Five Former FUTURES Alums in This Week's Handa Cup

By Lisa D. Mickey

Five alumnae from the Duramed FUTURES Tour will be among those players who will face off this weekend in the inaugural Handa Cup. The event will bring together women professionals age 45 and older to compete Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 16-17) at the World Golf Hall of Fame's Slammer and Squire Course in St. Augustine, Fla.

Players who launched their LPGA Tour careers during the early-year Tampa Bay Mini-Tour and FUTURES Golf Tour are Jane Geddes, Rosie Jones, Marilyn Lovander and Cindy (Flom) Rarick -- all playing on the U.S. Team in this week's Handa Cup. Canadian Dawn Coe-Jones will play on the World Team in the event, which is an official competition of the Legends Tour, the LPGA's official tour for women professionals age 45-older.

A FUTURES Tour member from 1984 through 1999, Lovander was a 10-time winner and is still the Duramed FUTURES Tour's career money leader with earnings of $204,219. She continued to play on the FUTURES as an LPGA non-exempt member in 1992, 1993, 1998 and 1999, before earning her fully exempt LPGA Tour status in 2000 by finishing second on the 1999 FUTURES Tour money list. A native of Minnesota, Lovander has also won on the Legends Tour, capturing the 2003 Hy-Vee Classic in Iowa. She is a current member of the LPGA Tour.

Geddes is an 11-time winner on the LPGA Tour, including her win at the 1986 U.S. Women's Open. She was a member of the 1996 U.S. Solheim Cup team and served as the assistant U.S. team captain in 2002 and 2003. The native of New York currently is the LPGA's senior director of tournament business affairs.

Jones is making her debut on the Legends Tour. Now age-eligible to join the LPGA's so-called "senior tour," Jones is a 13-time LPGA Tour winner and was a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team in 1990, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Cindy Rarick, who played on the FUTURES Tour as Cindy Flom, owns five LPGA Tour wins. She was the co-champion of the 2005 BJ's Charity Championship with LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley.

Still an active member on the LPGA Tour, Coe-Jones will be another newcomer to the Legends Tour and will serve as an anchor player for the World Team. The Canadian owns three LPGA Tour victories and is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

The Handa Cup field will be comprised of 12 professionals from the U.S., and 12 from an all-international team. The format will kick off with a one-day pro-am on Friday, Dec. 15, followed by two days of team match play between the two sides.

Captain of the U.S. Team will be LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Kathy Whitworth, who will guide a squad of LPGA All-Stars including fellow Hall of Fame members Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley, JoAnne Carner, Sandra Haynie, Nancy Lopez and Patty Sheehan.

Captain of the World Team will be World Golf Hall of Fame member Hisako "Chako" Higuchi, the first Japanese woman to compete on the LPGA Tour. Winner of the 1977 LPGA Championship, Higuchi will captain a squad of international players including Jan Stephenson of Australia, Sally Little of South Africa, Alicia Dibos of Peru, Anne-Marie Palli of France, Barb Bunkowsky Sherbak of Canada and Scotland's Cathy Panton-Lewis, winner of 14 Ladies European Tour (LET) winner.

Single day grounds passes ($10) will be available for purchase on-site at the entrance to the Handa Cup tournament, behind the World Golf Hall of Fame. Members of the LPGA Tour and Duramed FUTURES Tour will be admitted free by showing ID or Tour money clips. A grounds pass will be needed for access into the tournament on Saturday, Dec. 16, and Sunday, Dec. 17. No refunds, no rain checks.

For more information, visit www.lpga.com and www.thelegendstour.com.