The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. Tour membership is open to professional women golfers and to qualified amateurs.

History

The Futures Tour was founded in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1981 as the "Tampa Bay Mini Tour". It officially became the ''Futures Golf Tour'' in 1983 and in 1999 become a national tour designated as the "official developmental tour" of the

(the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

-based professional women's golf tour). Grace Park, Marilyn Lovander and Audra Burks were the first players to receive automatic

exempt status by finishing one, two, and three on the Futures Golf Tour Money List. The minimum age for participation was lowered to 17 prior to the 2006 season. On July 18, 2007, the LPGA announced that it had acquired the Futures Tour effective immediately, "bringing women's professional golf now under one umbrella." Previously the Futures Tour had operated as a licensee of the LPGA. Duramed, a pharmaceutical company, was the tour's title sponsor from 2006 through the end of the 2010 season. In 2011, the tour was known as the "LPGA Futures Tour." In 2012,

Symetra Symetra is an American family of companies providing retirement plans, employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through independent distributors nationwide. The main headquarters of the company is located in Bellevue, Washington. Histor ...

, a United States-based insurance provider, became the title sponsor of the tour and tour's name was changed to "Symetra Tour". In 2022, the LPGA signed a five-year title sponsorship agreement with Epson America Inc.

Promotion to LPGA

1999–2007

From 1999 through 2007 the top five leading money winners at the end of each season earned full membership in the following season's LPGA Tour. Starting with the sixth-ranked player at the end of the season, ten additional Futures Tour players who are not already members of the LPGA, automatically advanced into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, bypassing the sectional qualifying tournament.

2008–2010

Beginning in 2008 the process for promotion to the LPGA Tour was changed. The top ten leading money winners at the end of the season gain membership on the LPGA Tour for the next season, with those finishing in the top five positions gaining higher priority for entry into events than those finishing in positions six through ten. Finishers in positions sixth through ten still have the option to attend LPGA Qualifying School to try to improve their membership for the following season.

2011–present

Beginning in 2011, the promotion process was changed slightly to allow the next 12 players, excluding current LPGA members, after the top ten qualifiers to automatic entry into Stage III of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. The tour also offers instant promotion to the LPGA for those who win three times in a single season, similar to the PGA-affiliated

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...

and European Tour-affiliated

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

Players

Futures Tour graduates include LPGA tournament winners

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

Meaghan Francella Meaghan Francella (born May 12, 1982) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Francella was born in Port Chester, New York and was twice the New York State Junior Champion. She attend ...

Cristie Kerr Cristie Kerr (born October 12, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She has 20 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $19 million in career earnings. Kerr was the number one-ranked go ...

Christina Kim Christina Kim (born March 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She is known for her animated style of play, flamboyant dress, and outgoing personality. Kim compet ...

Mo Martin Melissa Linda "Mo" Martin (born October 8, 1982) is an American professional golfer playing on the LPGA Tour. Her sole win on the tour was a major championship, the Women's British Open in 2014. College career Martin played college golf all four ...

Lorena Ochoa Lorena Ochoa Reyes (; born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican former professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010. She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA ...

, Grace Park,

Stacy Prammanasudh Stacy Prammanasudh (born September 23, 1979) is a retired American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from 2004 to 2013. Amateur career Prammanasudh was born in Enid, Oklahoma, to an American mother and a native Thai father who im ...

Sherri Steinhauer Sherri Steinhauer (born December 27, 1962) is an American professional golfer who plays on the Legends Tour. She retired from the LPGA Tour in 2012 after a 26-year career. She was born in Madison, Wisconsin and attended The University of Texas at ...

, and

Karrie Webb Karrie Ann Webb (born 21 December 1974) is an Australian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and also turns out once or twice a year on the ALPG Tour in her home country. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of ...

