July 11, 2008
Rising sophomore Natalie Sheary, the 2008 ACC Freshman of the Year, will compete in her second Duramed Futures Tour event this weekend in the CIGNA Golf Classic in Bloomfield, Conn.
Sheary, who was the top finisher in six events for the Wake Forest women's golf team last season, received a special invitation to the tournament. Sheary competed in the 2007 CIGNA Golf Classic in her home state and finished tied for 19th place.
Sheary led the Demon Deacons with a 74.2 stroke average last season, won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, finished fifth in the ACC Championship and tied for 28th at the NCAA Championship. She became the first freshman to win an event for Wake since Marta Prieto won the ACC Championship in 1998 and was named the College Female Golfer of the Week by GolfWorld magazine following the victory.
The National Golf Coaches Association selected Sheary as an All-America honorable mention making her the first Deacon freshman since Alexandra Armas in 1995 to receive such honors.
Sheary will tee-off at 8:30 a.m. in the first round of the CIGNA Golf Classic. The 54-hole event is being held at the par-72 Gillette Ridge Golf Club.
According to a recent article in Sheary's hometown newspaper, the Hartford Courant, the sophomore hopes to play in two more Futures events this summer in Syracuse and New Hampshire, and will participate in the U.S. Women's Amateur Aug. 4-10 in Eugene, Ore.
The Courant's Bruce Berlet also writes that "Sheary will shoot for a fourth straight Connecticut State Women's Amateur title, one shy of the record held by childhood idol Liz Janangelo, an LPGA Tour rookie. Dave Pianki, who has worked with Sheary and Janangelo for many years, said Sheary has subtly improved all parts of her game the past year."
To read the full article click here.
The Futures tour has earned the reputation as "The Road to the LPGA", a relationship that was formalized in 1999, through an agreement that offers full LPGA Tour membership to the leading money winners in each Futures Tour season. Three automatic LPGA cards were awarded from 1999 to 2002. Using the automatic LPGA card exemptions awarded to the top players on the Futures Tour Money List, 32 players have graduated directly to the LPGA Tour following successful Futures Tour seasons.
-WakeForestSports.com-
