1. Misun Cho Makes The Most Of Her Sophomore Season
2. Solheim Cup Kicks Off This Week, Kim On U.S. Squad
3. “Last CHAMP Standing” Match-Play Down To Four
4. Shepley Wins Canadian PGA Women’s Championship
5. Virginia Tour Event Still Keeping It ‘Green’ In Golf
6. Alum Courtney Trimble Named Central Florida Head Coach
7. African-American Women Golf Professionals Are Still Few
8. Meldrum Gets First Win On Duramed FUTURES Tour
9. Lisa Meldrum Wins iPod Touch For Sunday’s Low Round
10. Sun Mountain Skills Summit Finals Set For This Week
11. Quote of The Week
1. Misun Cho Makes The Most Of Her Sophomore Season
Second-year Duramed FUTURES Tour member MISUN CHO of Cheongju, South Korea has been one of the Tour’s most steady performers this season. The former Pepperdine University All-American with the Australian accent wasted no time climbing the 2009 money list. She won the Tour’s second tournament back in April in Daytona Beach, Fla., and then added another win last month in Concord, N.H.
Cho has recorded seven top-10 finishes, made every cut, is averaging 71.29 strokes per round and has moved to No. 3 on the Tour’s season money list. With only two tournaments remaining on the season schedule, she also has moved into position to earn one of the 10 LPGA cards awarded for 2010 membership and one of the top-five cards worth full playing status for next year’s LPGA Tour.
Cho, 21, recently sat down with duramedfuturestour.com senior writer Lisa D. Mickey to discuss her season and the progress she has made in her young professional career:
DFT: Were you like so many other South Korean girls who saw the LPGA’s Se Ri Pak on TV and took up golf?
CHO: I did see her on TV in 1998, but I got started just before she got really famous. I was always athletic and I was interested in tae kwon do, gymnastics and dancing. I was very flexible – like a rubber band. My dad introduced me to golf when I was 10 years old. It was a little boring because in Korea, there’s just a driving range and you stand there and hit balls.
DFT: Did you grow up hitting balls on one of those five-story driving ranges found in the big cities?
CHO: Our range was two stories. I grew up on the 11th floor of an apartment building. It’s a totally different environment in a small country with a lot of people. Everywhere you go, it’s a city. Korea is pretty much a country of big cities, little mountains and surrounding rice paddies.
DFT: So was this game love at first swipe?
CHO: I never thought this was going to be my life, but when I was around 13 or 14, I changed to another driving range and somebody told me I had talent. He told me I should consider it seriously, so I started playing tournaments in Korea. I won a big tournament in Korea and that winter, I went to Australia. You can’t play golf in the winter in Korea.
DFT: When did you go to Australia?
CHO: The winter of my sixth-grade year of school. I came back to Korea and started the seventh grade, but two weeks later, I moved to Australia by myself. I stayed with a host family for three years and then my mom came. I lived there for seven years. Now that I think about it, I guess I was a brave little kid to go to another country and start over. It was tough. I didn’t know how to speak English at first, but I went to a language school and then to a proper high school. Because I was the first international Korean, that helped me because there was nobody else to talk to in my language and I had to pick up English fast.
DFT: Did you play golf in school?
CHO: They didn’t have high school teams, but I played for Australia. I won the Australian Junior Championship twice and the Australian Stroke-Play Championship. And then I decided to go to college. I thought it would be a very good step to go to America and to go by playing college golf.
DFT: Did you enjoy college golf?
CHO: I enjoyed it a lot, but college also was tough. For me to write a paper takes a lot longer than most people [because of the language]. It would take me six hours to write a paper. After a while, it caught up to me. I was very competitive about golf and when I didn’t play well, I was really stressed out. I couldn’t work on my game when I had to catch up with academic stuff. Toward the end of my first year, I was pretty certain that I wanted to move on.
DFT: So then you qualified for the Duramed FUTURES Tour and played your first season in 2008. How did that go?
CHO: That’s when I learned that my first year was all about learning. I didn’t break the top 10 my rookie year and people back home wondered, “What’s wrong with her?” Even my parents wondered.
DFT: Your 2009 season has been completely different than your rookie year in 2008. What did you do to improve so dramatically?
CHO: Toward the end of 2008, I really felt that I needed to step up my game. I didn’t have a coach in America, so I started working with Phil Ritson in Orlando. I knew he had taught SARAH-JANE (KENYON) SMITH and I really liked Sarah-Jane’s golf swing. We started working hard. I was working on my game, my fitness and strength. By the time I played our second tournament this year, everything just kind of fell into place.