Historical tour schedules and results

Awards

*The Player of the Year Award is given to the player who leads the money list at the end of the season. *The Gaëlle Truet Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the player competing in her first professional season who finishes highest on the Symetra Tour money List. Truet was a Tour member who was killed in a car accident during the 2006 season. The award was renamed in her honor beginning in 2006. *The Trainor Award has been given each year since 1999 to an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to women's golf. It is named in honor of the Tour's founder and former president, Eloise Trainor. *The Heather Wilbur Spirit Award has been given each year since 2003 to a Symetra Tour player who "best exemplifies dedication, courage, perseverance, love of the game and spirit toward achieving goals as a professional golfer." It is named in memory of Heather Wilbur, a four-year Futures Tour player who died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in 2000 at age 27.

''The Big Break''

Many of the contestants on

The Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC Sp ...

's '' The Big Break III: Ladies Only'', which aired in the Spring of 2005, played on the Futures Tour, including Danielle Amiee, who ended up being the show's overall champion. The other players from the show that played on the Futures Tour were

Jan Dowling Jan Dowling (born September 26, 1980) is a Canadian-born American college golf coach and former amateur golfer. Dowling is the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines women's golf team and previously served as the head coach of the Florida Gators w ...

, Valeria Ochoa, runner-up Pamela Crikelair, and LPGA veteran Cindy Miller. Show co-host

Stephanie Sparks Stephanie Sparks (born July 18, 1973) is a former on-air personality at The Golf Channel and a former golfer, whose best years in golf came as an amateur. Golfer Sparks was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. From 1992 to 1994, she played golf at D ...

played on the Futures Tour from 1996 to 1999. '' The Big Break V: Hawaii'', which aired in the spring of 2006, included six additional Futures Tour competitors:

Dana Lacey Dana may refer to: People Given name * Dana (given name) Surname * Dana (surname) * Dana family of Cambridge, Massachusetts ** James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), scientist, zoological author abbreviation Dana Nickname or stage name * Dan ...

Ashley Prange Ashley Prange (born November 24, 1981) is a professional golfer and winner of the reality television program '' The Big Break V: Hawaii''. College and amateur career Prange was born in Newport Beach, California. She graduated from the Universit ...

Kim Lewellen Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

Kristina Tucker Kristina Engström Tucker (born 26 June 1980) is a Swedish professional golfer who played mainly on the United States-based Futures Tour. Tucker was born Kristina Engström in Stockholm and began playing golf at age 10. She won the Swedish Girls ...

, Becky Lucidi and Jeanne Cho. Prange won the competition; Cho was runner-up. '' The Big Break VI: Trump National'', broadcast in the fall of 2006, included six more Futures Tour players: Rachel Bailey, the individual winner of the 2002 Sunbelt Conference Championship at New Mexico State University;

Bridget Dwyer Bridget Dwyer (born September 16, 1980) is an American professional golfer, best known for her appearance on ''The Big Break'', the Golf Channel's reality television series. Dwyer was born in Oahu, Hawaii, and is the youngest of six children. ...

, a member of the 2004 NCAA Women's Golf Championship winning team at UCLA; Ashley Gomes, the 2004 WAC Player of the Year and individual winner of the 2004 WAC Championship while at San Jose State University; Sarah Lynn Johnston, the 2004 Southern Conference Player of the Year and individual winner of the 2004 Southern Conference Championship while at Furman University;

Kristy McPherson Kristy McPherson (born May 28, 1981) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career A native of South Carolina, McPherson was diagnosed with Still's disease at age 11, which is a form of ...

, a three-time NCAA All-American First Team selection and two-time individual winner of the SEC Championship while at The University of South Carolina; and Briana Vega, who holds North Carolina State University's scoring records for 18-holes (68) and 54-holes (216).

References

External links

*
Life lessons of the Future Tour
ESPN, July 14, 2006 {{Women's Professional Golf Tours Professional golf tours Women's golf Golf in the United States Professional sports leagues in the United States 1981 establishments in the United States