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 The young women we profile in this month’s Women in Golf issue range from those with professional experience, like LPGA player Nicole Castrale, to those still in high school, like Angela Park and Sydnee Michaels. “They’re obviously at different levels, but they’re all exceptional players,” said Lisa Mickey, director of communications for the Duramed Futures Tour, which is the LPGA Tour’s developmental league, said. Along with the Glendale-born Castrale, Charlotte Mayorkas is a San Diego native who played the Futures Tour last year; Angela Park is a Torrance High School senior and joins the Futures Tour in April; Sydnee Michaels is a high school student in Temecula who is attending UCLA in the fall. All of them, however, will gain their first critical professional experience on the Futures Tour, a 26-year-old developmental tour that has produced nearly 300 women who have won 295 LPGA tournaments, including 31 major championships. “This is a steeping stone and what typically happens is that young players who excel at the junior level go on to college like Charlotte and Nicole and then make their first steps as professional golfers on this tour,” Mickey said. “Here they learn how to win, and to lose, as professionals and they can pick up a $10,000 check if they win, which isn’t bad for three days of play. “We don’t want them to camp out here. This is a steppingstone. We want them to learn how to travel, budget their time with their family, learn how to play week to week, how to take care of their body, when to rest, and how to play against the best players in the world. Then we want them to graduate and move on.” Based on the recent history of our women this issue, each of these five exceptional women golfers will be moving to the big time very soon. Sydnee Michaels High school senior, committed to UCLA Though still in high school, Syndnee Michaels is already an old pro to crashing golf tournaments. The senior at Linfield Christian High School in Temecula, ranked fourth in the nation as of Feb. 13 by a national magazine, received a sponsor’s exemption to the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which takes place March 27-April 2 in Rancho Mirage. She was granted the exemption in large part to the fact that she was the only female to play in the California State Men’s Championship in 2005 Although she’s one of the top-ranked juniors in the country, was 3-0 in the 2004 junior Solheim Cup, and has won her share of tournaments, she thinks being invited to the Nabisco is her greatest achievement to date. “I was the first alternate for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2004 and even though I didn’t get to play I got all the perks,” Michaels said. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience and I knew that’s where I wanted to be for the level of competition and the lifestyle. I loved it.” As a proven winner on the course, Michaels isn’t looking at her first competition with the best players in the game as an exhibition. “I want to go for it. I’m preparing for it, practicing really hard and I want to do as well as I can. I definitely want to make the cut and maybe more.” Michaels’ first sporting love was ice skating, but after a growth spurt at the age of 8 ended that dream — she wasn’t much shorter than she is today, 5’6” — she turned her attention to tennis. But that “killed my feet,” so she thought she’d try golf. She started playing in tournaments at the age of 12 and quickly realized she was “as good or better” than most of the other players. Michaels, who averages about 255 yards off the tee, has committed to UCLA. “It has a great golf program, the best coach and it’s close enough to home but still far enough away.” Charlotte Mayorkas UCLA student Charlotte Mayorkas graduates from UCLA this month with a degree in history. That makes perfect sense, since the Chula Vista native made some history of her own while competing for the Lady Bruins golf team. She was a three-time All-American first team selection, won the 2004 Pac-10 Player of the Year and, upon ending her fourth year of eligibility, held UCLA’s scoring record for 18 holes (65) and 54 holes (207) She didn’t fare too poorly in her first on the FUTURES Tour in 2005, either, making seven of 10 cuts, including four top 10 finishes, and winding up 16th on the money list. Her best finish was second in the Albany FUTURES Pro Golf Classic, where she finished second, including a final round tally of 64 on the par-71 course. Tantalizingly close to fulfilling a lifetime goal of playing on the LPGA Tour, Mayorkas is determined to get there this year, either by finishing in the top five on the Futures Tour or playing well in LPGA Q school. “That’s everybody’s goal,” she said. “That’s why we’re all out here. And, yes, I think I will be disappointed if I’m not there next year at this time. We’re all out here shooting to live out our dream and play on tour and I think my game is ready.” Women who finish in the top 15 on the money list can skip the first-round of Q school, but Mayorkas would rather skip the intense tournament all together. “I felt like a freshman all over again,” she said of last year’s Q School. “You can feel the pressure in the air. It’s a big tournament