Gabby Lemieux, former U.S Women’s Amateur champion Sophia Schubert and 14-year-old sensation Alexa Pano complete sponsor invitations for the third edition of the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic from July 4 – 7, 2019.
Gabby Lemieux, a member of the Shoshone-Paiute tribe, returns to Thornberry Creek at Oneida, the official golf course of the Green Bay Packers, just one year from her professional debut. Lemieux, who graduated from Texas Tech in 2018, has played the majority of the season on the LPGA Symetra Tour and is the only Native American in the 144-player field.
Joining her in field competing for a $2 million purse, which includes past champions, Sei Young Kim and Katherine Kirk as well as Rolex Ranking No. 3 Sung Hyun Park and Hall of Famer, Inbee Park is Sophia Schubert and Alexa Pano.
Schubert, a 23-year-old from Tennessee, shot to prominence in 2017 with victory in the U.S Women’s Amateur before turning professional and making her LPGA debut last summer. Schubert currently competes on the LPGA Symetra Tour but has competed in three of the five LPGA majors.
Completing the trio of invitations is 14-year-old amateur star, Alexa Pano, who despite her age, already boasts a notable golfing CV including no less than 67 national titles and most recently, an appearance in the U.S Women’s Open. Pano, who made her professional debut aged 11 was recognized as the seven-year-old girl from the well-known golfing documentary ‘The Short Game’, but is now more often compared to a young Lexi Thompson. Similarly, to Lemieux, Pano also participated in the 2018 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Commenting on her return, Gabby Lemieux, said, “I’m so grateful to Oneida for the invite to play at Thornberry Creek again this year and I’m determined to learn from my experience last season and come back stronger. As the only Native American in the field I definitely felt the support of the tribe out on the course and I can’t wait to be back.”
Alexa Pano added, “I can’t wait to get back to Thornberry Creek and hopefully make a few more birdies this year. The scoring last year was unbelievable and it is still a real learning curve for me to see how the professionals go about their business on the LPGA. I’m thankful to all of the tournament organizers for the opportunity to compete against some of the best players in the world and I hope to realize my dream one day of competing against them full-time.”
Oneida Golf Enterprise Agent Chad Fuss said, “We are thrilled to offer invitations to these three rising stars and provide them with a platform to showcase their talent to the world. They all have extremely bright futures and we are looking forward to giving the fans a chance to cheer on some young talent. Gabby is the only Native American tribe member with LPGA Symetra Tour status at the moment but I’m sure she will help to inspire the next generation of golfers to get to this level.”
