News and notes for the week of June 15, 2009

1. Nordqvist in good company with McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola win
2. Carls, Vik achieve LPGA Master Professional status
3. Next week: Wegmans LPGA, Locust Hill Country Club, Pittsford, N.Y., $2,000,000, June 25-28, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
4. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour
5. Race for the Cup
6. Rolex Rankings move of the week
7. Upcoming event: Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio, $1,400,000, July 2-5, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
8. Michelob ULTRA launches 19th Hole Contest
9. Suggs to be honored at MGWA National Awards Dinner
10. Stanford signs with PureSport
11. Sharp to host annual charity outing
12. Castrale, Wie card only eagles of the final round
13. Defending champion Tseng ties for 23rd
14. Bunch earns spot in CN Canadian Women's Open
15. Nordqvist earns stay at Canyon Ranch
16. Miller honored with Good Neighbor Award

1. Nordqvist in good company with McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola win
Tour rookie is Rolex First-Time Winner in fifth start as a member
 
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md., June 14, 2009 - Swedish rookie Anna Nordqvist had been frustrated this season, only being able to compete in four LPGA Tour events. The problem was solved on Sunday, as Nordqvist became the second rookie in as many years to win the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola in her first appearance. Her final 15-under-par 273 (66-70-69-68) outdistanced runner-up Lindsey Wright, of Australia, at 11-under-par 277 (70-68-69-70). It was a career-best finish for Wright, who has never finished lower than a tie for 20th in five years at the event.

In addition to the $300,000 winner's check and major champion title, Nordqvist no longer has to go through sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open tomorrow. Her entry into future LPGA events should be a bit easier, as well.

"I think I haven't realized I won a major yet. I mean, I just tried to focus on what I can do," said Nordqvist, just days after celebrating her 22nd birthday. I really can't do anything about what the other players are doing on the course."

Nordqvist played with the composure of a veteran over the 6,641-yard Bulle Rock Golf Course track. After a career-low 6-under-par 66 in the opening round, Nordqvist still found herself one-stroke behind Nicole Castrale, who finished tied for fifth at 8-under-par 280 (65-72-74-69). During the second round, Nordqvist and Castrale switch positions on the leaderboard. Weather moved in during the third round and forced a 2 hour, 19 minute delay and play to be suspended at 8:10 p.m. due to darkness. Nordqvist still had three holes to play and a one-stroke lead over Wright thanks to a 15th hole birdie. She returned to the course on Sunday morning at 7:30 and managed to gain another stroke on her lead to end the third round two strokes ahead of Wright.

Nordqvist extended her lead to as much as five after a Wright bogey on hole seven. However the duo would go back-and-forth until Wright evened the score with a birdie on hole 16. However, a bogey on hole 17 gave Nordqvist the one-stroke edge and she sealed the deal landing her 21-degree hybrid to three feet for the birdie on 18. Despite her runner-up finish, Wright was pleased with the week.

"Under that amount of pressure, not being in that position before and in a major and being a rookie? You can't get any better than that," said Wright, who is now ninth on the LPGA Official Money List with nearly $518,000 in season earnings. "The week's been amazing. I played really consistent and held it together mentally and physically, which is something I've not been able to do as well in the past."

Nordqvist attributed her win to strong putting - 101 for the week after rounds of 22, 26, 26 and 27.

"I mean, my putting has been awesome this week. I've been working with PING in the putting lab just trying to get a good roll of the ball," said Nordqvist, who is just the fifth player in tournament history to win the event in her first appearance. "I feel like the last couple weeks, I've been putting well. I mean, obviously making putts gives you confidence and I felt very confident on the greens and I saw the lines. I mean, my putting has just been awesome this week."

Nordqvist by the numbers
2nd - 2009 rookie to win an event this season; Jiyai Shin captured the HSBC Women's Open who defeated Australian Katherine Hull for the win;
80 - the jump she made on the LPGA Official Money List thanks to her win; she's now 17th on the list with $331,246;
356 - Points in the race for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year. She is second behind Jiyai Shin (648 points) and tied for sixth with 60 points in the Rolex Player of the Year race. Points were doubled for both awards this week.;
6 - ranked player in driving accuracy (81.9 percent) and putts per green in regulation (28.60);
T17 - her previous career-best finish on the LPGA prior to this week.

 
2. Carls, Vik achieve LPGA Master Professional status
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 15, 2009 - Judy Carls, of California, and J. Kristy Vik, of Illinois, have both achieved Master Professional status among LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP).

