FUTURES Tour
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The FUTURES Tour, known for sponsorship reasons since 2006 as the Duramed FUTURES Tour, is the developmental tour in women's professional golf in the United States and is part of the LPGA.
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[edit] History
The Futures Tour was founded in Florida in 1981 as the "Tampa Bay Mini Tour", officially became the FUTURES Golf Tour in 1983[1] and in 1999 become a national tour designated as the "official developmental tour," of the U.S. based professional women's golf tour, the LPGA Tour. Grace Park, Marilyn Lovander and Audra Burks were the first players to receive automatic LPGA Tour exempt status by finishing one, two, and three on the FUTURES Golf Tour Money List.[1] Duramed, a pharmaceutical company, became the tour's title sponsor in 2006.
On July 18, 2007, the LPGA announced that it had acquired the FUTURES Tour effective immediately, "bringing women's professional golf now under one umbrella." Previously the FUTURES Tour had operated as a licensee of the LPGA.[2]
[edit] Promotion to LPGA
The five leading money winners at the end of the season earn full membership in the following season's LPGA Tour. Starting with the sixth-ranked player at the end of the season, ten additional Duramed FUTURES Tour players who are not already members of the LPGA, automatically advance into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, bypassing the sectional qualifying tournament. There is no "performance promotion" on the Duramed FUTURES Tour as there is on the Nationwide Tour, in which a player who wins three events in one season is given automatic entry onto the PGA Tour for the rest of the year.
[edit] 2007 Money leaders
These top five money winners at the end of the 2007 season were awarded fully exempt status on the LPGA Tour for the 2008 season:
| Position | Player | Country | 2007 Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emily Bastel |  United States |
$59,779 |
| 2 | Allison Fouch | United States |
$54,476 |
| 3 | Mollie Fankhauser | United States |
$50,128 |
| 4 | Violeta Retamoza |  Mexico |
$49,895 |
| 5 | Seo-Jae Lee |  South Korea |
$48,493 |
[edit] Players
Players come from around the world to compete on the FUTURES Tour. In recent years, a particularly strong contingent of players has come from South Korea.
FUTURES Tour graduates include LPGA tournament winners Laura Davies, Meaghan Francella, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim, Lorena Ochoa, Grace Park, Stacy Prammanasudh, Sherri Steinhauer, and Karrie Webb.
[edit] 2008 Schedule and results
The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number of official money, individual event wins on the FUTURES Tour including that event.
Tournaments in bold are majors
[edit] Historical tour schedules and results
[edit] The Big Break
Many of the contestants on The Golf Channel's The Big Break III: Ladies Only, which aired in the Spring of 2005, played on the FUTURES Tour, including Danielle Amiee, who ended up being the show's overall champion. The other players from the show that played on the Futures Tour were Jan Dowling, Valeria Ochoa, runner-up Pamela Crikelair, and LPGA veteran Cindy Miller. Show co-host Stephanie Sparks played on the FUTURES Tour from 1996 to 1999.
The Big Break V: Hawaii, which aired in the spring of 2006, included six additional FUTURES Tour competitiors: Dana Lacey, Ashley Prange, Kim Lewellen, Kristina Tucker, Becky Lucidi and Jeanne Cho. Prange won the competition; Cho was runner-up.
The Big Break VI: Trump National, broadcast in the fall of 2006, included six more FUTURES Tour players: Rachel Bailey, the individual winner of the 2002 Sunbelt Conference Championship at New Mexico State University; Bridget Dwyer, a member of the 2004 NCAA Women's Golf Championship winning team at UCLA; Ashley Gomes, the 2004 WAC Player of the Year and individual winner of the 2004 WAC Championship while at San Jose State University; Sarah Lynn Johnston, the 2004 Southern Conference Player of the Year and individual winner of the 2004 Southern Conference Championship while at Furman University; Kristy McPherson, a three-time NCAA All-American First Team selection and two-time individual winner of the SEC Championship while at The University of South Carolina; and Briana Vega, who holds North Carolina State University's scoring records for 18-holes (68) and 54-holes (216).
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Life lessons of the Future Tour ESPN.com July 14, 2006
