Amanda wins LPGA Tour School -

but clutch of Europeans win

playing rights in America

Former US Curtis Cup player and star college circuit performer Amanda Blumenherst, pictured, from Scottsdale, Arizona lead the qualifiers from the LPGA Tour Final Qualifying School at LPGA International Golf Club, Daytona Beach in Florida.
But it was a good event also for Europeans. Quite a few, starting with Norway's Marianne Skarpnoord, Azahara Munoz and fellow Spaniards Maria Hernandez and Beatriz Recari, and France's Gwladys Nocera made it with ease.
Also among the top 20 card-winners were Denmark's Iben Tinning and Sweden's Pernilla Lindberg.

Surprise European names outwith the top 40 included Dewi-Claire Schreefel from the Netherlands and Galway-born Alison Walshe. Both had very good US college circuit records.

Walshe played for the United States in the 2008 Curtis Cup match over the Old Course, St Andrews.

She has entered the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School of which Stage 1 will be played at La Manga, Spain next week.

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE

Former Duke University star Amanda Blumenherst easily passed her first big test as a professional on Monday when she closed with a 4-under 68 to be medalist at the LPGA Tour Q-School finals to lead 20 players earning their cards for next year.
Playing on the Champions Course at LPGA International for the final round, Blumenherst played without a bogey and finished the 90-hole event at 9-under 351.
"It's kind of a one-shot deal for the whole year," said Blumenherst, the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur champion, a three-time NCAA Player of the Year (2006-08) and the winner of 12 collegiate tournaments. "I was confident in my game, but still, you never know what can happen. I just stayed in the fairway and got onto the greens and my putts were close. It was a winning combination."
Katie Kempter had a 68 and shared second with Marianne Skarpnord of Norway, who had a 71.
The final card was decided in a play-off between Il Hee Lee of South Korea and American Christi Cano, determined by an aggregate score over three holes. They each made par on the first two holes, and Lee earned the card with a birdie on the 18th.
Kempter played her collegiate golf at the University of Denver. Skarpnord is a two-time winner overseas, winning this year's Deutsche Bank Ladies Open and Carta Ladies Italian Open.
The 90-hole qualifier got underway Wednesday with Round 1 and Thursday with Round 2, then the rains came early Friday morning. On Friday, third-round play was suspended at 10:20 a.m. due to unplayable course conditions, and play was scheduled to resume first thing Saturday morning.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. With more heavy rains in the forecast overnight and Saturday morning, the decision was made to cancel play on Saturday. Sunday's weather, despite a chill in the air, worked out fine and allowed the rest of Round 3 and all of Round 4 to be played. The final, decisive round was played in full on Monday.

FINAL FIVE-ROUND TOTALS
1 Amanda Blumenherst 72 71 73 67 68 351
2 Katie Kempter 70 69 73 73 68 353
2 Marianne Skarpnord 76 66 70 70 71 353
4 Julieta Granada 72 69 76 70 67 354
5 Azahara Munoz 69 72 73 72 69 355
5 Maria Hernandez 73 70 70 72 70 355
5 Lisa Meldrum 71 70 75 68 71 355
5 Nicole Jeray 70 70 76 67 72 355
9 Nicole Hage 74 71 71 72 68 356
9 Beatriz Recari 79 71 68 68 70 356
9 Leah Wigger 69 73 70 72 72 356
12 Mariajo Uribe 75 71 74 68 69 357
12 Tamie Durdin 75 70 73 69 70 357
12 Lucy Kim 73 73 73 67 71 357
15 Iben Tinning 70 74 72 69 73 358
16 Gwladys Nocera 68 74 79 69 69 359
16 Tania Elosegui 76 70 70 72 71 359
16 Liz Janangelo 74 70 74 68 73 359
16 Pernilla Lindberg 73 73 71 69 73 359
20 Il Hee Lee 69 76 75 67 73 360
*Top-20 above (Priority List Category 11)
========================================================
20 Christi Cano 72 74 78 66 70 360 (lost three-hole aggregate play-off for 20th place)
22 Sarah-Jane Smith 73 72 77 69 70 361
22 Paola Moreno 72 73 77 69 70 361
22 Jamie Hullett 74 71 77 68 71 361
22 Nanette Hill 73 78 70 69 71 361
22 Diana D’Alessio 73 72 76 69 71 361
22 Cathryn Bristow (amateur) 73 71 76 69 72 361
22 Tanya Dergal 73 70 75 69 74 361
22 Adrienne White 72 71 71 72 75 361
30 Gerina Mendoza 77 72 72 70 71 362
*21 - 30 above (Priority List Category 16)
===============================================
30 Libby Smith 76 71 72 71 72 362 (beaten for 30th place on last card countback)
32 Jessica Shepley 77 70 75 72 69 363
32 Jeehae Lee 74 71 78 70 70 363
32 Cindy Lacrosse 77 74 71 70 71 363
32 Pornanong Phatlum 75 71 73 73 71 363
32 Jane Chin 73 65 78 76 71 363
32 Meredith Duncan 72 72 76 71 72 363
38 Mallory Blackwelder 74 72 74 72 72 364
38 Lisa Ferrero 74 71 76 70 73 364
38 Kim Welch 72 75 74 68 75 364
*31 - 40 above(Priority List Category 20)

=================================
41 Kitty Hwang 73 74 75 74 69 365
41 Aimee Cho 74 75 71 74 71 365
43 Esther Choe 71 76 76 74 69 366
43 Briana Vega 80 73 69 75 69 366
43 Emma Cabrera-Bello 71 72 78 74 71 366
43 Lauren Doughtie 77 73 72 72 72 366
43 Ashley Knoll 77 72 72 73 72 366
43 Angela Oh 79 71 69 75 72 366
43 Kirby Dreher 74 69 76 75 72 366
43 Lisa Strom 71 75 74 73 73 366
43 Kris Tschetter 77 72 69 75 73 366
43 Dewi-Claire Schreefel 71 73 78 70 74 366
43 Nikki Garrett 67 71 78 71 79 366
54 Alison Walshe 74 73 78 72 70 367
54 Yuko Mitsuka 69 75 77 76 70 367
54 Sung Ah Yim 71 71 78 71 76 367
58 Ayaka Kaneko 77 73 73 74 71 368
58 Christine Song 71 73 79 73 72 368
58 Ashleigh Simon 75 73 73 74 73 368
58 Carolina Llano 72 70 82 70 74 368
58 Nontaya Srisawang 72 74 82 65 75 368
58 Izzy Beisiegel 74 76 67 73 78 368
64 Mollie Fankhauser 76 76 71 74 72 369
64 Charlotte Mayorkas 77 74 72 73 73 369
64 Virada Nirapathpongporn 74 71 77 71 76 369
64 Lehua Wise 73 72 77 70 77 369
68 Carling Coffing 78 72 72 75 73 370
68 Miriam Nagl 77 72 75 71 75 370
70 Tiffany Joh 78 75 71 73 74 371
70 Young-A Yang 75 68 76 75 77 371
72 Stephanie Connelly 73 75 78 69 77 372