Already recognized as some of the top professionals in the country, Carls, a Western Section member, was named one of The 50 Best Teachers by her LPGA T&CP peers in August 2008. Vik, a Midwest Section member, was named the 2007 LPGA T&CP National Professional of the Year. By earning their Master Professional status, the duo are now among just 19 of nearly 1,200 LPGA T&CP members to reach such a professional pedestal.

"Judy and Kristy truly represent the best of the LPGA T&CP," said LPGA T&CP Executive Director Leslie Andrews. "Master Professional is the highest designation we offer and represents years of dedication, contribution and excellence. I salute each of these women."

Becoming a Master Professional was a significant goal for Carls. She is currently a teaching director at TR Golf in Marina Del Ray, Calif., and introduced LPGA Role Models for her Master Professional project. LPGA Role models was a project researching the role models of the LPGA over the years. From Babe Zaharias and Patty Berg to Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright and on to Nancy Lopez, who passed the torch to Annika Sorenstam.

Carls has utilized her exceptional teaching skills at LPGA Golf Clinics for Women, as well as Ronald McDonald House Charities LPGA Junior Golf Clinics. Building on her expertise, Carls joined the LPGA in 1982, became a Class A member in 1988 and has served as a LPGA T&CP Section Member Advisor.

Vik, a Midwest Section member since 1983 and Class A member since 1987, was also named the 1997 LPGA T&CP Midwest Section Professional of the Year. She is considered one of Golf Range Magazine's Top-50 Golf Professionals (2007) and is the current chairperson on the LPGA T&CP National Club Professional Advisory Committee. Since 1999, Vik has been the director of facilities and programs at Buffalo Grove Golf and Sports Center in Buffalo Grove, Ill., where she has developed concessions, park and field rental programs and a park patrol program for the district's 49 parks. Her expertise and guidance has elevated the facility into one of the top in the nation, as recognized by its No. 1 Golf Dome designation by the Golf Range Association of America. As a National Education Program instructor for the LPGA Managerial Leadership Program, Vik's Master Professional project involved the development of the LPGA Managerial Leadership curriculum.

About the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals
The LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) membership, founded in 1959 and celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has enjoyed an unprecedented rate of growth in recent years and boasts the largest membership of women golf professionals in the world. With over 1,200 members, the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals are dedicated to the advancement of golf through teaching, coaching and managing golf facilities. Its national member programs including teaching, coaching, business management and leadership skills training programs and conferences, tournaments, employment services, online education and junior golf programs. LPGA T&CP members also teach and support the LPGA's various grassroots programs that are working to increase the involvement of women and youth in golf, as well as contribute to the growth of the sport overall including LPGA-USGA Girls Golf, Ronald McDonald House Charities LPGA Tour Junior Clinics and the LPGA Golf Clinics for Women. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information on the LPGA, log on to www.LPGA.com.

 
3. Next week: Wegmans LPGA, Locust Hill Country Club, Pittsford, N.Y., $2,000,000, June 25-28, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
 
Par: 36-36, 72
Yardage: 6,328
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner:  $300,000
            Runner-up:  $183,814
Defending champion: Eun-Hee Ji
Victory margin: Defeated Suzann Pettersen by two strokes
Tournament information: 585-427-7100
 
● TV Times
 
ESPN2
June 26 5-7 p.m.
June 27 3-5 p.m.
June 28 5-7 p.m.
 
All times Eastern
 
● GCSAA Information
 
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Locust Hill Country Club
Pittsford, N.Y.
 
GCSAA Class A Golf Course Superintendent: Richard W. Slattery, 585-427-7060
Course architect, date: Seymour Dunn, 1927
Most recent redesign/renovation: Ron Prichard, 1997-2000
 
Course grasses
Tees - Bentgrass
Fairways - Bentgrass
Greens - Bentgrass
Rough - Kentucky bluegrass; perennial ryegrass; fine fescue
 
For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at http://www.gcsaa.org/news/TournamentFactSheets.aspx
 

4. Pipeline to the LPGA Tour, June 14, 2009
 
Harigae wins in playoff. Rookie Mina Harigae, of Monterey, Calif., won the $125,000 Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship last week for her second consecutive victory. The tournament - contested at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur, Ill. -  is the Duramed FUTURES Tour's only major championship and only 72-hole event. Harigae, 19, who won the previous week's Ladies Titan Tire Challenge in Iowa, by 10 strokes, edged Sofie Andersson, of Angelholm, Sweden, with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Andersson (67-74-67-69=277, -11) forced the playoff with Harigae (71-70-68-68=277, -11) by saving par from 25 feet on the 72nd hole in regulation. Harigae, who played at Duke University before turning professional earlier this year, now holds a commanding lead at the top of the Duramed FUTURES Tour money list.

