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The Epson Tour heads to South Bend, Indiana for the 2026 Four Winds Invitational, a milestone stop on the Road to the LPGA that returns to its inaugural home this summer.

Here are a few things to know before play begins:

A Milestone Edition, Back Where It Began

The Four Winds Invitational celebrates its 15th year as an Epson Tour event in 2026, and it’s marking the occasion in fitting fashion: a return to Blackthorn Golf Club, the tournament’s original home from 2012 through 2020. After five years at South Bend Country Club, the tournament is heading back to Blackthorn for the first time since 2020, closing the loop on a run that has produced champions like LPGA Tour winners Brooke Henderson, Lilia Vu, and Gabriela Ruffels. Presented by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and its Four Winds Casinos, the tournament carries deep community roots, having donated close to $1.2 million to Beacon Children’s Hospital over the past 14 years. With a $225,000 purse and 500 Race for the Card points on the line, the 15th edition promises to be one of the most meaningful yet.

A Champion’s Comeback

The last time the Epson Tour played Blackthorn, Kim Kaufman closed out a wire-to-wire performance to win the 2020 Four Winds Invitational at 11-under, holding off a hard-charging Robyn Choi for her first professional win in six years. Since then, Kaufman’s story has become one of the most inspiring on the Road to the LPGA. In late 2024, shortly after missing an LPGA card by a single spot at the Epson Tour Championship, Kaufman was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent treatment before being declared cancer-free in the summer of 2025. Rather than step away from the game, Kaufman turned her diagnosis into a platform, partnering with Epson Tour events to provide health screenings for fellow athletes and encouraging young women to prioritize preventive care. In the fall of 2025, she advanced through LPGA Q-Series second stage to reach the Final Stage, a comeback nearly a year to the day after she was forced to withdraw from that same event. Now a veteran competing for a spot back among the game’s best, Kaufman returns to the course where she once broke through, chasing redemption on the same fairways where her Symetra Tour breakthrough happened six years ago.

Race for the Card Heats Up at the Halfway Mark

The Four Winds Invitational arrives with the 2026 season roughly at its midpoint, and the Race for the Card is as tight as ever. Lauren Olivares currently holds the top spot in the standings, with Island Resort Championship winner Kaleiya Romero right on her heels after a playoff victory vaulted the rookie into second place with 1,311.067 points. Fifteenth place, the current cutoff for LPGA Tour status, sits at 542.583 points, a reminder of just how much movement is still possible over the second half of the schedule. With a 500-point purse on the line at Blackthorn this week, players across the standings will have a real chance to reshape the race as the Epson Tour heads into its second half.