Second LPGA Sectional Staged This Week

LAKELAND, Fla., Oct. 2, 2006 -- The second stage of LPGA Sectional Qualifying begins this week for a field of 140 players, including 66 who were members of the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour.

Staged Tuesday through Friday (Oct. 3-6) at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla., the tournament will be contested over 72 holes. The four-round sectional tournament will be played on the Bobcat and Panther courses.

Just as it was in the LPGA's first sectional qualifying tournament in California two weeks ago, the field will be cut to the low 70 players and ties after 36 holes, with the top 30 players and ties advancing into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. At the California sectional tournament, 18 Duramed FUTURES Tour members were among the 32 players who advanced into the LPGA's Q-School Finals next month.

Leading the way this week in Venice will be former Duramed FUTURES Tour tournament winners: Kim Adams (2004) of Tide Head, New Brunswick; Cristina Baena (2005) of Pereira, Colombia; Stephanie George (2003, 2005) of Myerstown, Pa.; and Cortney Reno (2005) of Grosse Ile, Mich. Baena hopes to join her sister Marisa Baena on the LPGA Tour next season.

In addition, two former LPGA Tour members who have won on the Duramed FUTURES Tour also will be in the field. Kellee Booth of McKinney, Texas, won the 1999 Pacific Bell FUTURES Classic as an amateur and went on to become a member of the LPGA Tour from 2000-2003. Angela Buzminski of Oshawa, Ontario, who won four times on the FUTURES Tour from 2000-2001, earned 2002 LPGA Tour status after finishing in the top three on the 2001 FUTURES Tour money list. Both players hope to move into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament field for a chance to return to the LPGA Tour in 2007.

For daily results of this week's Florida sectional tournament, visit LPGA.com. The final-round story and results will be posted here on Friday at www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, at 863-709-9100, Ext. 2 or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.