The players finishing in the top 10 on the final 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour money list will receive membership onto the 2010 LPGA Tour. Please see current standings below.

Next tournament: $125,000, The Duramed Championship, The Golf Center at Kings Island, Mason, Ohio, June 19-21, 2009
 
Charity: Ohio Valley Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis
 
For more information, log on to www.duramedfuturestour.com.

 
5. Race for the Cup
 
Double points earned at McDonald's LPGA Championship. Angela Stanford, Nicole Castrale and Kristy McPherson each earned 51 U.S. Solheim Cup points for their fifth-place finishes at the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. They were the top finishing Americans at the season's second major championship where double U.S. Solheim Cup points were awarded. Castrale jumped from sixth to fourth in the standings, while McPherson went from ninth to seventh.  A total of seven players earned double points at Bulle Rock Golf Course, among them Tour rookie Stacy Lewis, who tied for ninth to earn 39 points.

The Solheim Cup is a biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition featuring the best U.S.-born players from the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and the best European members from the Ladies European Tour (LET). The U.S. Team leads the competition, 7-3, and has never lost The Solheim Cup on home soil.

Tickets are on-sale for the biennial event with options including the Weekly Grounds ticket, the PING Pavilion ticket and the Solheim After Sundown ticket. For tickets and more information about the 2009 Solheim Cup, as well as lodging options in the Sugar Grove, Ill. area, log on to www.SolheimCup.com.
 
2009 Solheim Cup countdown:

48 days until U.S. and European teams are announced following the RICOH Women's British Open; and

67 days until matches begin at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

 
6. Rolex Rankings move of the week
 
Anna Nordqvist of Sweden made the Rolex Rankings move of the week. Nordqvist moved up 190 spots to 24th in the Rolex Rankings--the only system in women's professional golf, which ranks the top golfers in the world based on their performance over the past two years in sanctioned professional events.

Nordqvist, a 22-year-old rookie, won the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, marking her first win as a member of the LPGA Tour. With the win, Anna takes home a first prize of $300,000, a major champion title, and, perhaps most satisfying, entrance into the U.S. Women's Open.

The Rolex Rankings are sanctioned by the five major women's professional golf tours: the LPGA; Ladies European Tour (LET); Ladies Professional Golfers' Association of Japan (LPGA of Japan); Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA); Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG); as well as the Ladies Golf Union (LGU), which administers the RICOH Women's British Open.  The Rolex Rankings are the only women's world rankings that incorporate player performances from the five major tours and the Duramed FUTURES Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA.

 
7. Upcoming event: Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger, Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio, $1,400,000, July 2-5, 2009; TV Times; GCSAA Course Information
 
Par: 34-37, 71
Yardage: 6,428
Format: 72-hole stroke play
            Winner:  $210,000
            Runner-up:  $128,670
Defending champion: Paula Creamer
Victory margin: Defeated Nicole Castrale by two strokes
Tournament information: 419-531-3277
 
● TV Times
 
ESPN2
July 3  4-6 p.m.
July 4  3-5 p.m.
July 5  4-6 p.m.
 
All times Eastern
 
● GCSAA Information
 
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
Highland Meadows Golf Club
Sylvania, Ohio
 
GCSAA Golf Course Superintendent: Daniel K. Salois, 419-882-6492
Course architect, date: Harold Weber, 1925
 
Course grasses
Tees - Bentgrass; poa annua
Fairways - Bentgrass; poa annua
Greens - Bentgrass; poa annua
Rough - Bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass; perennial ryegrass
 
For more information, access GCSAA Fact Sheets at http://www.gcsaa.org/news/TournamentFactSheets.aspx
 
 
8. Michelob ULTRA launches 19th Hole Contest
Anheuser-Busch's Michelob ULTRA brand - title sponsor of the LPGA's Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill - has announced the 2009 Michelob ULTRA 19th Hole Contest, which runs today through Sept. 15. During that time, participants can submit a 50-word entry on what makes their regular 19th hole, the ULTRA 19th Hole. Winners will receive an ULTRA Party at their 19th Hole, as well as a trip for four to Daytona Beach, Fla., for three nights at the Comfort Suites - the official hotel of the LPGA - and two rounds at LPGA International. Participants age 21 and over can enter the contest via LPGA.com, MichelobULTRA.com or NatalieGulbis.com - Michelob ULTRA Ambassador Natalie Gulbis' fan Web site.
 
