first points list later this year, though rising seniors Megha Ganne (Stanford), Catherine Park (USC) and Kary Hollenbaugh (Ohio State) should all rank fairly high. The top finisher in LCAP each season will receive full Epson Tour status (Category D) for the remainder of that season and the following season, plus an exemption to the LPGA's final qualifying stage, formerly known as Q-Series. Nos. 2-5 will receive the same Epson perks, though will be exempt into LPGA qualifying, which is now the second stage of the tour's Q-School. Nos. 6-10 will earn a season and a half of Category L status on Epson and an exemption into LPGA qualifying. According to Tangtiphaiboontana, Nos. 6-10 are prioritized below the reshuffle category, though those players should get into all events that pull from the priority list that initial summer. In creating the program, Tangtiphaiboontana said the looked at recent data that showed that while 44% of the top 80 players on the LPGA the past four years played college golf, 82% of the top 80 players on Epson during that time frame were college products. Most of those players stayed four years, too. Most recently, LSU's Ingrid Lindblad, who won 15 times as a Tiger and capped her career by winning the 2024 Annika Award, made nine starts on Epson last summer, winning once and posting four other top-10s to finish sixth in points and earn one of 15 LPGA cards, up from the 10 that were awarded between 2008 and 2023. Lindblad has since won on the LPGA as a rookie. 'We view Epson Tour as the main pathway to the LPGA,' Tangtiphaiboontana said. 'It's gotten stronger and stronger each year due to the good work on the Epson side of increasing purses. We've seen that when players play on Epson, they see sustained success on the LPGA. … This was wanting to create a program for those players who have the body of work to have assurances that when they come on tour, they have a place to play without having to go through Q-School. 'Are players still going to make a decision on their own to leave school early? Absolutely. But having this in place, it gives players an extra option to return to school, develop another year, I can have a guaranteed place to play for a year and a half on the Epson Tour when I finish school.' When PGA Tour U was first rolled out for the 2020-21 season, there were only five Korn Ferry Tour cards handed out. Those benefits have since increased exponentially with the No. 1 player now earning PGA Tour status for a season and a half. Tangtiphaiboontana knows college players and coaches will still be clamoring for at least one LPGA card up for grabs through LCAP, and he wouldn't rule that out down the road, though any such adjustments would need buy-in from LPGA membership, which gave the green light to LEAP last year. 'This is just a foundation for building a pathway, and we want to see how this grows and look at the classes that come out,' he said. 'If it warrants us giving out an LPGA card, we will absolutely do that.'
