TAMARAC, FL (December 16, 2016) -- This years
Dixie Women's Amateur field is a talented one,
including six players in the top-100 of the Women's
World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and a former
U.S.
Women's Mid-Amateur champion. The 2016 edition
will kick off on Monday and continue through
Thursday the 22nd with a 54-hole cut to proceed the
final round.
Woodlands Country Club will serve as the host
course with play being split between the East and
West Courses. The East Course will be the site of the
second and fourth rounds, while the West Course will
host the first and third rounds.
Round One Tee
Times
"The (players) can expect two totally different
layouts. The courses are fairly similar but the West
Course is more of a shot makers course because
there are more doglegs and the East Course is going
to play a tad longer with longer par-3's," tournament
director John Hand said.
The Dixie Women's Amateur was first played in
2002 and already boosts an impressive list of past
champions including World Ranked No. 5 Lexi
Thompson (2007) and LPGA Tour players Meaghan
Francella (2002), Angela Park (2005) and Vicky
Hurst (2006).
__________________________________________
Here is a look at some of the top
contenders
for 2016:
Maria Fassi (Arkansas, So.)
-WAGR: 40
Fassi is the top-ranked Mexican amateur
according to the Mexico Golf Federation and she is
just months removed from her signature collegiate
individual victory at the ANNIKA
Intercollegiate. In 2015 Fassi won the Mexican
Women's Amateur and finished tied for second at the
South American Women's Amateur. In last year's
Dixie Women's Amateur she was the runner-up, two-
strokes behind winner Lauren Stephenson.
Fai Khamborn (Thailand)
-WAGR: 44
In two of the last three years Khamborn has
made it to match play at the U.S. Women's Amateur,
this year making it as far as the Round of 32. Her
biggest win to date was in 2015 when she captured
the Women's Western Amateur.
Agathe Laisne (Texas Commit)
-WAGR: 61
Headed to Texas in the fall of 2017, Laisne tied
for
10th
at the 2016 Women's Sotogrande Cup and tied for
14th at the European Ladies Championship. In 2015
the native of Paris, France shared fourth at the
Scottish Ladies Open
Amateur.
Mika Liu (Stanford Commit)
-WAGR: 21
Liu, from Beverly Hills, CA, is one of the more
recognizable players in either field. The fall of 2017
Stanford commit was part of
the inaugural U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball
winning team in 2015. A member of the 2016
American Curtis Cup team, Liu won this years South
Atlantic Amateur and in 2014 she claimed the
Women's Western Amateur. Each of the last three
years
Liu
has competed in the U.S. Women's Amateur with her
best run coming a year ago when she made it as far
as
the quarterfinals. Liu finished tied for seventh in the
2013 Dixie Women's Amateur.
Megan Stasi (Mid-Amateur)
Stasi, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, is a four-time
U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion winning the
title in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012. She has also
made it to the semifinals three other times and the
quarterfinals on another occasion.
Linnea Strom (Arizona State, So.)
-WAGR: 9
Strom, originally from Sweden, comes into the
tournament as the highest ranked player on the
Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking list. During
her freshman year with the Sun Devils Strom won
the Pac-12 Women's Championship to cap off an All-
American season. In 2015 she picked up pair of
runner-up finishes at the Ladies British Open
Amateur and the Spanish Ladies Amateur while also
tying for fourth at the Scottish Ladies Open Amateur.
Samantha Wagner (Florida, So.)
-WAGR: 65
A resident of Orlando, FL, Wagner is back and
looking to improve on a third place finish in the
event last year. Wagner was named to the All-SEC
Freshman Team and her best performance was a
third place result at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate.
ABOUT THE
Dixie Women's Amateur
*The tournament field is full. A wait list has begun. Please email Rodion Gomez at rgomez@clublink.ca to add your name to the wait list*72-hole stroke invitational women's stroke play
championship. Field consists of
former Dixie
Amateur
Champions, and women from around the world
invited by the
Tournament Committee. (You may request an
invitation at
www.dixieamateur.com).
Tournament takes on extra
importance as one of the last major
international
amateur
events to be played
before the Augusta National Women's Amateur
(ANWA) determines their
ranking-based exemption list. The field limit will
be
108
players. Field
is cut after 54 holes to
the low 66 players and ties.
View Complete Tournament Information