DFT: Did you have any idea you would win that second tournament of the season?
CHO: Well, last year, I didn’t have the belief that I could win. This year, I slipped back into that confidence. In the final round of the second tournament, I felt really relaxed. I didn’t know how many strokes ahead I was until the 15th hole, and then it was like, “Oh my God, I’m four strokes ahead!” I started believing that yeah, I belong here. It was my goal to win one of our two events in Florida.
DFT: And then you won again in Concord, N.H. Did you see that one coming?
CHO: My teacher Phil came up for that tournament and he said, “You really have to win this one.” I’d had three top-five finishes right before I won in New Hampshire. I knew if I kept knocking on the door, sooner or later it had to open. I’m not the same player I was last year. Now, when I get a little anxious, I know what to do with myself. I know where I’m going and what I want to do. Last year, I was a little lost.
DFT: So, what exactly did you change?
CHO: I started managing myself and the way I practiced better. Last year, I practiced a lot and I wore myself out before the tournament even started. Now, I know when I’m tired, it won’t hurt to take the day off. As long as you know where you’re going on the golf course, that’s all that matters. I know what I need to work on.
DFT: This year, you played in the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. How was that experience?
CHO: It was great and now I’m not as nervous about going to the LPGA next year. I’m looking forward to it. I played a practice round with BIRDIE KIM. She was from my hometown and she was our national champion. I remember her as a little girl. She also played on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and we talked about it. She told me to just hang in there. But other than her, I didn’t really know the Korean players, so it was kind of awkward. I’m Korean, but I played most of my amateur golf in Australia. They don’t know me and I don’t know them.
DFT: What have you learned on the Duramed FUTURES Tour?
CHO: That every shot matters in professional golf. This tour makes you become a fighter. You try to get top-five and top-10 finishes every week. If you’re just one shot out of the top 10, it can be the difference of several hundred dollars. Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in watching the money list rather than telling yourself to go out there and play your game.
DFT: The season is winding down and you are only two tournaments away from potentially earning LPGA Tour membership for 2010. Are you ready?
CHO: Yes, and I’m glad I have gained 15 yards since last year. I’m also glad that we finish in early September. That gives me more time to prepare, to continue my strengthening work and to be the best that I can be when the new year begins.
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2. Solheim Cup Kicks Off This Week, Kim On U.S. Squad
Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna CHRISTINA KIM of California returns to the U.S. Solheim Cup Team this week for the 2009 biennial matches between top players from Europe and the United States. Kim was a member of the 2005 U.S. team, narrowly missing membership on the 2007 squad. The two-time LPGA winner posted a 2-1-1 overall record in her only Solheim Cup appearance and hopes to improve on her record this week.
Six members of this year’s U.S. and European Solheim Cup teams are alumnae of the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Alums making the U.S. squad are: CRISTIE KERR of Florida; ANGELA STANFORD of Texas; KRISTY MCPHERSON of South Carolina; NICOLE CASTRALE of California; and CHRISTINA KIM of California. Returning to the European Team, on which she has been a member since 1990, is Tour alumna LAURA DAVIES of Great Britain.
The Solheim Cup will be hosted by Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Match-play team competition will be held on Friday and Saturday, followed by singles match-play events on Sunday. For more information, visit www.SolheimCup.com.
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3. “Last CHAMP Standing” Match-Play Down To Four
The field started with 16 players and is now down to four in this year’s second annual “Last CHAMP Standing” contest, sponsored by CHAMP spikes. The match-play competition brings together qualified Duramed FUTURES Tour contestants for an annual bonus-bucks contest.
Professionals in last week’s round of “Great-8 CHAMPions” have now moved into the semifinal round of 18-hole, head-to-head matches, which will be held at 8:10 a.m. Tuesday at The Golf Club at Felicita prior to the Turkey Hill Classic in Harrisburg, Pa. The last two players remaining in the contest will compete in the championship during the week of the ILOVENY Championship in Albany, N.Y.
