Futures Tour: Road to the LPGA,
by Rachel Poliszuk

For over 30 years, the Futures Tour has been one of the most structured women's tours in the world. The tradition will be continuing this spring with the 2011 Duramed Futures Tour. With a lot to look forward to this season, now is a good time to review some of the historical achievements of the Futures Tour.

The mission of the LPGA Futures Tour has always been to prepare the world's best young women professional golfers for a successful career on the LPGA Tour. Each season, the top 10 money winners earn automatic memberships on the LPGA Tour for the following season. Last year's schedule included 17 tournaments in 13 states and Mexico. Although the Tour is based in North America, the young women who make up the Futures Tour are a diverse group. The Tour's 2010 roster attracted top women professionals from 31 different nations and 40 U.S. states.

The LPGA Futures Tour is often referred to as "the Road to the LPGA," and has a special connection to the LPGA. Since 1999, it has been designated as the LPGA's developmental tour. Many of the young women who start out on the Futures Tour have gone onto successful careers on the LPGA Tour. More than 500 LPGA Futures Tour alumnae have graduated and earned full LPGA membership. Through 2009, LPGA Futures Tour alums owned a total of 353 LPGA victories and 37 major championships. Futures Tour alums also won eight LPGA tournaments in 2009. Six alums won LPGA titles in 2009, including three by alumnus Lorena Ochoa, who was the 2002 Player of the Year on the LPGA Futures Tour.

Twenty LPGA Futures Tour members earned 2010 LPGA Tour status at the LPGA's Final Qualifying Tournament in December 2009. A total of 57 players have automatically graduated since 1999. In addition, the average winning score on the 2009 LPGA Futures Tour was 69.176, while the average winning score on the 2009 LPGA Tour was 68.188 – a difference of .988 strokes.

The Futures Tour played for a record season purse of nearly $2 million in 2010. In 2006, the Tour signed a multi-year agreement with national title sponsor Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an innovator in women's healthcare pharmaceutical products. Duramed FUTURES Tour events have contributed more than $4.65 million to charitable organizations throughout the U.S. since 1989. Duramed was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in 2009.

You can follow the Duramed FUTURES Tour on the web at DuramedFUTURESTour.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DuramedFUTURESTour, on Twitter at Twitter.com/Road2LPGA, and on Youtube at YouTube.com/Road2LPGA.

Rachel Poliszuk is a member of the Class of 2011, Corporate Communication and Public Relations post-graduate program at Fanshawe College of Applied Arts & Technology in London, Ontario.

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