Duramed FUTURES Tour Members Compete In
This Week's LPGA Q-School

LAKELAND, Fla., November 28, 2006 -- Sixty-seven members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour have advanced into this week's LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. A final field of 138 professionals will compete in the 90-hole qualifying event for status on the 2007 LPGA Tour. The tournament will be held Wednesday, November 29 through Sunday, December 3.

"I'm just anxious to get going and it's nice that Q-School is finally here," said Ashley Prange of Noblesville, Ind., a two-time winner this year who finished seventh on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour money list. "There were no tournaments in November, so I'm ready to go now."

The tournament field will begin play Wednesday on both the Legends Course and Champions Course at LPGA International. The first 72 holes will be played on both courses, with the final round to be staged at the Legends Course. A tournament cut will be made after 72 holes to the low 70 players and ties. This year's field will compete for 15 exempt LPGA Tour cards -- down from 24 exempt cards offered last year. In addition, the next 35 players and ties will earn conditional (non-exempt) status for the 2007 season -- the same as offered last season.

"I'm definitely excited to compete because it has been so long since we've played," said Allison Fouch of Grand Rapids, Mich., who just missed earning one of the five exempt LPGA Tour cards awarded to the top five money winners on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour. Fouch finished sixth on this year's money list.

And while Fouch finished as runner-up twice this season, just short of earning her first professional win, the 2006 LPGA non-exempt member posted seven top-10 finishes in 18 events to give her a healthy dose of confidence going into the LPGA's annual stress-fest. She also tied for 31st at the LPGA's Corona Morelia Championship in Mexico.

"I'm just looking at it like any other tournament and it's great to finally be here in a tournament atmosphere," added Fouch, who has played three seasons on the Duramed FUTURES Tour following her collegiate career at Michigan State University. "I always felt like an underdog, but this year, I proved to myself that I'm ready to compete at the next level."

Finishing seventh on the Tour's 2006 money list, Prange compiled six top-10 finishes that included wins in Tampa and Hammond, Ind. The winner of The Golf Channel's Big Break V: Hawaii TV show said she has spent the weeks since the end of the Duramed FUTURES Tour season working on her game in Florida and playing in two mini-tour events held on LPGA International's Legends and Champions courses.

"I got in three competitive rounds on each of the courses during October, and both courses agree with my game," said Prange, who finished fourth in the first Daytona mini-tour event and third in the second.

Prange missed the cut in her first attempt to qualify at last year's LPGA Final Q-School, calling herself "a deer in headlights" at her inaugural visit to LPGA International.

"I freaked out last year, but I think you have to learn how to win and how to deal with pressure," added Prange, who earned an LPGA Tour exemption to the Safeway Classic by winning the Big Break reality golf show. "I learned a whole lot about myself this year by winning on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, by winning the Big Break and by playing in my first LPGA Tour event. I've always been a firm believer in stepping stones and I think I'm finally ready for the LPGA."

In addition to the top 30 finishers and ties from each of the LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournaments in California and Florida earlier this fall, as well as current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their 2007 playing status, the field is rounded out by the next 10 top-ranked members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour who finished behind the top five 2006 money winners. The top five players on the Tour's money list automatically earned 2007 exempt LPGA Tour status.

Twenty members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour ranked No. 6 through No. 30 also have advanced into this week's LPGA Q-School Finals, including Samantha Head of Bedford, England, who was co-medalist of last week's Final Qualifying for the Ladies European Tour. Prange, Hye Jung Choi of Seoul, Korea, Mollie Fankhauser of Columbus, Ohio, Ji Min Jeong of Kyungki, Korea, Ashley Hoagland of Palmetto, Fla., Ha-Na Chae of Seoul, Korea and Salimah Mussani of Burlington, Ontario, all are 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour season winners in this week's LPGA Qualifying Tournament.

Statistically, from 2003 to 2005, 55 percent (41 of 75) of all Duramed FUTURES Tour members who finished in the top 25 of the Tour's money list earned LPGA Tour status. Of the season money winners finishing in the top 15 during that time period, 73 percent (33 of 45) earned LPGA Tour status, while 87 percent (26 of 30) finishing in the top 10 gained LPGA playing privileges. Of those FUTURES players finishing among the top seven money winners, 90 percent (19 out of 21) earned fully exempt LPGA Tour status.

"I look at it this way," said Prange, who played the Duramed FUTURES Tour for two seasons following her collegiate career at the University of North Carolina. "I'm coming off a good year and the players here this week from the LPGA Tour are coming off a tough year. This 90-hole tournament is going to be a battle of who can hang in there the longest because it's a mental grind more than anything."

"It's all about five days," added Fouch, who played in four LPGA Tour events in 2006 as a non-exempt LPGA Tour member. "I've been here in Florida playing every day for the last three months. I'm just going to go out there and play one shot at a time like I always do."

Among the headliners in this week's field will be: Duramed FUTURES Tour member and 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Becky Lucidi of Poway, Calif.; 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Jane Park, 2005 European Solheim Cup member Gwladys Nocera and former LPGA Tour winner Charlotta Sorenstam.

Amateur In-Kyung Kim of Seoul, Korea, who won the Duramed FUTURES Tour's annual qualifying tournament earlier this month, also will be in the field, as will the tournament's runner-up, 2006 U.S. Curtis Cup member Paige Mackenzie of Yakima, Wash.

And while this week's golf marathon is one of the toughest and most-dreaded tournaments all season for contestants hoping to earn or retain LPGA Tour status, some see it as the opportunity for a second chance on the 2007 LPGA Tour.

"I've got that picture of the Duramed FUTURES Tour's top-five players who won their LPGA cards in my head," admitted Prange. "Whenever I don't want to practice, I just think about that photo to remind me of where I want to be."

Daily tee times will run from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., starting on Wednesday, with groups of three playing in 11-minute intervals off the first and 10th tees at both the Legends and Champions course. Sunday's final round will be held at the Legends Course only.

For daily results and pairings, visit www.LPGA.com. The last two rounds of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament will be covered on www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.