Duke Women Golfer to Leave School to Prepare for Being a Pro

[SoCalDukeFan]

Link (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22558&SPID=1838&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=3643239)

I know nothing about this specific situation but quite a bit, I think, about women's golf and the LPGA Tour. On the surface it seems like a poor decision.

There are probably as many star women college golfers who did not find success on the LPGA as there are those that did. Beth Bauer from Duke and Jenna Daniels are two "can't miss" who, so far, have missed. The money is really not all that great, except for a few, and unless your name is Michelle Wie or close to it you won't get big guaranteed endorsement money until you succeed.

Brittany Lang won $600,000 - 700,000 on the tour last year. Great money. But the most that any Duke women golfer has ever won.

If you don't make it on tour it would seem like a college degree would be very helpful. You might need it to be a college coach for one thing.

Wishing her the best of luck.

SoCal

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Link (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22558&SPID=1838&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=3643239)

I know nothing about this specific situation but quite a bit, I think, about women's golf and the LPGA Tour. On the surface it seems like a poor decision.

There are probably as many star women college golfers who did not find success on the LPGA as there are those that did. Beth Bauer from Duke and Jenna Daniels are two "can't miss" who, so far, have missed.

Brittany Lang won $600,000 - 700,000 on the tour last year. Great money. But the most that any Duke women golfer has ever won.

If you don't make it on tour it would seem like a college degree would be very helpful. You might need it to be a college coach for one thing.

Wishing her the best of luck.

SoCal

The LPGA tour has not been overly kind to Duke women in recent years. Brittany seems to be the exception and not the rule. Virada Nirapathpongporn, Jenny Chuasiriporn, Liz Janangelo, Jean Bartholomew, Candy Hannemann and a couple of others ocassionally show up on the leader boards but have not enjoyed the level of success they did in college.

Best of luck to Mina in her new career.

[roywhite]

Only one semester at Duke? Wonder why...didn't like going to school? or some aspect of golf program?

Good luck to her. I must say it's hard to imagine any golfer having better preparation for a pro career than Amanda Blumenhurst has had. She's had great success in college golf and amateur golf, and made the most of her college experience, academically and otherwise.

[trinity92]

Well what if she has a ball-washing injury and loses out on her chance to go pro? She can always get a college degree . . .

[Mudge]

Well what if she has a ball-washing injury and loses out on her chance to go pro? She can always get a college degree . . .

This was probably just a decision to do what's best for her family... she had to look out for her family, and take care of them financially... plus, she had always dreamed of taking it to the next level some day, and now her dream is finally going to be reality.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I hope she does better than Wie.

[SoCalDukeFan]

She is a sophomore(I think) at Stanford.

She got considerable endorsement money so she is a pro. She stayed in school. Not everyone gets that opportunity.

She qualified for the LPGA Tour by finishing 7th in Q School. So she can chose tournaments around her schedule.

Duke's Anna Grzebien finished 3rd in Q School. Hopefully she will have a great year.

SoCal

[Bluedog]

I hope she does better than Wie.

You mean being the highest paid female golfer in the world? And 5th highest paid female athlete in the world. Yeah, that's not too hard. ;)

http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/22/women-athletes-endorsements-biz-sports-cx_tvr_kb_0722athletes.html

Note that her pay isn't because of her play - it's from endorsements. So, of course, it's not all about money, but money doesn't hurt. (I'm fairly certain she was #1 overall for females on the the list in 2007...with around $20M in endorsements and about 150K from prize money)

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Duke's Anna Grzebien finished 3rd in Q School. Hopefully she will have a great year.


Congrats Anna! I'll be sure to look for your name on the leader board and/or morning paper!

[CameronBornAndBred]

You mean being the highest paid female golfer in the world? And 5th highest paid female athlete in the world. Yeah, that's not too hard. ;)

No, I mean I hope she goes out and actually proves she is worth being on the pro tour.

[Richard Berg]

I hope she does well, but it's a rough market right now for LPGA pros.


The LPGA today announced its '09 tour schedule, and it reflects "fallout from the economic downturn that is seeping through the entire sport," according to Larry Dorman of the N.Y. TIMES. Next year's schedule features three less tournaments than this season, and total purses are down about $5M.
...
NOT GETTING ANY EASIER: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Jon Show notes the LPGA's "schedule forecast for 2010 could be more ominous given the state of the economy and the number of title sponsorships that expire" after next season. Tournament officials indicated that of the 24 tournaments sanctioned by the LPGA in the U.S. and Canada this season, "only five have contracts with title sponsors for 2010."
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/125678