CROWN POINT, Ind. — This week’s inaugural South Shore Championship will feature five 2011 tournament winners on the LPGA Futures Tour, including the tour’s most recent champion, Stephanie Kim.

The native of Bayside, N.Y., won last week’s Island Resort Championship in Harris, Mich.

Kim will be joined by the tour’s leading money winner, Lisa Ferrero of Lodi, Calif., who is a two-time tournament winner this season. Other 2011 champions in the field are Kathleen Ekey of Sharon Township, Ohio, Tzu-Chi Lin of Taichung, Chinese Taipei, and Valentine Derrey of Paris, France.

The South Shore Championship will bring the LPGA Futures Tour to White Hawk Country Club in Crown Point. This week’s tournament will feature a Saturday finish, with competitive rounds held today, Friday and Saturday.

The tour returns to the state of Indiana, where it last held the 2010 City of Hammond Classic, won by 2010 LPGA Futures Tour rookie Nannette Hill of Pelham, N.Y. The Futures Tour first staged a tournament in Merrillville from 2003-2005, moving to Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond from 2006-2010.

This year’s event offers a purse of $100,000 and will award $14,000 to the tournament winner after three days of competition. A tournament cut will be made after 36 holes to the low 70 scores and ties. The tournament has a field of 149 players.

Professional players with Indiana ties in the Crown Point tournament field are: five-time Futures Tour winner Angela Buzminski of Oshawa, Ontario (who played college golf at the University of Indiana); Brittany Kelly of Fishers, Ind.; Lyndsay McBride of Elkhart, Ind.; rookie Aimee Neff of Carmel, Ind.; newlywed Laura Nochta-Martin of Cortland, Ohio (Indiana University grad); two-time Futures Tour tournament winner Ashley Prange of Noblesville, Ind.; and Kylene Pulley of Kokomo, Ind.

The local amateur exemption in the field is Valparaiso University women’s golf team member Briana Davy of Schererville, Ind. She was an all-conference player for all four years of high school. She also is a three-time White Hawk Club Champion.

In addition to Indiana players, Chicago-area native Nicole Jeray of Berwyn, Ill., also is in the field this week. Jeray is a member of the LPGA and LPGA Futures Tour and is a three-time Futures Tour winner.