FUTURES Tour

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.

History

The Futures Tour was founded in Florida in 1981 as the "Tampa Bay Mini Tour", officially became the FUTURES Golf Tour in 1983 cite web
title = Silver Anniversary Salute: FUTURES Tour Prepares For Next 25 Years
publisher = Duramed Futures Tour
author = Lisa D. Mickey
url = http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/News/SilverAnniversarySalute.html
accessdate = 2007-04-26] 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. 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. cite web
title = LPGA acquires Duramed FUTURES Tour
publisher = LPGA.com
author =
date = 2007-07-18
url = http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=11839&mid=4
accessdate = 2007-07-19]

Promotion to LPGA

1999-2007

From 1999 through 2007 the top five leading money winners at the end of each season earned 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 advanced into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, bypassing the sectional qualifying tournament.

2008-present

Beginning in 2008 the process for promotion to the LPGA Tour was changed. The top ten leading money winners at the end of the season gained membership on the LPGA Tour for the next season, with those finishing in the top five positions gaining higher priority for entry into events than those finishing in positions six through ten. Finishers in positions sixth through ten still have the option to attend LPGA Qualifying School to try to improve their membership for the following season. cite web
title = LPGA Tour Cards Award to Duramed Futures Tour Top 10
publisher = LPGA
author =
url = http://www.lpga.com/content_1.aspx?pid=17028&mid=4
accessdate = 2008-08-25]

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:

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.

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

Historical tour schedules and results

*2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour
*2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour

"The Big Break"

Many of the contestants on The Golf Channel's "", 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.

"", 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.

"", 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).

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/ Official site]
* [http://gamedaypr.com/podcasts.html Official Duramed Championship Podcasts from Game Day Communications]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/columns/story?columnist=sobel_jason&id=2518354 Life lessons of the Future Tour] ESPN.com July 14, 2006