The following Duramed FUTURES Tour players have advanced into the second stage of matches for the “Last CHAMP Standing” competition: ELISA SERRAMIA of Barcelona, Spain def. SAMANTHA RICHDALE of Kelowna, British Columbia 1-up (12 holes); JANELL HOWLAND of Boise, Idaho def. GARRETT PHILLIPS of St. Simons Island, Ga., 1-up; ALISON WALSHE of Westford, Mass., def. LISA FERRERO of Lodi, Calif., 3 and 2; and SOFIE ANDERSSON of Angelholm, Sweden def. SOPHIA SHERIDAN of Guadalajara, Mexico, 1-up.
Matches scheduled for this Tuesday will be: Serramia vs. Howland, and Walshe vs. Andersson. And in true Solheim Cup spirit, the contestants just happen to be two Europeans facing two Americans.
The event is open only to players who have worn CHAMP spikes during official tournament rounds. Eligible players earned performance-based qualifying points in prior Tour events, with 16 players and ties seeded for the contest.
CHAMP Spikes will award the winner of the final match-play event a prize of $2,500, while the runner-up will collect $500. CHAMP Spikes is an official sponsor of the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
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4. Shepley Wins Canadian PGA Women’s Championship
Duramed FUTURES Tour member JESSICA SHEPLEY of Oakville, Ontario won her first professional title at home in Canada last week when she claimed the 2009 Canadian PGA Women’s Championship at Dundas Golf and Curling Club in Dundas, Ontario. Shepley carded rounds of 66-69 to finish at 135 (-9). For winning the national title, Shepley also earned an exemption into the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open.
5. Virginia Tour Event Still Keeping It ‘Green’ In Golf
Last week’s 15th Duramed FUTURES Tour event once again attempted to bring a more earth-friendly approach to tournament golf. The 2009 iMPACT Classic continued the initiatives that were started last year. For example, the on-course recycling bins returned to the fairways of Richmond Country Club, compliments of Dominion Virginia Power and Habitat For Humanity.
“It’s been great because everybody’s working together,” said Matthew Schulze, PGA professional at Richmond Country Club. “All of the aluminum cans collected this week will be used to raise money to help build houses for Habitat For Humanity.”
Schulze said he was impressed by the willingness of the Tour’s professionals to embrace the tournament and course initiatives for a “greener” world.
“Players are pushing for this because they understand it,” he said. “I hope the amateurs who played in the pro-am will take a little of this away with them because these young professionals are the generation we are leaving the world to.”
Schulze said the course’s maintenance crew has continued to use more self-sustaining practices on the course, including the use of reclaimed water for irrigation. When trees come down, benches are made of the wood and all branches are chipped and reused for mulching on the course.
In addition, tournament tickets were printed on recycled paper and all of the Ahead-brand golf shirts worn by tournament volunteers were made of organic cotton. Schulze is also stocks Ahead organic apparel in his pro shop.
Prior to the start of tournament play, title sponsor, iMPACT Ventures, LLC, hosted the 2009 Green Building Summit in Richmond, where Virginia-based building managers, supervisors, energy industry experts and academicians gathered for a forum at a nearby hotel. Their objective was to discuss how their respective corporations and businesses could reduce the carbon footprint and increase energy efficiency, as well as to share information.
“It all starts with awareness,” said Bobby Christian, CEO of iMPACT Ventures. “So often, the problem is companies are interested in being kinder to the environment and cutting down on their energy consumption, but they don’t know how to do it. We brought together an action forum to not only bring about awareness, but to present the problems, the solutions and to share some results.”
One company representative at the forum from Tridium, Inc., discussed technology used to link all systems of a building together to make it energy efficient, integrating such things as lighting, heat and air conditioning, security, and fire and safety functions. Attendees at the forum learned that commercial buildings are the largest single consumer of energy in North America, consuming two-thirds of the nation’s power supply and emitting 40 percent of our greenhouse gasses.
So, while Richmond Country Club and the Duramed FUTURES Tour were teaming up on a smaller scale to make a difference at a sporting event, tournament title sponsor iMPACT Ventures and Bobby Christian were bringing together representatives of Virginia industries to make a difference on a state level. What started out as simple plans for a golf tournament turned into action that could potentially benefit others beyond golf, beyond Richmond and even beyond the state of Virginia.
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6. Alum Courtney Trimble Named Central Florida Head Coach
Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna COURTNEY SWAIM TRIMBLE was named as the new head coach of the University of Central Florida’s women’s golf team last week. She has spent the past 3 ½ years as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Auburn University, where she played collegiately and earned All-America and two-time All-SEC honors.
Trimble also was a member of the winning 2002 U.S. Curtis Cup Team. As a professional, she competed for more than two years in 37 tournaments on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, posting four top-five finishes.
