Duramed Futures Tour Q School

They opened play today on four courses in Central Florida, a bloated field of 292 but when applications opened they thought it might be as high as 416. Each player will play one round on the four courses, followed by a 72 hole cut and then a final round with everyone on the same course on Friday. It's not specified at this link but I believe I've read that it takes Top 90 to earn status.

http://www.duramedfuturestour.com/NewsRoom...e-10-30-09.html

I don't recognize as many names at typical. Tiffany Joh opened with 5 under par 67 to share the lead. She has an excellent amateur and collegiate resume, and is basically using this event as a fall back in case she does not advance at LPGA Q School finals in December.

There are a few Big Break alumnae. Susan Choi (Ka'anapali) and Camila Mori (Michigan) opened with very good rounds of 70, 2 under par for T13. Amber Prange (Michigan) posted 73.

Charlotte Campbell, winner of Highway 18 along wth her brother Rob, announced plans to play in this event on her blog a couple of months ago, but I didn't see her name today, in the scores or on the player roster. She has some status for 2010 but is not fully exempt.

The website only provides scores at the end of each round, not live scoring. And already eight women have shot 87 or higher, which is the knockout number, meaning you are booted from the event and can't have status for 2010:

http://duramedfuturesrealtime.com/2009/QualifierRealTime.asp

Awsi...

You and I are probably the only ones who follow the LPGA to the level of the Futures Tour Q school so thanks for initiating the thread. It's interesting that they are required to take a cart. I doubt that many of them actually play that way leading up to the event. Cheering for Cami from BB Michigan. Not a long hitter but thought she had a great swing and was also easy on the eyes.

I was disappointed that the LPGA didn't name you and me co-commissioners. We could have turned it around post haste!

Thanks again...

[quote name='DavePelz4' post='2045527' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:09 AM']Awsi...

You and I are probably the only ones who follow the LPGA to the level of the Futures Tour Q school[/quote]

You can add my name to that list.

P.S. "Duramed Song" by Tiffany Joh:
[url="http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song"]http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song[/url]

[quote name='Harry Longshanks' post='2045561' date='Nov 4 2009, 03:26 PM'][quote name='DavePelz4' post='2045527' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:09 AM']Awsi...

You and I are probably the only ones who follow the LPGA to the level of the Futures Tour Q school[/quote]

You can add my name to that list.

P.S. "Duramed Song" by Tiffany Joh:
[url="http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song"]http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song[/url]
[/quote]


HL...

Glad to have you aboard! Great song too. If Tiffany doesn't make it on tour, she could be the female James Taylor.

[quote name='Harry Longshanks' post='2045561' date='Nov 4 2009, 01:26 PM'][quote name='DavePelz4' post='2045527' date='Nov 4 2009, 11:09 AM']Awsi...

You and I are probably the only ones who follow the LPGA to the level of the Futures Tour Q school[/quote]

You can add my name to that list.

P.S. "Duramed Song" by Tiffany Joh:
[url="http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song"]http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song[/url]
[/quote]


Me too.

[quote name='DavePelz4' post='2045527' date='Nov 4 2009, 02:09 PM']Awsi...

You and I are probably the only ones who follow the LPGA to the level of the Futures Tour Q school so thanks for initiating the thread. It's interesting that they are required to take a cart. I doubt that many of them actually play that way leading up to the event. Cheering for Cami from BB Michigan. Not a long hitter but thought she had a great swing and was also easy on the eyes.

[b]I was disappointed that the LPGA didn't name you and me co-commissioners. We could have turned it around post haste![/b]

Thanks again...[/quote]



DavePelz4, thanks for the compliment and a good laugh. I think I'd be relying on you while I scouted the embezzlement loopholes.

Just kiddin'. Actually I've wondered what the heck my strategy would be, other than bumping the number of events in the United States even if it meant lower purses. I'd definitely fund the Futures Tour and allow more LPGA cards, to make it a better option for young players, instead of wing and a prayer at Q School.

***

Camila is my number one rooting interest in this event also. I've noticed she doesn't make too many mistakes, keeping the percentage of over-par holes lower than typical for a player on that level. That's a good sign. I think she'll slowly make more birdies once she gets fully exempt. Her scoring average went down 1.7 strokes this season.

***

Every day 7 or 8 players shoot 87 or higher to get the boot. I'm not sure that's a great rule. Some of them are not necessarily at the bottom of the standings. For example, one woman has shot 84-86-83 but is allowed to play tomorrow at 253, while another player followed 75 and 77 with 87 today so she is sent home at 239.

Follower of the LPGA as well.

Even get the e mail updates from the Futures tour!

I'm a follower too. I love the Duramed event that comes here to the Hartford area every year.

Here's the update for today...our songstress/budding pro Tiffany moved back into a tie for the top spot and with a solid round -1 round, Cami moved into 20th spot...

