Purdue All-American Hernandez Leads Qualifying Tournament

After First Round In Lakeland

LAKELAND, Fla., Nov. 4, 2008 – Amateur Maria Hernandez of Pamplona, Spain, fired a bogey-free 7-under-par round of 65 at Huntington Hills Golf and Country Club to lead all players in today’s first round at the Duramed FUTURES Tour 2009 Qualifying Tournament.

Trailing two strokes back is Min Seo Kwak of Seoul, South Korea, who posted the lowest round at Imperial Lakes Country Club, coming in with a first-round tally of 5-under-par 67.

Three shots behind is 2008 Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Elin Andersson of Eskilstuna, Sweden, who carded a 4-under-par 68 at Huntington Hills.

Amateur Pernilla Lindberg of Bollnas, Sweden, and Susan Nam of Edmonton, Alberta, led the way at Cleveland Heights Golf Course, joining four other players at 3-under-par 69.

The 312-player field is competing at Cleveland Heights, Huntington Hills and Imperial Lakes – all in the Greater Lakeland area. The first, second and third rounds will be played on all three courses with each contestant playing ethe very course once before the final round of play is staged at Cleveland Heights. The field will be cut to the low 90 scores and ties after 54 holes.

Hernandez led 25 players who posted under-par scores on all three courses, torching Huntington Hills for seven birdies. It was a career-best round for the Spaniard, who carded a pair of 66s during her junior season at Purdue University.

“I played pretty good today and my putting went really well,” said Hernandez, a two time NGCA first-team All-American selection. “I need to focus on a different course tomorrow and forget about today.”

Despite three birdies on her front nine and four more on her back nine, Hernandez called a three-foot putt for par on her first hole the most critical shot of the day. She needed just 27 putts to finish her round.

“I haven’t played well at all this season,” said Hernandez, the 29th ranked collegian in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. “It’s been a really slow start and I need to start building confidence back again for the spring.”

Hernandez headed a strong collegiate contingent that includes Lindberg (Oklahoma State), 2008 Curtis Cup member Jennie Lee (Duke) of Henderson, Nev., Taylore Karle (Pepperdine) of Scottsdale, Ariz., Jane Chin (UC-Irvine) of Mission Viejo, Calif., Jessica Yadloczky (Florida) of Casselberry, Fla., and Natalie Sheary (Wake Forest) of West Hartford, Conn., among many others.

It has been a relatively short journey for the 18-year-old Kwak, who has spent just two months in the United States after coming over from South Korea. She has enrolled at the Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Fla., and her entries at LPGA sectional qualifying stages in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Venice, Fla., marked her first tournaments in the U.S.

In Tuesday’s first round at Imperial Lakes, Kwak managed six birdies, including a chip-in for birdie on the par-3 seventh hole.

“I was very comfortable and stayed focused on hitting fairways and avoiding the rough,” said the soft-spoken Kwak, a five-year member of the Korea Junior Golf Association (KJGA).

Even though her time in Florida has been short, Kwak is well aware of the recent success by fellow South Korean LPGA cardwinners M.J. Hur, Jin Young Pak and Song Yi Choi on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Kwak is hoping to be part of the next wave of talent coming from South Korea.

“It’s exciting to follow them,” Kwak said. “I just need to continue to practice hard and stay strong with my irons.”

Andersson made her professional debut earlier this year at the Tour’s stop in Hammond, Ind., fresh off her collegiate career at South Alabama University. One of six Swedes in this week’s qualifying tournament field, Andersson’s first career bogey-free round on Tuesday was overdue after enduring some mental struggles in her rookie season.

“I played some OK shots and hit a lot of greens,” said Andersson, who competed in nine Duramed FUTURES Tour events this year. “I tried to stay steady because I’ve been doubting myself a lot lately.”

Second-round play begins Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. off the first and 10th tees at each course.

For scores, pairings and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Mostly cloudy with a high temperature around 66 degrees and light winds coming from the north up to 7 mph.

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