Duramed FUTURES Tour
"The Road to the LPGA and Beyond"

Now in its 28th season, the Duramed FUTURES Tour has established itself as “the Road to the LPGA and Beyond,” and since 1999, it has been designated as the official developmental tour of the LPGA. More than 300 Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae are LPGA members, and through 2007, alums have won a total of 330 LPGA victories and 35 major championships. Last year, tour alums won 15 of 32 LPGA tournaments and two of the four major championships.

The Tour signed a multi-year agreement in 2006 with national title sponsor Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an innovator in women’s healthcare pharmaceutical products. In July 2007, the Tour was acquired by the LPGA and now operates under the ownership umbrella of the LPGA and is based at the LPGA’s headquarters in Daytona
Beach, Fla.

In addition to holding 18 professional tournaments in 15 states in 2008, the Duramed FUTURES Tour also has established strong connections with NCAA women’s golf programs, hoping to help make the transition of collegiate players more seamless as they graduate and move into the professional ranks. Beginning in 2007, the Tour became the title sponsor of the Duramed FUTURES Tour NGCA (National Golf Coaches Association) All-American Golf Teams for NCAA Division I, II and III women’s collegiate golf.

TOUR GRADUATES:
The Duramed FUTURES Tour annually awards automatic exempt status to the top five players on the Tour’s official money list. (From 1999 to 2002, the top three players were awarded LPGA exempt status.) A total of 37 players have automatically “graduated” since 1999. They are:

2007: Emily Bastel, Allison Fouch, Mollie Fankhauser, Violeta Retamoza, Seo-Jae Lee

2006: Song-Hee Kim, Charlotte Mayorkas, In-Bee Park, Kristy McPherson, Meaghan Francella

2005: Seon-Hwa Lee, Virada Nirapathpongporn, Kyeong Bae, Nicole Castrale, Sun Young Yoo

2004: Jimin Kang, Lindsey Wright, Nicole Perrot, Aram Cho, Malinda Johnson

2003: Stacy Prammanasudh, Soo Young Moon, Candy Hannemann, Ju (Birdie) Kim, Reilley Rankin

2002: Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim, Miriam Nagl

2001: Beth Bauer, Angela Buzminski, Jung Yeon Lee

2000: Heather Zakhar, Michelle Ellis, Dodie Mazzuca

1999: Grace Park, Marilyn Lovander, Audra Burks