LPGA WALMART NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

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Tourney offers UA unique opportunity

Razorback golfer Gaby Lopez hits from the fifth tee box with former Razorback golfer Stacy Lewis (left) on Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers during practice rounds for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Razorback golfer Gaby Lopez hits from the fifth tee box with former Razorback golfer Stacy Lewis (left) on Tuesday, June 23, 2015, at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers during practice rounds for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

ROGERS — From the first tee shot in 2007, the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and the University of Arkansas women’s golf program formed a unique bond.

Stacy Lewis is one of the brightest stars on the LPGA Tour, and currently ranks No. 3 in the world Rolex Rankings. She is also the defending champion of this tournament. But her first time at the tournament was way back in its first year when she was given a sponsor’s exemption while still an amateur playing at Arkansas.

At A Glance

Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers

When: Friday-Sunday

Purse: $2 million

Winner’s Share: $300,000

Format: 54-hole stroke play

Par: 71

Yardage: 6,374

Defending Champion: Stacy Lewis

Online: www.nwachampionship…

Twitter: @nwachampionship

“We made a decision early on, given how popular Razorbacks sports are overall in our area, that we wanted to have a connection with the female golf program,” tournament chairman Jay Allen said. “In our very first event, we gave a sponsor’s exemption to Stacy Lewis. She was the No. 1 player in college at the time and she ended up being our unofficial winner in an 18-hole event.

“And we’ve continued that ever since. We’ve offered sponsor’s exemptions and it’s very competitive through their program to earn those exemptions and this year it’s Gaby Lopez. And we also offer a couple of spots in our Monday qualifier to players in (the UA) program. So it’s great to have that connection. We’re known on the tour for the Hog Calls out on the course and it’s just great to have that connection.”

Lopez is competing in her third Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on a sponsor’s exemption. The Arkansas junior missed the cut in the 2013 event, but made the cut last year and finished tied for 57th.

Lopez, like previous Arkansas golfers Lucy Nunn and Emily Tubert, earned the sponsor’s exemption by winning the in-season scoring contest between Razorbacks teammates which determines who receives the coveted exemption each year.

Others who finish high in the Arkansas scoring ranks are then chosen to participate in the tournament’s Monday qualifier. This year, the two Razorbacks who played Monday were Regina Plasencia and Samantha Marks, with Marks earning a spot in the field by winning the qualifier at even-par 71 to earn a spot in this week’s playing field.

“This means so much, and I believe it’s a big part of our recruiting at Arkansas,” Marks said. “I mean what other school has this opportunity to play in an LPGA event if you play your best doing the year?”

Arkansas women’s golf coach Shauna Estes-Taylor credits Lewis for having a big hand in helping to put her program in the national spotlight. But at the same time, the unique opportunity the Arkansas golf program has with an LPGA Tour event in its own backyard is equally as important, Estes-Taylor said.

“I feel so blessed to have the relationships we’ve built with this event,” Estes-Taylor said. “I owe a lot to Stacy. She’s built a lot of those relationships and it’s catapulted it to another level.”

All three Arkansas golfers said the tournament was a factor in their decision to attend Arkansas.

“Yeah, for sure, it was real important for me at the beginning,” Lopez said. “Coming here as an official visit, I came here and it was actually the time for the LPGA and Shauna brought me here and it was pretty impressive to see what the university offered to me.”

Marks did not start her college career at Arkansas, but said her decision to transfer into the program was influenced by the LPGA Tour event just a few minutes from the Fayetteville campus.

“I committed to come here, to transfer here about a week before this tournament last year and I was like, well, dad, I have to come,” Marks said. “So I flew up and I was here all week and it was just amazing to see the support for Stacy and the support for Gaby and everybody out in their Razorback gear and I think it’s incredible beneficial for Shauna and Mike and our program.”

Lewis, who is still credited by some as the unofficial winner of the inaugural event in 2007 that was ultimately washed out by torrential rain after just one round, said the opportunity for Arkansas golfers to compete alongside the best female golfers in the world through sponsor exemptions or earning their way into the field through the Monday qualifier is something no other program in the country can offer its golfers.

“There’s no other tournament we have on our schedule that offers this opportunity, especially specifically for one team,” Lewis said. “There’s other tournaments that provide opportunities in the Monday qualifier, but to provide an opportunity straight into the tournament, nobody else can say that.”I think that’s what makes this place special, what makes this tournament and the university so special.”

Vernon Tarver can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAVernon.

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