Seventeen-week Stretch Will Decide Five LPGA Tour Cards for 2008
LAKELAND, Fla., April 10, 2007 – The Duramed FUTURES Tour professionals are back to work this week as the Tour starts up again in Frisco, Texas after a three-week break. The Tour will begin a 17-week stretch of tournaments that will take the players from Texas through the heartlands of the Midwest, and then to the East Coast, finishing with the season-ending event in Albany, N.Y. The top five season money leaders will automatically earn LPGA exempt status for the 2008 season.
Top-ranked Lori Atsedes of Ithaca, N.Y., along with No. 2 Liz Janagnelo of W. Hartford, Conn., will arrive in Texas, both seeking their second win of the season. Making her pro debut this week will be Californian and former UCLA collegian Jane Park, winner of the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Also in the field are strong contenders for one of the five cards, including Allison Fouch of Grand Rapids, Mich., who finished sixth on the Tour’s 2006 Money List, Jenny Gleason of Clearwater, Fla., who won twice in 2005 and finished sixth on the 2006 Money List and Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who finished sixth on the Tour’s 2004 Money List and played the last two seasons on the LPGA Tour.
In addition to the veterans on Tour, there are 88 rookies competing this season. Rookies to watch include: Charlotte Campbell of Heathrow, Fla., a four-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year and two-time individual NCAA champion at Rollins College; Angie Hill of Canton, Ohio, co-medalist of the 2006 LPGA Florida Sectional Qualifying Tournament and 2006 Conference Player of the Year; Carolina Llano of Bogotá, Columbia, a former West Coast Conference Player of the Year while at Pepperdine University; and 2006 U.S. Curtis Cup Team member and two-time All SEC player, Amanda McCurdy, who played collegiate golf at the University of Arkansas.
The 2007 season boasts the best schedule of the Tour’s history with 19 tournaments in 14 states and a record purse of $1.585 million. New venues this year are Kansas City and Cincinnati. The Duramed FUTURES Tour provides live scoring on its home page for all tournaments at www.duramedfuturestour.com
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 Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 863-709-9100 Ext, 2 or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.
