Amateur Natalie wins Futures Tour Qualifying

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LPGA FUTURES TOUR
WINTER HAVEN, Florida: Wake Forest University senior Natalie Sheary played tough in the wind today to emerge as medalist of this week’s 12th annual LPGA Futures Tour Qualifying Tournament.
The amateur carded a 2-under-par 70 in today's final round at Lake Region Yacht and Country Club to win by four shots at 9-under 279.
"I never walked to my ball with just one club today [because of the wind]," said Sheary, 21, of West Hartford, Conn. "I always had two clubs with me. The wind was obviously a factor."
Sheary started the final round tied for second with Jackie Barenborg three shots behind leader Jessica Korda of Bradenton, Fla. But when the frontrunner teen star struggled today, posting a final-round 8-over 80 to drop into a tie for third at 2-under 286, Sheary stepped up. The three-time collegiate winner and the 2009 ACC Championship individual champion used her patience and steady head to win the tournament.
With wind kicking up whitecaps on the bordering Lake Hamilton, Sheary reasoned that bogeys were inevitable today. She bogeyed her second hole, but came back with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 from 15 feet and 12 feet, respectively. She striped her approach shot on the 11th hole to two feet for birdie, and spent the last seven holes scrambling not to give back any shots.
"There's a bunch of college players out here this week, plus two of my current teammates at Wake [Michelle Shin and Allie Bodemann], so I felt really comfortable," said Sheary, a religion major, who wrote a college paper this week on Islam and was studying for a Monday test on Buddhism.
Forced to return to Q-School to keep her Tour card after this year's rookie season on the Futures Tour, Barenborg not only achieved her goal of finishing in the top 20, but she emerged as the tournament's runner-up. She posted a 2-over 74 in the final round for a 5-under total of 283.
"Except for Natalie, we were hacking it around today and we didn't look like a final group in a tournament," said Barenborg of Vero Beach, Fla. "We were all pretty focused on our own games and struggling in the wind."
Barenborg, who played college golf at nearby Florida Southern College, only hit three greens on the front nine. She scrambled to save par on the first two holes, double-bogeyed No. 4, and added bogeys on holes 8 and 9. Her round could have turned south in a hurry with a 4-over front-nine score of 40.
"I thought, 'Oh great, I'm just throwing away what I did all week,'" said Barenborg.
But instead, the second-year pro fought back. She scrambled again to save par on holes 10, 11 and 14, and finally rolled in birdies on holes 15 and 16. Today's final round was an endurance test in which she only hit five greens on the back nine.
Rookie professional Stephanie Sherlock of Barrie, Ontario finished the day at even-par 72 to move into a tie for third with Korda at 2-under 286. The former University of Denver collegian took double-bogey on her second hole with eight pars on the front, but she carded three birdies and one more bogey on the back nine.
"On holes where I hit driver, 9-iron earlier this week, I was hitting driver, 4-iron today," said Sherlock, 23. "Picking clubs was a guessing game, but sometimes it worked out."
Amateurs Sara Maude Juneau (74) of Quebec, Canada, and Lizette Salas (71) of Azusa, Calif., tied for fifth at one-under 287. Juneau is a senior at the University of Louisville and Salas is a senior at the University of Southern California. Both plan to turn professional next spring following graduation.
"I came here with no expectations," said Salas, a three-time All-American at USC. "I don't think I played to my full potential, but if I can earn full status to play next year, that's good. I feel like I deserve a spot."
Exempt and non-exempt status for the 2011 LPGA Futures Tour will be determined following the completion of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in December at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Weather: Sunny and cool with temperatures in the high-60s with wind between 12-18 mph.
+Olivia Jordan-Higgins from the Channel Islands and Hannah Burke from Hertfordshire - both of whom played on the US women's college circuit for four years - made it through to the final day of the qualifying tournament. Scroll down to see their scores.