LPGA Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament this week

The LPGA Futures Tour will hold its 12th annual qualifying tournament this week in Central Florida. Held to determine playing status for the Tour’s 2011 membership, the 72-hole tournament will be staged on three courses in Florida

Tournament contestants each will play one round at Lake Region Yacht and Country Club in Winter Haven, Lake Wales Country Club and at Ridgewood Lakes Golf and Country Club in Davenport.

A tournament cut will be made after 54 holes, with the cut field returning for the final round at Lake Region.

This year’s event features a tournament field of 308 players from 38 nations and 38 U.S. states. Florida brings the most players to the Q-school with 31 contestants, followed by 26 players from California and 20 players from Texas.
Gemma Webster, pictured,  from Glasgow is the only Scot in the field. Her father, Alan, has travelled over to caddie for her.

Jodi Ewart scores her first pro win in Florida

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 ASSOCIATION

England’s Jodi Ewart has scored her first win as a professional in the USA with victory in Florida in a SunCoast Series mini-tour event.

What’s more, on a good day for England, Manchester’s Rachel Connor claimed third place in the 54-hole event at Ridgewood Lakes Country Club.

Jodi, pictured, a former Curtis Cup player from Catterick, Yorkshire, was seven-under par for the tournament with rounds of 70 69 70 and she won by a shot. Rachel, who was also an England international, was three under par, 71 69 73. The par 72 course measures 6380 yards.
Carnoustie's Katy McNicoll finished joint 19th in a field of 45 players with scores of 76, 74 and 75 for 225.

Jodi’s next big date is the LPGA’s final qualifying school, at Daytona Beach, Florida, from December 8-12. She won her place there with a string of impressive rookie performances on the US Duramed Futures Tour.
She joined the tour in June, after a superb amateur career in which she was twice the English strokeplay champion, represented both England and GB and I – playing in the Curtis Cup and Vagliano Trophy - and was one of the stars of the US women’s college circuit.
Meanwhile, a host of English players are currently also pursuing their ambitions via the college circuit. Among those who have notched up recent successes are Hampshire’s Raffi Dyer (Hayling/University of Oregon).
Raffi, a freshman, twice shot her college low score during the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown at the Boulder Creek Country Club. She finished in a tie for sixth place and was the overall leading scorer for her team with a three-under par total of 213 (70 74 69). Her final round score on the par 72, 6,329-yard course included five birdies.
Kent county champion Sian Evans (Faversham/ East Tennessee State University) was third in the Lady Paladin Invitational at the Furman University course at Greenville, South Carolina.
Sian, also a freshman, was joint overnight leader going into the final round and only one shot behind the two girls who figured in a play-off for the title. It was her second top-10 finish. She had rounds of 74, 75, 75 for a total of eight-over-par 224 in the event which was contested by 90 players.
Hannah Coles (Maxstoke Park/Radford University, Virginia) was joint second in a field of 68 players at the CSU Wendy's Invitational at Coosaw Creek Country Club, Charleston in South Carolina. She scored 72, 75 for a total of five-over-par 147 over the par-71 course with a yardage of 5,901.
Lyndsey Hewison
Press and PR Officer
EWGA

The Elmwood College students who are in the Race to Spain pictured with Graeme McDowall (left), Donald McKay (second from right) and Gary Reilly of AMsportstours.
Elmwood College students chase Spanish trip prize

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The race is on for 80 golf students at Elmwood College, Cupar, who are bidding to secure one of 12 places for a trip to Spain that could help them in their quest to becoming professional golfers.
The students, on National Certificate, Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma courses at Cupar, are now playing in an order of merit 'Race to Spain' competition to book a seat on the all-expenses-paid trip.
It has been made possible through a130,000 Euros grant from the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci Fund.
The grant was awarded through a partnership involving Cupar-based AMsportstours and the college.
Last April a similar grant allowed a party of sports coaching students from Elmwood to travel to Sweden to work with the Swedish Football Academy for two weeks.
Graeme McDowall, lecturer in Performance Golf at Elmwood, said the trip to Spain would allow the 12 students to play golf in fine weather and to take part in Spanish tournaments.
"It will be a fabulous opportunity for the students to experience a high level of competition and to test themselves against some of the best players in Spain.
"We are really excited and have created an order of merit in which only the top 12 student players will qualify from the weekly competitions we hold at Elmwood Golf Course.
"It's created a massive buzz and raised the stakes for the students, knowing they can play themselves into a place through the Race for Spain.
Donald McKay, sports and fitness coordinator at Elmwood, described it as a "fantastic experience" for the students involved.
AMsportstours managing director, Austin MacPhee, said that his company's expertise in creating international sporting relations around the world allowed them to "match-make" with direct benefit for Elmwood College.
He said: "The Leonardo funding offers local students a tremendous opportunity to improve their vocational skills and, more importantly, their employability.
"We currently employ 22 young people and are delighted to have full-time and part-time members of staff who have improved their skills due to the benefits of the Leonardo programme."

SIAN EVANS' BEST US FINISH, COLETTE MURRAY SQUAD WIN

 Kent county champion Sian Evans from Gillingham, a freshman student at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, has achieved her highest college tournament finish after only a few weeks' experience of American golfing life and conditions.

Sian, pictured top right, the joint overnight leader going into Sunday's final round, finished third in a field of 90, only only shot behind the two girls who figured in a play-off for the title. It was her second top-10 finish in a handful of 2010-2011 season events.
Evans had rounds of 74, 75 and 75 for a total of eight-over-par 224 over the tough Furman Golf Club course (par 72, yardage 6,199) at Greenville, South Carolinia.
The only players in the big field to score better than that were Sandra Changkija (Nova Southeastern) (73-77-73) and Charlotte Lorentzen (Georgia State) (73-76-74) on 223. Changkija won the individual play-off.
Colette Murray, pictured lower right, Scots-born head women's coach of the Chattanooga-Tennessee University team, also had plenty to celebrate. Her squad (915) won the team title by 14 shots from Georgia State (929) and Nova Southeastern (933). Middle Tennessee (955) came 11th of 17.
Other British students who figured in the prestigious event, one of the last of the autumn college programme, were:
Nicole Whitmore (Nova Southeastern) from Milton Keynes. She finished joint 21st on 236 with scores of 79, 78 and 79.
Stephanie Gough (Middle Tennessee) from Aylesbury. She finished joint 34th on 239 with scores of 80, 79 and 80.
Abbey Gittings (Nova Southeastern) from Tamworth. She finished joint 48th with a total of 244, made up of scores of 79, 84 and 81.