LaCrosse Returns To Mexico To Defend LPGA Futures Tour Title

* Defending champion Cindy Lacrosse of Tampa, Florida returns to El Tigre Golf & Country Club to defend her title at this week’s Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico

Cindy Lacrosse of Tampa, Florida returns to El Tigre Golf & Country Club to defend her title at the LPGA Futures Tour’s third tournament of the 2011 season, this week’s Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, Mexico.

LaCrosse finished the 2010 season on the Futures Tour as the top money winner and as the 2010 Player of the Year, earned full 2011 LPGA Tour status. Her win in Mexico was her first professional victory of three tournament wins last year.

The Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic will feature a purse of $125,000, with a cash prize of $17,500 and $12,500 for the runner-up. The tournament will be contested over 54 holes (three rounds) in a stroke-play format. In addition to LaCrosse, five top-10 finishers from the 2010 tournament in Mexico will be in the field. They are: 3rd – Chelsea Curtis of New Seabury, Massachusetts; tie for 4th – Hannah Jun San Diego; 6th – Jane Rah of Torrance, California; and Mallory Blackwelder of Versailles, Kentucky, Esther Choe of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Adrienne White of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, all tied for ninth.

LPGA Futures Tour professionals in the tournament field who are natives of Mexico will be: Lili Alvarez of Durango; Ani Carrillo of Guadalajara; Tanya Dergal of Durango; Marcela Leon of Monterrey; Pamela Ontiveros of Gomez Palacio; and Sophia Sheridan of Guadalajara. Mexican amateurs in the tournament field will be: Liisa Kelo Escartin, 25, of Mexico City, who played college golf at Arizona State University and participated in the Women’s Mexican Amateur Open from 2005-2011; Gabriela (Gaby) Lopez Butron, 17, of Mexico City, a member of the Mexican Amateur Team and Mexico’s top-ranked girl, who attends Sagrado Corazon School; Daniela Ortiz, 18, of Morelia, a Mexico National Champion who will play for Nova Southeastern University in Florida, beginning in August 2011; and Regina Plasencia, 16, of Guadalajara, who was the 2010 Optimist International tournament champion and who has played in three LPGA tournaments in Mexico. Plasencia is also the cousin of professional Sophia Sheridan.

This week’s Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic is the LPGA Futures Tour’s only event held outside the United States.

Key Facts Regarding the Santorini Riviera Nayarit Classic:
Format of tournament:
54-hole event with a cut after 36 holes to the low 70 scores and ties
Number of players in field for tournament: 144 players (including amateur exemptions)
Tournament Purse: $125,000 (U.S.)
First Place: $17,500
Second Place: $12,500
Charity: The Lorena Ochoa Foundation
Parking and Admission: Free

Schedule of Events:
Sunday, April 10
8 a.m. - Final Round Tournament Play (1st tee only start)
Approx. 2:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony, 18th green at El Tigre.

Websites:
Tournament Site:
www.RivieraNayaritClassic.com <http://www.floridasnaturalcharityclassic.com>
Tour Site: www.lpgafuturestour.com <http://www.lpgafuturestour.com>
Course Site: www.eltigregolf.com <http://www.eltigregolf.com>
Media:
Check in at the Media Center in the clubhouse when on-site or contact communications manager Lisa Mickey at +1 326-214-9726 or lisa.mickey@lpga.com for more information.