As assistant coach at Auburn, Trimble helped guide the Tigers to a No. 8 national ranking this year. Auburn also won the 2006 and 2009 SEC Championships, four NCAA East Regional berths and three appearances at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.
“I am grateful to have this opportunity and I look forward to getting started,” said Trimble.
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7. African-American Women Golf Professionals Are Still Few
It has been eight years since an African-American was a member of the LPGA Tour. LAREE SUGG, a Virginia native and 1998 Duramed FUTURES Tour winner, was the last woman of color to walk the LPGA’s fairways. And even then, Sugg was only the third African-American woman in the tour’s history.
First came former tennis champion Althea Gibson in the 1960s, followed by Renee Powell (from 1967-1980), and then Sugg, who played on the LPGA Tour in 1995 and 1996, lost her card, and then returned to the LPGA in 2000 and 2001 before leaving tournament golf to go into athletic administration at the University of Richmond.
There still are no LPGA members who are African-American – a sore fact that serves both as a regular reminder and lofty goal for at least two African-American members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Miami’s PAULA PEARSON-TUCKER plays as often as she can get into tournament fields on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, based on her eligible playing status. Ditto for ALICE BROWN of Tampa, Fla., a 45-year-old full-time hair stylist who turned professional golfer last December. Brown and Pearson both played last week’s tournament, making them the only women of color playing on an American LPGA-affiliated professional tour.
But while both women want to be competitive as professionals, they also recognize the importance of their presence in tournament fields. Their hope is that young girls who come to Duramed FUTURES Tour tournaments will be able to watch players compete and see individuals who look just like them.
“Diversity is good and I think it’s a positive thing for children to see,” said Brown, who also happens to be Pearson-Tucker’s hair stylist. “When I was a child, it was pretty rough, but it’s changing.”
Brown didn’t start playing golf until age 35. Her husband was in the U.S. Army and they were based in Hawaii. He took up the game there and convinced his wife to give it a try. A former softball league player, Alice tried golf, liked it, took lessons and began improving. Last year as an amateur, she won the club championship at Tampa’s McDill Air Force Base.
“That taught me to win,” she said. “And it made me want to do it out here [on the Duramed FUTURES Tour].”
But Brown knows that before she can win, she must find sponsors who can help her work toward her goal. With sponsorship, players can afford to practice and compete in tournaments, and with financial assistance to hone her game, she also could return to the Tour’s annual qualifying tournament to improve her playing status (based on her finish in the annual tournament). Improving her playing status would enable her to get into more tournaments during the season.
Brown currently rises each day, practices from 5-9 a.m., and then goes to the hair salon and works for up to 12 hours. If there is any time left at the end of the day, she often returns to the practice area. Because her status is low on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, which places her on tournament alternate lists early in the season, she plays on several Florida mini-tours and hustles to Duramed FUTURES Tour events whenever she can get in.
When asked if she thinks young African-Americans will become more attracted to golf, Brown believes they will, largely thanks to PGA star Tiger Woods, who is half African-American.
But will it change soon? And how long will it be before the next African-American woman is a weekly contestant and regular contender on either the Duramed FUTURES Tour or LPGA Tour?
“There are a lot of African-American golfers out there,” said Brown. “They’re coming. It’s just a matter of when.”
8. Meldrum Gets First Win On Duramed FUTURES Tour
LISA MELDRUM of Montreal, Quebec, became the third Canadian to win on the 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour last week when she captured her first Tour title at the $100,000 iMPACT Classic in Richmond, Va.
She not only grabbed her first professional title Stateside, but she broke free from a crowded leaderboard and posted a final-round score of 5-under 67 to finish at 208 (-8) at Richmond Country Club.
Tied for second at 209 (-7) was the trio of GERINA MENDOZA (68) of Roswell, N.M., SONG YI CHOI (69) of Seoul, South Korea, and PERNILLA LINDBERG (73) of Bollnas, Sweden.
“It feels unbelievable,” said Meldrum, 27, a fourth-year professional, who jumped from 45th to 15th on the Tour’s season money list. “I expected to be in a playoff and I was preparing for that.”
In the final round alone, there were eight lead changes by early afternoon last Sunday with as many as five players crowded at the top of the leaderboard and that many more right behind, one shot back.
“It was tight all day,” said Lindberg, who moved to No. 10 on the Tour’s 2009 money list with two tournaments to play. “It’s a little bit disappointing, but I’m pleased with the whole tournament. You always want to win, but this was another great experience.”