9. Suggs to be honored at MGWA National Awards Dinner
LPGA Founder Louise Suggs has been selected by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association (MGWA) as their 2009 Gold Tee Award recipient - the MGWA's highest honor. She will be given the award on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at the 58th National Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Old Greenwich, Conn.

A member of the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame, Suggs' influence in golf began before she turned professional in 1948. As a pro, she earned 58 victories, including 11 major championships and became the first woman ever elected to the Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame in 1966. In 2007, she received the Bob Jones Award from the USGA - also the highest honor bestowed on an individual in recognition of their distinguished sportsmanship in golf - and also received the Golf Writers Association of America's William D. Richardson Award in 2008 for her consistent and outstanding contributions to golf.
 
10. Stanford signs with PureSport
Four-time LPGA Tour winner Angela Stanford has joined Team PureSport - a brand of workout and recovery drinks to help athletes in training and competition. Other athletes endorsing the brand include Olympians Michael Phelps, Brendan Hansen, Aaron Peirsol and Nastia Liukin. As a brand ambassador, Stanford will help build global awareness for PureSport, specifically working with Liukin targeting female athletes. She will wear the logo on her shirt and it will also be on her golf bag.
 
11. Sharp to host annual charity outing
The annual Alena Sharp Charity Classic is scheduled for a noon shotgun start on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at Brantford Golf and Country Club. The event benefits the Alzheimer's Society of Brant, Hamilton and Halton and has been an annual event hosted by Sharp since 2006.
 
12. Castrale, Wie card only eagles of the final round
Nicole Castrale, who finished this year's McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola in a three-way tie for fifth place, carded one of just two eagles of the final round on the par-4, 413-yard ninth hole. Castrale, who finished 8-under-par 280 (65-72-74-69) at the second major championship of the season, recorded a new career-best finish at a major in the fifth-place spot, besting the tie for sixth showing she earned at the 2008 U.S. Women's Open. At this point in her eight-year LPGA Tour career, Castrale has collected 19 top-10 finishes, including a win at the 2007 Ginn Tribute Hosted by ANNIKA.

Michelle Wie joins Castrale as the only players to card eagles on Sunday, as she recorded hers on the par-4, 358-yard first hole at Bulle Rock Golf Course. The rookie from Hawaii finished the week at 1-under-par 287 (70-74-73-70), good for an eight-way tie for 23rd. Last week marked the 18th time Wie has played in an LPGA Tour major championship, and second time as an official member. The first time, earlier this year at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the 19-year-old finished tied for 67th.
 
13. Defending champion Tseng ties for 23rd
Last year's winner of the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, Yani Tseng, finished in an eight-way tie for 23rd on the final leaderboard. Tseng's four-day score of 1-under-par 287 (73-71-69-74) came from eight birdies and seven bogies at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md. Overall in 2009, the Taiwan native has finished in the top-10 six times, including her second-career LPGA Tour victory at the LPGA Corning Classic. The 2008 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year winner has now finished in the top-25 in 14 straight LPGA tournaments, dating back to the 2008 Lorena Ochoa Invitational by Banamex and Corona Light, where she finished tied for 18th.
 
14. Bunch earns spot in CN Canadian Women's Open
LPGA Tour member Ashli Bunch, of Tennessee, won the second of three CN Canadian Women's Tour events on June 9 to earn a spot in the 2009 CN Canadian Women's Open, Sept. 3-6. Bunch (76-70=146, +2) posted a four-stroke victory over Nicole Forshner (76-74=150, +6) at the $60,000 event hosted at Cutten Club in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Bunch now leads the Order of Merit with 975 points. The third, and final, event of the CN Canadian Women's Tour will be held July 13-15 at Hillsdale Golf and Country Club in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.
 
15. Nordqvist earns stay at Canyon Ranch
With her victory at the 2009 McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, Anna Nordqvist earned an all-inclusive stay for two at a Canyon Ranch resort. In a combined effort to promote health and overall well-being among Tour players, Canyon Ranch will provide every winner of an LPGA event with one all-inclusive stay at one of Canyon Ranch's two destination resorts.
 
16. Miller honored with Good Neighbor Award
McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola tournament director Alice Miller was recognized Thursday by the Havre de Grace Chamber of Commerce with the Economic Development Good Neighbor Award. The award was presented to Miller by Cathy Vincenti, a member of the Board of Directors of Havre de Grace Chamber of Commerce at the Bayou Restaurant in Havre de Grace, Md. Miller is an eight-time LPGA Tour winner and posted a runner-up finish at the 1985 Mazda LPGA Championship.