$80,000

Renamed the FUTURES Golf Tour in 1984, the organization quickly grew from an in-state Florida Tour to a Tour with players from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Indeed, since that simple beginning, the FUTURES Golf Tour has taken numerous giant strides in its run to reach this year's silver anniversary. The Tour celebrated its 25th season in 2005, playing 18 tournaments in 13 states for $1.35 million. Today's Tour evolved from a collection of 20-some North American players in its formative years to currently more than 300 players from 27 different nations. By contrast, the players of the 1980s competed for average purses of $6,000. Next year, FUTURES Tour members will play for an average purse size of $75,000.

But regardless of purse-size growth or the changing demographics of the Tour, the mission has remained the same, which is: to provide the opportunity for women professional golfers to develop their skills and move on to the LPGA Tour; to allow tournament host cities to meet and embrace future LPGA stars; and to allow the business community and corporate leaders at host sites to link with local charities, using a professional golf tournament setting to raise funds for local projects.

Duramed FUTURES Tour Alumni:

The top 5 players on the Duramed FUTURES Tour Money list will earn full exemptions for the 2008 LPGA Tour

Last year over 90 players on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and 46 players in the Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic were from outside the United States.

Since 1999, that direct avenue toward the goal of qualifying for the LPGA has enabled 27 players to automatically "graduate" from the Duramed FUTURES Tour to the LPGA with full exempt status. That list includes current LPGA Tour members Grace Park (1999), Michelle Ellis (2000), Beth Bauer (2001), Lorena Ochoa and Christina Kim (2002), Stacy Prammanasudh and Birdie (Ju) Kim (2003), Jimin Kang and Nicole Perrot (2004), as well as five more players in 2005, including former NCAA Champion and U.S. Women's Amateur Champion Virada Nirapathpongporn.

As further evidence that the Tour is "working" is the fact that 31 Duramed FUTURES Tour players from the 2005 season earned LPGA playing status in 2006 through the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. That number is in addition to the five who automatically advanced.

In 25 years, more than 250 alumnae of the Duramed FUTURES Tour have moved on to the LPGA Tour, winning a total of 295 LPGA titles, including 31 major championships. Birdie (Ju) Kim of Korea earned one of the Tour's five exempt LPGA Tour cards in 2003, then earned her first title as an LPGA Tour member at the 2005 U.S. Women's Open Championship. Ironically, her win at this year's Open came on the same weekend the Duramed FUTURES Tour was playing an event in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Kim had won two years before.

Money Raised for the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center:

Since 1992, the Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic has raised more than $440,000 for the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center of the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.

Over the last fifteen years of the Betty Puskar FUTURES Golf Classic, more than 60,000 spectators have attended the tournament and special events.

• 2006  --  Kristy McPherson*
• 2005  --  Sun Young Yoo*
• 2004  --  Jimin Kang*
• 2003  --  Reilley Rankin*
• 2002  --  Lorena Ochoa*
• 2001  --  Jen Brody
• 2000  --  Heather Zakhar
• 1999  --  Grace Park *
• 1998  --  AJ Eathorne *
• 1997  --  Becky Iverson *
• 1996  --  Erika Wicoff
• 1995  --  Patricia Schremmer
• 1994  --  Tina Pasternostro
• 1993  --  Missy Tuck Gooden
• 1992  --  Chela Quintana

* denotes Active on the LPGA Tour

• 9 Hole Scoring Record - 30 (-5) Becky Iverson '97 & Jenny Murdoch '98
• 18 Hole Scoring Record - 64 (-8) Grace Park '99 & Audra Burks '99
• 36 Hole Scoring Record - 130 (-14) Grace Park '99
• 54 Hole Scoring Record - 200 (-16) Grace Park '99