Rookie Haeji Kang Leads After First Round in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 15, 2008 – Rookie Haeji Kang of Seoul, South Korea, carded a 7-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead after Friday’s first round of the inaugural $100,000 Greater Richmond Duramed FUTURES Classic.

2007 Tour winner Vikki Laing of Musselburgh, Scotland, and LPGA Tour rookie Nicole Hage of Coral Springs, Fla., are one stroke behind Kang after firing rounds of 6-under-par 66.

Seven players are tied at 4-under-par 68 and 60 players finished their first round at even par or better.

Kang posted eight birdies on the day, with her lone bogey a three-putt from 20 feet on the eighth hole. She is seeking her first professional win and finished off her round with an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th green.

“My shots were good today, but they weren’t great,” Kang said. “My putting was great and I just felt comfortable from the start.”

Kang is coming off an eighth-place finish at the Falls Auto Group Classic in London, Ky., last week, and posted a 5-under-par 67 in Sunday’s final round to claim the Duramed Sunday Low Round Award. 

Today, the rookie recorded four birdies on the front and back sides of the Richmond Country Club and was unaware that she was in contention for the lead.

“Sometimes when I think about the lead, it screws me up,” Kang said. “I’m pretty happy with the results and I just tried to trust myself by taking it one shot at a time.”

Laing appears to be heating up in time to defend her 2007 victory at The Gettysburg Championship next week. In today’s round, she made eagle on the ninth hole, chipping out of a bunker from 30 yards out. She carded five additional birdies, including a pair of 15-foot putts on holes eight and 12.

“I seem to be playing better towards the end of the year,” Laing said. “My putter worked really well today, so that’s always good, even if you’re not hitting it that great.”

Laing closed out her round with a 40-foot uphill birdie putt on the 18th hole.

Meanwhile, Hage had a bogey-free round today, and despite having 31 putts, said it was the best day she had on the greens all season.

“For the first time all year, I didn’t feel like I had to worry about speed or direction when putting,” said Hage, who credited YES! Golf representative Glen Kirk, for a putting lesson and shaft adjustment she received earlier in the week. “I made some good putts in the pro-am and didn’t have anything bobble or go off track today.”

Hage has played in six events this season on the LPGA Tour, while juggling seven tournaments on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. She was one of three Tour members with LPGA non-exempt status in the top 10 of Friday’s leaderboard, joining Sargent and Gleason.

“Having status on both tours is good and bad,” Hage said. “I can’t give 100 percent to either Tour because I’m an all or nothing kind of person.”

The 8 a.m. group of Laing, Hage and White put on a show through morning play, sharing the lead through 15 holes tied at 5-under par.

“It was a great group to play with and we kind of fed off each other from the beginning,” Hage said. “There was a good vibe from the first tee.”

Second-round play continues off the first and 10th tees at 7:50 a.m. Saturday morning. The leading group of Kang, Laing and Hage will tee it up at 2:20 p.m.

For real-time scoring and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Mostly sunny with a high temperature of 89 degrees with light winds from the southeast blowing up to 5 mph.

“The Top Ten:  Race For The Card” Continues in Richmond

The Duramed FUTURES Tour launched its “The Top Ten: Race For The Card” program last week in London, Ky., at the Falls Auto Group Classic and is continuing to generate interest among fans and players at the Greater Richmond Duramed FUTURES Classic – another inaugural event.

Players ranked in the top 10 on the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s 2008 season money list have caddies wearing bright yellow bibs with a logo bearing the program’s name. An official golf cart following the top-10 players’ groups displays a yellow flag bearing the program’s logo. The logo is also displayed on tournament scoreboards and leaderboards beside the names of players ranked in the top 10, as well as on “Real-Time Scoring” at duramedfuturestour.com.

“I’m happy for the fans, but I also think it’s great for the brand of the Duramed FUTURES Tour,” said Jin Young Pak of Kang Leung, South Korea, currently ranked fourth on the season money list.

Program flyers are also distributed to all fans entering the tournament venue with helpful information about the top players and how to identify them on the course.

“It’s great for the fans because they know who to follow and who’s at the top,” added Caleb Young, caddie for Annie Young of Highland, Utah. “I just wish we were high enough in the money list to be in the program.”

Tour Players Stage Their Own Olympic Games in Richmond

Prior to the start of the Greater Richmond Duramed FUTURES Classic, players got into the Olympic spirit by setting up their own summer games at the Richmond Country Club pool after a private dinner party on Tuesday.  