1 Tiffany Joh (San Diego, Calif.) 67-69-72-67 - 275
Danielle Mills (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) 67-71-69-68 - 275

3 Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) 71-74-66-70 - 281
Laura Kueny (a) (Whitehall, Mich.) 68-70-70-73 - 281

5 Jodi Ewart (a) (England) 69-73-73-67 - 282
Laura Bavaird (Grosse Ile, Mich.) 71-69-71-71 - 282

7 Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.) 69-70-73-71 - 283

8 Nannette Hill (Pelham, N.Y.) 72-70-72-71 - 285

9 Kitty Hwang (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 70-72-71-73 - 286
Jane Rah (a) (Torrance, Calif.) 74-70-71-71 - 286

11 Valentine Derrey (a) (Neuilly Sur Seine, Fran 74-71-70-72 - 287
Rebecca Flood (a) (Coonabarabran, Australia) 69-72-70-76 - 287
Dori Carter (a) (Valdosta, Ga.) 73-72-73-69 - 287
Jenny Lee (Simi Valley, Calif.) 74-71-69-73 - 287

15 Lucy Nunn (Lawton, Okla.) 71-71-73-73 - 288
Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.) 71-73-69-75 - 288
Sarah Brown (a) (Lopatcong, N.J.) 71-71-75-71 - 288
Chelsea Curtis (New Seabury, Mass.) 68-71-70-79 - 288
Leanne Bowditch (a) (Queensland, Australia) 73-67-74-74 - 288

20 Camila Mori (Santiago, Chile) 70-74-74-71 - 289

21 Kristina Langton (Ada, Mich.) 70-72-72-76 - 290
Tara Goedeken (Dodge City, Kan.) 77-68-70-75 - 290
Amanda Costner (Claremore, Okla.) 69-69-82-70 - 290

24 Plai Kongkraphan (Chiangmai, Thailand) 70-75-74-72 - 291
Miriam Nagl (Berlin, Germany) 76-73-70-72 - 291
Devan Andersen (Guadalajara, Mexico) 71-77-69-74 - 291
Erica Moston (Belmont, Calif.) 71-76-69-75 - 291

28 Lauren Hunt (Little River, S.C.) 76-71-73-72 - 292
Seul Ki Park (Northbrook, Ill.) 69-74-75-74 - 292
Inhong Lim (a) (Seoul, South Korea) 76-72-73-71 - 292
Nicole Smith (Riverside, Calif.) 73-73-71-75 - 292
Marina Choi (Los Angeles, Calif.) 71-75-74-72 - 292

33 Kay Hoey (a) (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) 73-72-73-75 - 293
Mariajo Uribe (Bucaramanga, Colombia) 71-76-68-78 - 293
Chelsea Schriewer (a) (St. Louis, Mo.) 72-73-76-72 - 293
Julia Potter (a) (Granger, Ind.) 75-74-72-72 - 293
Taryn Durham (Glasgow, Ky.) 69-75-73-76 - 293
Dabin Shin (South Korea) 70-75-74-74 - 293
Kendra Hanson (Forest City, Iowa) 73-71-70-79 - 293
Jenny Shin (a) (Torrance, Calif.) 74-72-73-74 - 293

41 Natasha Krishna (a) (Auckland, New Zealand) 74-72-72-76 - 294
Mayule Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) 74-75-77-68 - 294
Caroline Westrup (Ahus, Sweden) 75-73-72-74 - 294
Jaclyn Burch (St. Louis, Mo.) 70-78-72-74 - 294
Rachel Connor (a) (Manchester, England) 73-72-69-80 - 294

46 Kristin Ingram (a) (Pasadena, Calif.) 71-76-75-73 - 295
Bree Arthur (a) (Brisbane, Australia) 70-74-73-78 - 295
Ashley Medders (Alma, Ga.) 78-71-72-74 - 295
Carmen Bandea (Atlanta, Ga.) 74-72-76-73 - 295
Kylene Pulley (Kokomo, Ind.) 72-72-72-79 - 295
Veronica Felibert (Caracas, Venezuela) 74-75-74-72 - 295
Jessy Tang (Daytona Beach, Fla.) 73-73-74-75 - 295

53 Michelle Yang (a) (Los Angeles, Calif.) 71-68-75-82 - 296
Virada Nirapathpongporn (Bangkok, Thailand) 73-75-77-71 - 296
Wannasiri Sirisampant (Bangkok, Thailand) 72-71-71-82 - 296
Sara Hurwitch (a) (Potomac Falls, Va.) 74-74-73-75 - 296
Sophie Jang (Seoul, South Korea) 75-73-75-73 - 296
Heather Burgner (Lakeland, Fla.) 75-72-73-76 - 296

59 Kim Augusta (Rumford, R.I.) 75-72-71-79 - 297
Carrie Riordan (Spring Valley, Ill.) 72-76-74-75 - 297
Christina Jones (Jensen Beach, Fla.) 76-73-72-76 - 297
Emily Powers (a) (Quincy, Ill.) 76-72-75-74 - 297
Stephanie Oukeo (Paris, France) 74-73-77-73 - 297
Amber Prange (Noblesville, Ind.) 73-74-76-74 - 297
Grace Woo (Los Angeles, Calif.) 72-78-75-72 - 297

Tiffany Joh: T1 at DFT Q-School.