with a lot on the line.” Mayorkas has handled pressure very well since her days in the San Diego Junior Golf Association, where she played courses like Torrey Pines on a regular basis. She’s currently relocating to Las Vegas, where her mother lives, but she’ll be a Southern Californian forever, as evidenced by the one accomplishment on the golf course she’s most proud of: helping to building UCLA’s golf team into one of the nation’s best. “I’m most proud of my junior year at UCLA when we won the national championship,” she said. “Both individually and being on a college team that had ups an downs. But to see how it grew from my freshman year to where it’s not one of the best programs in the country feels great.” Angela Park High school student, turning pro in April If confidence is a prerequisite to a successful career as a professional golfer, than Torrance High School senior Angela Park seems like a sure thing. The second rated girl golfer in the country is turning professional in April, when she turns 17. Rather than entertain the numerous college offers, she’s gambling that her game is ready. In fact, she’s so confident, she made the decision two years ago. “A lot of people I’ve played against in junior golf have been successful out there and a couple of years ago, my dad and I decided that would be the best way for me to go,” Park said. Rather than spending her time studying, playing golf and acclimating to college life, Park will be solely committed to playing the game on the Futures Tour and then hopes to earn LPGA exemption by doing well at qualifying school. Park has had a sterling junior and high school career. Last year alone she won four of the most prestigious junior tournaments in the country: the AJGA Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Classic, the 2005 Polo Junior Classic; the 2005 Dixie Amateur and the 2005 Orangebowl Junior Golf Championship. She was also a semifinalist in the 2005 U.W. Women’s Amateur and helped lead the girl’s team at Torrance to the most successful season in California girls’ high school history. That amazing year helped her win sponsor’s exemptions for both the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship and the Safeway International in March. “I’m really, really proud of qualifying for the Nabisco,” Park said. “You can’t just shoot a good score at a tournament and get in as an amateur. It’s a reflection of how you’ve played the entire year.” While plenty of junior golfers have championships and accolades to boast of, not many can brag about something Park did two years ago: nearly upsetting phenom Michelle Wie in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Park picked up the game shortly after moving to United States from Brazil when she was 8. She has been competing she was 10—but she had to overcome finishing last in her first tournament. “I never expected to be a great player but I tried harder and harder and I enjoyed playing and the competition and eventually I got to the point where I was winning.” Though it’d be difficult to imagine Park not having great success as a professional, her goal isn’t to be the best golfer in the world. “I want to be known as a person who isn’t a good golfer but someone who is a role model to younger kids,” she said. “That’s more important to me.” Nicole Castrale LPGA touring pro If it wasn’t for being bored, Nicole Castrale might not be on the LPGA Tour. Castrale, who earned LPGA exemption this season thanks to finishing second on the money list on the Futures Tour last year, started playing the game at the age of 10 because there wasn’t much else to do at her family’s second home. “My parents had a place in Palm Desert, so when we would go down there on weekends, my brother and I decided to play golf because there wasn’t much more to do,” said Castrale, who grew up in Glendale. Castrale parlayed that youthful experience at the Lakes Country Club into playing junior, high school and college golf, shining in all three sectors. She won the 1997 SCGA high school state championship, competed in the 1998 and 2005 U.S. Women’s Open and was a three-time all PAC-10 selection while attending USC, which she graduated from in 2001. Castrale, who changed her name from Dalkas after marrying a year ago, has played about 20 LPGA Events but was hindered by shoulder injuries in the two years she had partially exempt status (2002 and 2003). As a professional, she’s earned more than $56,000 and, last year, won her first two professional titles on the Futures Tour, pocketing the $9,800 first prize both times. With her familiarity with the tour, she knows that this is the best time ever for a young golfer to make her mark. “I really think that the LPGA is going in the right direction,” Castrale said. “And I’d like to be a playing member for 10 to 20 years.” Castrale also knows how important individual personalities are to making the tour seem relevant to today’s sports fans. “I was recently at a player’s meeting and they really stressed that it’s important for the women to be themselves on the course because every one of us is different,” said Castrale. We are a branch of the LPGA and what we do, and who we are, reflects on the tour and makes it what it is.” |
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