Jenny Suh of Fairfax, Va., Sara Brown of Tucson, Ariz., Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, Fla., and Kelly Froelich of Raizeux, France, comprised the “U.S.” team. Rebecka Heinmert of San Jose, Calif., Kristina Tucker of Stockholm, Sweden, Sofie Andersson of Angelholm, Sweden, and Elin Andersson of Eskilstuna, Sweden, made up the Swedish team.

The players did a series of 200 meter freestyle and breaststroke relay races, with the “U.S.” team prevailing over the Swedes.

Froelich, a native of France, joked that her dual citizenship helped land her a spot on the “U.S.” team.

“I had to use my American passport on that one,” Froelich said.

Froelich said it was a close race to end, but added that the “U.S.” team won by three seconds.

“Our team fell behind after I was racing Kristina (Tucker), but Jenny (Suh) more than made up for it,” Froelich said. “Unfortunately, our talents don’t lie in the waters, so we didn’t bother with trash talking before we raced.”

Even though there was no medal presentation, Tucker admitted the “U.S.” team defeated the Swedes by a full body length even though, as Suh added, everyone was hurting after they got out of the water.

“We were gasping for air after one trip down the pool,” Suh said. “It wasn’t pretty.”

Kentuckian Wade Wins Ohio Women’s Open, Joins Other Players to Benefit Richmond Charity

Whitney Wade of Glasgow, Ky., is trying to find some time to take a break. It’s been full throttle for Wade, who was a fan favorite at the Falls Auto Group Classic Tour’s last week in London, Ky. On Tuesday, Wade won the Ohio Women’s Open with a two-day total of 2-under-par 142 and, shortly after, started driving to the Greater Richmond Duramed FUTURES Classic with Chris Brady of Longboat Key, Fla. After spending Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, Wade and Brady arrived in Richmond Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve been just trying to chug along,” Wade said. “It ended up being a worthwhile trip, but I’m definitely exhausted. I knew the course pretty well from last year, but didn’t play as well as I wanted to.”

Two hours after arriving in Richmond, Wade and Brady were dressing up in selected Stein Mart outfits for the Go Pro! Fashion Show held Wednesday evening to benefit the Goochland Free Clinic & Family Services.

Wade was joined on the runway by Carling Coffing of Middletown, Ohio, Lorraine Ballerano of Myrtle Beach, S.C., Chris Brady of Longboat Key, Fla., Heather Angell of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Kelly Froelich of Raizeux, France.

Froelich is being housed this week by the director of the Goochland Free Clinic & Family Services, Sally Graham. The charity is a non-profit organization that helps families by providing food, financial assistance and medical transportation, among other services.

“It’s really nice to do things that help benefit the community,” Ballerano said. “I had a lot of fun getting ready and going through the outfits they picked for us to wear.”

As for Wade, who stands around 5’3”, she was a hit at the fashion show because it was a challenge to find an outfit to match her stature.

“The directors were asking Whitney to wear eight-inch heels,” said Froelich, who was teammates with Wade at the University of Georgia. “She’s just needs to grow a few inches.”

Wade celebrated her 23rd birthday yesterday and, along with Froelich, fired a first-round score of even-par 72 today as Brady finished with a 3-under-par 69 to stand tied for 40th and 11th, respectively. 

Tour Rookies With SEC Backgrounds Paired Together on 10th Tee

A brief glance at the 2 p.m. pairing of Camila Mori of Santiago, Chile, Whitney Myers of York, Pa., and Angela Oh of Maple Shade, N.J., reveals interesting backgrounds and similarities between all three players.

The trio are rookies with the Duramed FUTURES Tour and played collegiate golf in the Southeastern Conference, with connections to the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida.

Mori is making her professional debut this weekend in Richmond and is being reunited with fellow competitors from the Golf Channel’s “Big Break X: Michigan” series, Andrea VanderLende of Longwood, Fla., and Amber Prange of Noblesville, Ind. 

“Andrea has been a great help and has been very good to me this week,” Mori said. “It will be a good time playing with Whitney and Angela. We know each other from college and hopefully we can all go out and perform well.”

Oh competed in the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this year and turned professional after her collegiate career at the University of Tennessee.

Myers has competed in three Tour events with instant success, including a tie for third at the USI Championship in Concord, N.H. The rookie is gearing up for her “home event” at The Gettysburg Championship next week, just 45 minutes from her hometown of East Berlin, Pa.

“I’m so excited to be playing close to home,” Myers said. “I think there will be some pressure on me to perform, but I’m going to be ready.”

Contact: Ben Schlesselman, 386-214-9726, Ben@duramedfuturestour.com.