Here's the final round scoring...Tiffany brought it home and our girl Cami had a solid final round and moved up to 12th position.



1 Tiffany Joh (San Diego, Calif.) 67-69-72-67-73 - 348 $500

2 Danielle Mills (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) 67-71-69-68-74 - 349 $450

3 Laura Bavaird (Grosse Ile, Mich.) 71-69-71-71-71 - 353 $420

4 Kitty Hwang (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 70-72-71-73-69 - 355 $375
Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) 71-74-66-70-74 - 355

6 Jane Rah (a) (Torrance, Calif.) 74-70-71-71-70 - 356
Jodi Ewart (a) (England) 69-73-73-67-74 - 356

8 Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.) 69-70-73-71-74 - 357 $330

9 Laura Kueny (a) (Whitehall, Mich.) 68-70-70-73-77 - 358

10 Nannette Hill (Pelham, N.Y.) 72-70-72-71-74 - 359 $300

11 Leanne Bowditch (a) (Queensland, Australia) 73-67-74-74-72 - 360

12 Camila Mori (Santiago, Chile) 70-74-74-71-73 - 362 $125
Lucy Nunn (Lawton, Okla.) 71-71-73-73-74 - 362 $125

14 Dori Carter (a) (Valdosta, Ga.) 73-72-73-69-76 - 363

15 Marina Choi (Los Angeles, Calif.) 71-75-74-72-72 - 364
Sarah Brown (a) (Lopatcong, N.J.) 71-71-75-71-76 - 364
Rebecca Flood (a) (Coonabarabran, Australia) 69-72-70-76-77 - 364

18 Kendra Hanson (Forest City, Iowa) 73-71-70-79-72 - 365
Erica Moston (Belmont, Calif.) 71-76-69-75-74 - 365
Amanda Costner (Claremore, Okla.) 69-69-82-70-75 - 365
Chelsea Curtis (New Seabury, Mass.) 68-71-70-79-77 - 365
Valentine Derrey (a) (Neuilly Sur Seine, France)74-71-70-72-78 - 365
Jenny Lee (Simi Valley, Calif.) 74-71-69-73-78 - 365

24 Mayule Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) 74-75-77-68-72 - 366
Julia Potter (a) (Granger, Ind.) 75-74-72-72-73 - 366
Taryn Durham (Glasgow, Ky.) 69-75-73-76-73 - 366
Miriam Nagl (Berlin, Germany) 76-73-70-72-75 - 366

28 Bree Arthur (a) (Brisbane, Australia) 70-74-73-78-72 - 367
Jenny Shin (a) (Torrance, Calif.) 74-72-73-74-74 - 367
Dabin Shin (South Korea) 70-75-74-74-74 - 367
Tara Goedeken (Dodge City, Kan.) 77-68-70-75-77 - 367

32 Virada Nirapathpongporn (Bangkok, Thailand) 73-75-77-71-72 - 368
Chelsea Schriewer (a) (St. Louis, Mo.) 72-73-76-72-75 - 368
Inhong Lim (a) (Seoul, South Korea) 76-72-73-71-76 - 368
Nicole Smith (Riverside, Calif.) 73-73-71-75-76 - 368
Kristina Langton (Ada, Mich.) 70-72-72-76-78 - 368
Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.) 71-73-69-75-80 - 368

38 Grace Woo (Los Angeles, Calif.) 72-78-75-72-72 - 369
Amber Prange (Noblesville, Ind.) 73-74-76-74-72 - 369
Carrie Riordan (Spring Valley, Ill.) 72-76-74-75-72 - 369
Sophie Jang (Seoul, South Korea) 75-73-75-73-73 - 369
Mariajo Uribe (Bucaramanga, Colombia) 71-76-68-78-76 - 369
Seul Ki Park (Northbrook, Ill.) 69-74-75-74-77 - 369
Plai Kongkraphan (Chiangmai, Thailand) 70-75-74-72-78 - 369

In honor of Tiff Joh's victory, I shall now listen to "[u][url="http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/duramed-song"]Duramed Song[/url][/u]", followed by "[u][url="http://tiffjoh.bandcamp.com/track/all-i-want-for-x-mas-is-a-tour-card"]All I Want for X-Mas is a Tour Card[/url][/u]"

Priceless Harry...just priceless.

