Tour Boosts Season Total Purse to Nearly 1.6 Million
LAKELAND, Fla., January 22, 2007 — The Duramed FUTURES Tour’s Gettysburg Championship announced today that its 2007 tournament purse has increased to $100,000. The popular 54-hole championship will be played August 24-26, at The Links At Gettysburg and will benefit various local charities.
"This purse increase reflects our new three-year slogan, ‘Bigger, Better, Brighter,’ designed to raise the level of The Gettysburg Championship," said Duff Forsythe, tournament organizer of the event. "We want to reinforce that theme in every way, starting from the day the Tour arrives to the awards ceremony at the end of the week. This is our commitment to some of the best women golfers in the world."
The Duramed FUTURES Tour boasts the most solid schedule in the Tour’s history this year. The 2007 competitive schedule includes 19 tournaments in 14 states and a record purse of $1.585 million. The event in Gettysburg becomes the fourth tournament this season with a purse of $100,000 or more. Since 1999, tournament purses on the Tour have increased 58.5 percent.
"The support of fans, the community and tournament sponsors have already made this Tour stop a first-class event after only one year," said Zayra F. Calderon, president and CEO of the Duramed FUTURES Tour. "The endorsement that tournaments like Gettysburg has given to the Duramed FUTURES Tour continues to fuel our unprecedented growth."
The Duramed FUTURES Tour’s roster features professional golfers from 26 nations and 36 states, including Tour members from the state of Pennsylvania. Last year’s Gettysburg Championship winner, Song-Hee Kim of Korea, collected her fifth season win in Gettysburg and finished as the Tour’s 2006 Player of the Year and top money winner to earn fully exempt status on the 2007 LPGA Tour.
About The Tour
Now in its 27th season, the Duramed FUTURES Tour remains committed to preparing the world’s best young women professional golfers for a career on the LPGA Tour. At season’s end each year, the top five players on the Tour’s money list earn automatic LPGA Tour exemptions for the following year. The official developmental tour of the LPGA has grown into the largest international developmental tour and the world’s second-largest women’s golf tour with more than 300 players from 31 nations. Nearly 300 alumnae are LPGA Tour members, with former Duramed FUTURES Tour players owning a total of 314 LPGA titles and 33 major championships. The Duramed FUTURES Tour currently conducts 19 tournaments in 14 states and since 1989, has raised more than $4 million for charitable organizations. For more information, please visit duramedfuturestour.com.
Contact:
Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 863-709-9100, Ext. 2 or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.
