Three Players Receive Sponsor Exemptions for the 2024 Four Winds Invitational

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – July 17, 2024 – The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and its Four Winds® Casinos are pleased to announce that Lauren Beaudreau, Gabby Lemieux, and Annabelle Pancake have received sponsor exemptions to play in the 2024 Four Winds Invitational.  Sponsor exemptions are used to give amateurs and up-and-coming players the opportunity to play in tournaments and compete against professionals.  The Four Winds Invitational is part of the Epson Tour schedule, which entered its 44^th year of structured competition in 2024 and is the most established women’s qualifying tour in the world as the one “Road to the LPGA.”  The tournament will take place from Friday, August 30 through Sunday, September 1 at South Bend Country Club.

Commenting on the sponsor exemption selections, Scott Brewer, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Community Relations/Security for Four Winds Casinos said, “The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi and its Four Winds Casinos are proud to have selected Lauren Beaudreau, Gabby Lemieux, and Annabelle Pancake as our sponsor exempt players for the 2024 Four Winds Invitational.  Each are rising stars and represent the high level of talent competing on the LPGA’s Epson Tour.  We wish them all the best of luck for this year’s tournament.”

Greg Helmkamp, General Manager and Head Golf Professional at South Bend Country Club added, “Lauren, Gabby and Annabelle have a passion for the sport and proven tournament performance to compete with the best players on the LPGA’s Epson Tour.  We look forward to welcoming them to South Bend Country Club, along with the rest of the field, for a very competitive tournament this year.”

Lauren Beaudreau is from Lemont, Illinois and recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a master’s degree in business analytics.  Lauren had three career collegiate wins with the largest and most recent coming at the NCAA regional at East Lansing in which she set the Notre Dame 54-hole scoring record at -12.  She has also competed in eight USGA championships and will be making her second appearance in the Four Winds Invitational.  More information on Lauren can be found on her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/lbeaudreau11/.

Gabby Lemieux is from Caldwell, Idaho and is a graduate of Texas Tech University.  She is part of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe and the first Native American to compete in the US. Women’s Open in 2022.   Her top tournament finishes include winning the Idaho Women’s Amateur three times.  She has also had three top-ten finishes on the Epson Tour.  More information on Gabby can be found on her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/gabby_lemieux/?hl=en.

Annabelle Pancake is from Zionsville, Indiana and is a graduate of Clemson University.  She is the 2019 and 2021 Indiana Women’s Amateur Champion.  Her top tournament finishes include runner up at the 2023 Women’s British Amateur and winning the 2024 Sea Island Amateur.   More information on Annabelle can be found her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/annabellepancake/?hl=en.

Volunteers are still needed to fill a variety of roles at the 2024 Four Winds Invitational.  Volunteer roles include assisting with scoring duties and serving as building attendants, caddies, cart drivers, driving range attendants, food and beverage servers, marshals and spotters, parking attendants, standard bearers, shuttle drivers, and more.  For more information and to complete the volunteer application, please visit  https://events.trustevent.com/templates/index.cfm?fuseaction=templates.home&eid=4885 or contact Steve Infalt, Four Winds Invitational Volunteer Coordinator at fwivolunteer@southbendcc.com.

About the Four Winds Invitational
The Four Winds® Invitational was established in 2012 as part of the Road to the LPGA® and is sponsored by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and its Four Winds® Casinos.  The tournament features a field of professional women golfers from around the world.  More information is available at:  http://fourwindsinvitational.com/.

About The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and Indiana
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi’s sovereignty was reaffirmed under legislation signed into law by President Clinton in September of 1994.  The Pokagon Band is dedicated to providing community development initiatives such as housing, education, family services, medical care, and cultural preservation for its more than 6,000 citizens.  The Pokagon Band’s ten-county service area includes four counties in Southwestern Michigan and six in Northern Indiana.  Its main administrative offices are located in Dowagiac, Mich., with a satellite office in South Bend, Ind.  In 2007, it opened Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Mich., followed by Four Winds Hartford in 2011, Four Winds Dowagiac in 2013 and Four Winds South Bend in January 2018.  The Pokagon Band operates a variety of non-gaming businesses through its investment enterprises, Mno-Bmadsen and the Pokagon Development Authority.  More information is available at www.pokagonband-nsn.gov, www.fourwindscasino.com and www.mno-bmadsen.com.

About the Epson Tour
The Epson Tour is the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour and enters its 44^th competitive season in 2024. With the support of entitlement partner Seiko Epson Corporation, the Tour’s mission is to prepare the world’s best female professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour.  In the last decade, the Epson Tour has grown from 15 tournaments and $1.6 million in prize money to $5 million awarded across 20 events in 2024. With more than 600 graduates and alumnae moving on to the LPGA Tour, former Epson Tour players have won 480 LPGA titles.

Follow the Epson Tour at www.epsontour.com, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Media Contact:
David Gutierrez, for the Pokagon Band and its Four Winds Casinos, (312) 780-7204, dgutierrez@dresnerco.com