I am merely a conduit for the creamy artistic and golfing goodness that is Tiffany Joh.

OK...just looking at the full event results, there was a young lady that shot a first round 126...yes...one hundred and twenty six. Ironically, with the effort of preserving the image of the opportunity, the LPGA deleted that number until the final, final posting of all results.

Out of respect for the person, no name...just a city, state and score.

Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx (Tahlequah, Okla.) 126

>>> I'd definitely fund the Futures Tour and allow more LPGA cards. <<<

I could not agree more.

The regular LPGA tour needs a massive and constant churning.

[quote name='LOVE4LPGA' post='2053671' date='Nov 9 2009, 02:25 AM']>>> I'd definitely fund the Futures Tour and allow more LPGA cards. <<<

I could not agree more.

The regular LPGA tour needs a massive and constant churning.[/quote]

Yes, the Futures Tour could use some financial backing. However, no way should there be more LPGA cards. Limiting the field of eligible players can only enhance the overall level of play. Certainly, there are real struggles among the not-quite-exempt, but there is a reason that those players didn't achieve higher eligibility numbers. Non-eligible players may play in 6 LPGA tournaments as well as qualify for US Women's Open. The solution to the Tour's problems is not to flood the fields...they must all play better.

[quote name='Debit' post='2054642' date='Nov 9 2009, 04:09 PM']Yes, the Futures Tour could use some financial backing. However, no way should there be more LPGA cards. Limiting the field of eligible players can only enhance the overall level of play. Certainly, there are real struggles among the not-quite-exempt, but there is a reason that those players didn't achieve higher eligibility numbers. Non-eligible players may play in 6 LPGA tournaments as well as qualify for US Women's Open. The solution to the Tour's problems is not to flood the fields...they must all play better.[/quote]

That's nonsense. Limiting the turnover potential hinders the caliber of play by definition. Johnny Miller emphasized that in his book, "I Call the Shots." Marginal PGA players like Gary McCord campaigned vigorously for an all exempt tour because they knew it allowed them to skate past the eligibility requirements as long as they maintained bare minimal competence. The same thing applies to the LPGA, although it's somewhat more sensible at 80 instead of the ridiculous 125 for the PGA.

In short, it's far simpler to stay there than to get there, which is not the way it should be. I look at the related numbers all the time. On the LPGA it takes roughly 72.75 or 72.80 scoring average to maintain top 80 status. It's not always a direct relationship from money list to scoring average, but close enough. There is no way players on that bottom level should be allowed full status without increased takeover opportunity from Futures Tour players. The caliber on that tour has improved markedly but with only 5 full tour cards, and 5 joke minor status cards, it's not enough of a natural highway. Players can be thwarted year after year given the limited opportunity. You want the LPGA fields to be filled with the best players, not the ones who managed to beat the system for a week at Q School instead of proving themselves over the course of a Duramed season.

Gerina Mendoza is an excellent example. She had a Futures Tour scoring average of 71.778 this season, nearly a full stroke lower than players who maintained full status on the LPGA. But on the Futures Tour, all that 71.778 translated to was a 12th place finish on the money list, and no LPGA status at all for 2010. Gerina was given a direct ticket to LPGA Q School finals. Big deal. She's still an underdog.

On the Futures Tour the money is tilted absurdly toward a win or top two. You can wind up 5th to 10th all year and not be guaranteed anything except a frustrating return to Duramed next year. The purses are so low they squeeze the payoffs to give anyone who makes the cut $500 to at least pay expenses, but that translates to 78th making $500 and 10th making about $1500. It's not an equitable distribution, and consequently it often leads to misleading relationship between scoring average and money list, worse than any tour I've ever studied. Players who are very good, but don't win, are shafted. The realities of low purses and few cards forces many players to ditch the Futures Tour completely and take an annual stab at Q School. I'd much rather see 10-15 full cards instead of an example like Jeehae Lee, a mediocre Futures Tour player in 2008 who somehow played well above her head in LPGA Q School and got a full status card. She was overmatched and made only one cut all year, with a scoring average a shade below 75.

>>> ... it's far simpler to stay there than to get there, which is not the way it should be. <<<

Excellently stated.

The LPGA badly needs the churn in the bottom-third tier. I sense of lot of "easier to stay there" in this space.

NEED MORE LPGA CARDS. Yes!

[size=3]Too many of the gals on the Futures Tour are probably starving out before they get a chance to migrate. THAT is the tragedy.[/size]

And who would argue that the LPGA needs to do EVERYTHING possible to grow interest and provide some excitement.

Good gosh, MORE migration from the Futures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>>>

I'd much rather see 10-15 full cards instead of an example like Jeehae Lee, a mediocre Futures Tour player in 2008 who somehow played well above her head in LPGA Q School and got a full status card. She was over matched and made only one cut all year, with a scoring average a shade below 75.

<<<

Excellent example.