NORMAL, Ill - Former Illinois State women's golfer Katie Jean will compete in the 30th Anniversary Decatur-Forsyth Classic, which is a part of The Symetra Tour, the Road to the LPGA. The Symetra Tour will begin the second half of the season at the longest-running event in Symetra Tour history. The three-day, 54-hole stroke play tournament will begin Friday and go through Sunday at the Hickory Point Golf Course.
Jean, a three-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete, had a stellar senior season during the 2012-13 school year, as she led the Redbirds in every regular-season tournament. She capped off the 2012-13 campaign by leading the Redbirds to a first-place finish at the Valley Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional. Illinois State's conference victory marked the 13th time the Redbirds have won a MVC Championship and the fifth championship in the last seven seasons. With her second-consecutive individual championship, Jean became the sixth player in Valley history to win the award twice.
Jean's first-place finish at the 2013 MVC Championship earned her the Elite 18 Award for the third-consecutive season. Jean ended the 2013-14 season with a season stroke average of 76.7 in 36 rounds, and for her performances on the course throughout the 2012-13 season, Jean was named the Valley Golfer of the Year.
The Decatur-Forsyth Classic dates back to 1985. Winners of the event have gone on to win 34 LPGA Tour events and have finished in the top-10 in 259 LPGA Tour events. Tammie Green, who won the first two in1985 and 1986, won seven LPGA events including a win at the du Maurier Classic in 1989, an LPGA major at the time.
The winner of the 144-player field will have a chance to get inside the top-10 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with ten events left. The top-10 on the money list at the end of the season will receive their LPGA Tour cards for the 2015 season.
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