Joh Medals At Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament

WINTER HAVEN, Fla., Nov. 6, 2009 - Tiffany Joh came into this week's Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament hoping for a confidence boost as she heads into the LPGA's Final Q-School next month. The Californian likely got what she came for, finishing the week as medalist after today's final round.

Joh carded rounds of 67-69-72-67-73 for a 12-under 90-hole total of 348 at Lake Region Yacht & Country Club. Prevailing winds of 15 mph or more buffeted the lakeside course throughout the final round, making club selection difficult throughout the day.

"It was like being a bomb technician out there," quipped Joh, 22, a rookie professional out of San Diego. "Sometimes it was like, 'red wire or blue wire?' That's what it felt like picking a club today, but you just had to make a choice and commit to hitting that club. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't."

And while she was able to laugh about the three extra clubs she played into the wind on the 18^th green, where she flew the green, landed in the back of a back bunker, and then made a six-foot putt for bogey, Joh showed the kind of mettle she displayed throughout her amateur and collegiate career as a former All-American at UCLA and two-time U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links champion.

In a week that included five rounds on four different golf courses, Joh led or shared the lead in four rounds. And while she missed four of her last five greens in regulation today, rather than giving up as winds pummeled the weary field into submission, the Californian just kept fighting, getting up and down for par out of bunkers twice in three holes down the stretch.

"I was making really good par saves," said Joh, who played her rookie professional season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour this year. "All week, I was hitting 15 to 16 greens every day, but today was different because the wind would switch, making it hard to do that. I could have shot an 80 today and I'd still be super-happy about this week."

Danielle Mills, 22, of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, carded a final-round score of 2-over 74 today and finished one shot behind Joh at 349 (-11). The rookie professional, who graduated from Elon University (N.C.) this spring, carded rounds of 67-71-69-68-74. She led after the third round and shared the lead after 72 holes with Joh.

Mills rolled in a pair of birdies on her first 10 holes, but three-putt greens knocked her off track for bogey on the 15^th and a double-bogey on the 16^th. She was unable to save par from a bunker on the 17^th.

"I'm very happy with my week and it's been a big surprise because I've never put together five solid rounds before, with four rounds under par," said

Mills, the 2007 and 2009 Quebec Provincial Match-Play champion. "This week just confirmed that I'm ready to play out here. This is a great place to prepare for the big league."

Finishing in the solo third spot at 353 (-7) was Laura Bavaird of Grosse Ile, Mich., a 2008 graduate of Western Michigan University and a 2009 rookie on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Bavaird carded a final-round score of one-under 71 today in a round that included four birdies, one bogey and a double-bogey.

"A lot of my shots were punch shots today and I was in between clubs a lot," said Bavaird, 23. "But I chose a good week to play well."

Like the other players, Bavaird struggled with club selection, admitting that she "had a 137-yard shot on one hole and played [her] 160-yard club."

Kitty Hwang of Guayaquil, Ecuador had the day's low round of 3-under 69 to jump from a tie for ninth into a tie for fourth with Mallory Blackwelder (74) of Versailles, Ky., at five-under 355.

"Today, I feel like I had a good strategy against the wind," said Hwang, 25, who also will be playing in the LPGA's Final Qualifying Tournament next month. "For most of the week, I missed only one green each day, but today, I missed three or four greens because of the wind."

Blackwelder, on the other hand, had a day that featured three birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-five 13^th hole that included a four-putt green.

"I was tapping in a 3-putt green and it lipped out," said Blackwelder, a recent University of Kentucky graduate who also will be playing the LPGA Q-School next month. "Today, it was a little bit of everything."

Amateur Laura Kueny of Whitehall, Mich., had a tougher day with a final-round score of five-over 77 to drop from a tie for third into ninth place. The Michigan State University senior struggled with three bogeys and a single birdie on the front nine today, followed by one birdie and four consecutive bogeys on her last four holes on the back nine.

"I started getting into trouble off the tee, which might have been a little bit of nerves," said Kueny, 21, who plans to compete in the World University Games in Spain next spring before turning professional after her senior season. "Obviously, I wanted to play better than I played, but it was a great experience. Now I know I can hang with these girls."

Moving into a tie for sixth at 4-under 356 were amateurs Jane Rah (70) of Torrance, Calif., and Jodi Ewart (74) of North Yorkshire, England. Rah is a freshman at Oklahoma State University and Ewart is a senior at the University of New Mexico.

Rounding out the top 10 was Duramed FUTURES Tour rookie Stephanie Connelly (74) of Pasadena, Md., winner of the LPGA's Florida Sectional Qualifying Tournament, who finished eighth at 3-under 357, and 10^th place finisher Nannette Hill (74) of Pelham, N.Y., at one-under 359.

