The Symetra Tour makes its stop at Brown Deer Park for the third annual PHC Classic at Brown Deer beginning Friday, Aug. 4, and continuing throughout the weekend. One hundred and fifty six LPGA players from 31 countries will come to Wisconsin to compete for a first-place payout of $15,000.
The PHC Classic is free admission for all to attend and is the only Symetra Tour event in Wisconsin.
There will be plenty to watch this weekend as eight of the top 10 players on the current Volvik Race for the Card money list are scheduled to compete. The field includes No. 2 Benyapa Niphatsophon, who has four second place finishes; No. 3 Erynne Lee, who has won two of the three events; and No. 4 Celine Boutier, who already has a win this season coming into the weekend's action.
As well as competing for a piece of the $100,000 purse, the top two place finishers will earn a spot in The Evian Championship, the fifth and final LPGA major event. With only seven events left on the Symetra Tour, each dollar earned counts as the top 10 earners receive LPGA Tour membership for the 2018 season.
There are six Wisconsin players competing: Allyssa Ferrell from Edgerton, Jessie Gerry of Madison, Jenna Peters from Kohler, Casey Danielson of Osceola, Lisbeth Brooks from Waunakee and Gabby Curtis from Altoona.
Curtis earned the last spot to compete in the PHC Classic. The UW-Madison senior just qualified on July 31 by winning the Badger Mutual Insurance Women Amateur at Brown Deer Park.
There are 30 LPGA members in the field this week who compete on tour week-to-week. Some notable names to keep an eye on are are Mariah Stackhouse, who ranks No. 107 on the LPGA Tour money list; Dori Carter, who has played full-time on the LPGA Tour since 2011; Julieta Granada, who has 28 top 10 finishes; and Alejandra Llaneza who represented Mexico at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
According to Symetra Tour players, the competition gets harder every year. Through 15 Symetra tournaments, there have only been four winners under 10-under.
Last year at the PHC Classic, Laura Gonzalez Escallon took the championship in exciting fashion as she made birdie on the fifty-fourth hole to beat Erynne Lee by one stroke.
Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. each day at Brown Deer Park with a top-60 cutline that takes effect on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public and will include an on-site Milwaukee County Parks Traveling Beer Garden. For the complete list of tee times click here.
