Coffing has high hopes for earning LPGA Tour card

Coffing, a high school state champion in 2002 for the Middletown Middies and a Big Ten Conference tournament runner-up three years ago for Ohio State, is making her second attempt at earning her LPGA Tour card.

After wrapping up the Duramed Futures Tour season last weekend in Albany, N.Y., where she earned exempt status for the 2010 season, she spent a couple days in Middletown before heading out west to get acclimated to the heat.

“We’re heading out there just to get ready for the tournament and to get used to the heat,” Coffing said Tuesday, Sept. 8. Tom Coffing served as her caddy for most all of the Duramed Futures events this season.

Carling made the cut in 12 of the 16 events she played this season. Her best finish was 15th at the iMPACT Classic in Richmond, Va.

Coffing finished 64th on the money list to earn a full exemption for the 2010 season. The top 90 golfers and ties earn A-1 status, which gives them top priority to play in each tournament. But the Futures Tour is the developmental series for the LPGA, and the LPGA is Coffing’s ultimate goal.

Hence the mountain climbing.

“Dad and I plan on doing a lot of walks up Camelback Mountain to get ourselves in better shape,” Carling said. “We’re in good shape from walking golf courses all year long and training, but I want to be at my very best for this tournament. Every little bit of training helps.”

The first of two LPGA sectional qualifier tournaments is Sept. 17-20 at the Mission Hills Country Club. Coffing and 138 other aspiring LPGA golfers from 20 countries will play a 72-hole tournament over Mission Hills’ Palmer and Dinah Shore courses. The Dinah Shore course is also the site of the LPGA’s first major tournament of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Earning an LPGA card, which allows players to participate on the LPGA Tour in 2010, is a tough process. The top-30 finishers from the California tournament, and 30 others from another LPGA Sectional qualifier later this month in Venice, Fla., will compete in the 90-hole LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Dec. 2-6 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Coffing is entered in both sectional qualifiers. A year ago, she missed the cut at Mission Hills, made the cut in Florida, but finished out of the top 30 and failed to advance. She said she’s learned from that experience.

“My dad and I know what to expect this time around,” she said. “We’re a good team. I had a good finish to the Futures Tour season, and now I’m ready to roll. I can’t wait.”