Eleven players finished at even-par 360 or better after five rounds of this year's Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Ninety-six players made the tournament cut at 301 (+13) Thursday after 72 holes. The cut field of 90 players returned to Lake Region for today's final round.

A field of 287 players from 38 nations competed in Central Florida this week on four courses in Polk County for 2010 Duramed FUTURES Tour playing status. The 90-hole tournament has been staged at Winter Haven's Lake Region Yacht & Country Club, Ridgewood Lakes Golf & Country Club in Davenport, Fla., and Lakeland's Huntington Hills Golf & Country Club and The Golf Club at Bridgewater.

A total of 275 players and ties will earn status for the 2010 Duramed FUTURES Tour, but players earning Priority 1 (full) status will be determined after the completion of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Once status is determined for the 2010 LPGA Tour, status will be assigned on the 2010 Duramed FUTURES Tour.

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

Weather: Mostly sunny with steady winds between 15-20 mph. Temperatures in the high-70s.

Jane Rah Makes Cut At Duramed's Q-School

Jane Rah just completed her first semester as a freshman on the women's golf team at Oklahoma State University, but she was in the field this week at the Duramed FUTURES Tour's Qualifying Tournament. A heralded amateur player who has been a member of three U.S. Junior Solheim Cup Teams, Rah not only teed it up with the pros this week, but she made the cut and was among the last three pairings of tournament leaders heading into the final round. Rah finished tied for sixth at 4-under 356.

"I came here because I just wanted to see what I can do individually," said Rah, 18, of Torrance, Calif.

Living in the Los Angeles area, most thought Rah would end up at either UCLA or Southern California University, but Rah said she "wanted to get out of L.A." and opted for Oklahoma State, whose renown practice facility and home golf course helped the California teen make up her mind to leave town.

But playing for the Cowgirls this fall, Rah has been a member of a young team that includes six freshmen and one sophomore.

"It's been a learning process for us, and a big change being a part of a team," said Rah. "There has been a lot of success with the golfers who have come out of that program."

Even at her young age, Rah has been plagued by various injuries. She has had wrist and back problems this year and had knee surgery in February 2008. She has played limited amateur competition for the last two years.

When asked if she plans to stay in school, Rah said, "It will be a personal choice. When I see people I used to play amateur golf with, like Tiffany Joh, Amanda Blumenherst, Morgan Pressel and Jennie Lee out here and on the LPGA, it makes me want to be with them.

"But it's all up in the air," she added. "I got my confidence back here this week. I haven't played well in a long time, so it feels really good. But right now, I can go a lot of different ways. I guess there's no rush."

USGA Tests For Conforming Grooves At Q-School

Two representatives from the United States Golf Association's Research and Test Center were busy all week at the Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament. They were at the event to test players' clubs to see if they conformed to the new 2010 grooves specifications for golf clubs.

Players were given the option to drop off their clubs to have them tested, with the USGA giving them direct feedback about their clubs heading into the 2010 season. And what were the results? More than 80 percent of the clubs they tested this week were non-conforming.

"We're here because we want the implementation of the new rule to go as smoothly as possible," said research engineer James Hubbell, Ph.D., who was involved in this week's testing.

The new groove specs require that the area within the club's groove become smaller and that the edges of the groove become less sharp. The overall concern insofar as equipment and the rules of golf has been that modern club designs have taken some of the skill out of the game.

"With the new equipment, players are getting the same amounts of spin from the rough as the fairway," said John Spitzer, USGA assistant technical director.

"We want to reward players for hitting fairways," added Hubbell.

Through the USGA's recommendations, clubs with the "u-groove" design would go back to performing more like the more traditional "v-groove" design.

The new rule will affect all competitive tours, including the PGA, LPGA, and Duramed FUTURES Tour, but the resistance by top-tier professionals might sound a little like this: "I've won $3 million with these irons and now you're telling me I have to give them up? The answer at all levels is yes.

Club manufacturers will have one year to make their existing models of clubs conform to the new requirements, and effective in 2010, all new models of clubs will have to conform.

"We are not banning u-grooves and not requiring v-grooves," said Hubbell. "We have changed the geometry of the grooves to have the performance of v-grooves."

So what does that mean for members of the Duramed FUTURES Tour? It means that most players will be shopping for clubs in the off-season to conform by the new year. For some, it will be a major out-of-pocket expense. For others, it simply means new sticks for the new year.

"Most of the players here this week believed their clubs didn't conform, but they wanted to check them out," said Spitzer. "And for some, they said, 'This is great! Now I can get new clubs.'"

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (386) 214-9726 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.