“I knew that I had it in me and I kept telling myself that I just had to be patient and stay determined,” said Meldrum, a three-time Canadian National Amateur champion who became a three-time collegiate winner at the University of Oklahoma. “I knew it was going to be my turn at some point.”
Meldrum joins fellow Canadians SAMANTHA RICHDALE of Kelowna, British Columbia and ANGELA BUZMINSKI of Oshawa, Ontario, as 2009 tournament winners on the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
Players ranked Nos. 1 through 6 remained unchanged on the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s current money list with the following maintaining their positions: 1. MINA HARIGAE of Monterey, Calif., $76,762; 2. JEAN REYNOLDS of Newnan, Ga., $67,696; 3. MISUN CHO of Cheongju, South Korea, $63,137; 4. WHITNEY WADE of Glasgow, Ky., $39,868; 5. SAMANTHA RICHDALE of Kelowna, British Columbia, 38,991; and 6. ANGELA BUZMINSKI of Oshawa, Ontario, $34,923.
Rounding out the top 10 positions are: 7.CHRISTINE SONG of Fullerton, Calif.; 8. ALISON WALSHE of Westford, Mass.; 9. DEWI CLAIRE SCHREEFEL of Diepenveen, Netherlands; and 10. PERNILLA LINDBERG of Bollnas, Sweden, who jumped from 17th to 10th with her tie for second last week.
Making big moves within the top 50 last week were: GERINA MENDOZA of Roswell, N.M., who improved from 21st to No. 14; last week’s winner LISA MELDRUM of Montreal, Quebec, who jumped from 45th to 15th; KIM WELCH of Sacramento, Calif., moving from 32nd to 26th; and JENNIE LEE of Henderson, Nev., improving from 57th to 48th.
This week, the Duramed FUTURES Tour travels to Harrisburg, Pa., for the Turkey Hill Classic (Aug. 21-23) at The Golf Club at Felicita. Only one tournament remains in the regular season after this week. The season-ending ILOVENY Championship is set for Sept. 4-6) in Albany, N.Y.
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9. Lisa Meldrum Wins iPod Touch For Sunday’s Low Round
LISA MELDRUM of Montreal, Quebec was the recipient of a new 8 GB Apple iPod Touch to continue Duramed’s season-long promotion of the Sunday Low Round Award with her final-round score of 67 (-5). The fourth-year professional moved up the leaderboard from a tie for ninth to win the tournament with her total score of 208 (-8) at Richmond Country Club in Richmond, Va. Her bogey-free round featured five birdies.
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10. Sun Mountain Skills Summit Finals Set For This Week
Last week, members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour competed in a “Big Break-style” set of skills challenges in the Sun Mountain Skills Summit contest. Held at Richmond Country Club in Richmond, Va., qualifying players competed in four different skills competitions for points to advance in the bonus-bucks event sponsored by Sun Mountain.
Players executed a 75-yard shot, a chip shot, a bunker shot and an over-the-wall shot for points. A total of 20 players were pared down to 10 players, and then those players competed in a putting challenge to determine four contestants in the Final-4 Skills Summit, set for this Wednesday in Harrisburg, Pa. The winner of the championship will earn $1,000.
Advancing into the Final-4 Skills Summit are ASHLEY KNOLL of The Woodlands, Texas; SEO-JAE LEE of Seoul, South Korea; LISA FERRERO of Lodi, Calif.; and JANELL HOWLAND of Boise, Idaho. That event will be a skills challenge and team event. In the putting challenge, Howland earned 23 points, followed by Ferrero with 20 points, Lee with 10 points and Knoll with five points.
“I went for two 15-foot putts and made them,” said Ferrero. “You know, go big, or go home.”
Players have qualified for the Sun Mountain Skills Summit by wearing Sun Mountain outerwear or using a Sun Mountain golf bag. Points are awarded for each round played using the company’s products, with bonus points awarded for finishing in the top 10 in each official tournament from the season-opening event in Winter Haven, Fla., to the tournament in London, Ky.
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11. Quote Of The Week
“I think my country would shoot me if I ever played for the U.S. Team at the Solheim Cup, but I might bite the bullet for that chance.”
-Duramed FUTURES Tour member LILI ALVAREZ of Durango, Mexico, who was actually born in El Paso, Texas.
Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 386-274-6216, or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.
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