BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- After serving three seasons as assistant coach for the Campbell University golf teams, Kylie Pratt will leave the program at the end of May to embark on a professional playing career.
In each of her three years on the coaching staff, the former All-American helped lead CU to NCAA Regional play as well as two women's Atlantic Sun Conference championships.
Pratt plans to begin her professional career during the summer of 2002. In November, she tied for 53^rd at the qualifying school of the Futures Tour, the Official Development Tour of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Pratt received a Status II exemption on the tour that has scheduled 20 events this year throughout the United States. Futures' Tour graduates include Karrie Webb, Beth Bauer, and Laura Diaz.
Pratt starts her pro career this weekend, May 31-June 2, at the Aurora Health Care FUTURES Charity Golf Classic at Ironwood Golf Club in Sussex, Wisc. She also will play next Wednesday (June 5) in U.S. Open Sectional qualifying at Shelby, N.C.
"I'm very excited about playing golf full-time again," said Pratt. "I'm thankful for the experience that I've gained coaching and playing at Campbell for the last five years and certainly will take that with me. Hopefully, this is a step for me in my aspiration to play on the LPGA Tour."
"Kylie has the short game of the best professionals, and she has the love of competition that they have," said head coach John Crooks, who recruited Pratt to play at Campbell, then hired her as assistant coach. "When she's an adequate ball-striker, she will be competing for a good check. Playing on a different golf course each week, traveling, and concentrating on one thing, I expect her to improve even more.
Pratt joined the Campbell program in the spring of 1997, when she played in six tournaments and earned all-tournament recognition at the Trans America Athletic Conference Championship with a third-place finish. She went on to become a First Team All-TAAC selection and was a member of the five-player squad that finished 14^th at the 1997 NCAA Championship. Prior to the national tournament, Pratt tied for second at the NCAA East Regional to earn a place on the all-region team. She also ended the season ranked as the 26^th best player in the country.
The following year, Pratt earned her second all-conference medal and was the runner-up at the league championship. She posted five top six finishes and participated in the NCAA East Regional.
As a senior, she garnered National Golf Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-America recognition, and was voted Campbell's Outstanding Female Athlete for the 1998-99 season. In all, Pratt won four titles that year, including the TAAC Championship, and was ranked 12^th nationally by Golfstat. She also finished 23^rd in the race for the prestigious Golfstat Cup while earning team MVP honors.
"What Kylie brought to the program was always a positive attitude and a good thought or a good saying," said Coach Crooks. "She kept things very simple. If one of her teammates struggled, she'd pat them on the back, smile and say, ‘You can do better, you will do better.' As a player, her goal was to be the best player on the golf course each day. Kylie also truly appreciated her competition, her foes. When they weren't playing golf, she wanted to know everything there was to know about them, and have an opportunity to meet new people."
Pratt graduated from Campbell in December 1999 with a B.S. in sport management. She earned her Master's in Education from CU in December 2001.
Kylie also joins her older sister in the professional sporting ranks. Nicole Pratt is rated 40^th in singles and 31^st in doubles on the latest Sanex Women's Tennis Association rankings. She has been a member of the Australian Federation Cup team since 1998 and was a member of the 2000 Australian Olympic Team.
In addition to Pratt, three former Campbell women's golfers are active on the FUTURES Tour during the summer. Laura Torrisi, who graduated in 2001, tied with Pratt at 53^rd in the November qualifying school, and also has Status II exemption for the 2002 season. Yvonne Cox (‘00), and Mara Larrauri (‘98) finished last year's tour ranked in the top-90 on the money list, and earned a Status I exemption for 2002. Cox ended the 2001 year ranked 72^nd on the tour money list in just 10 events. Larrauri was 81^st on the earnings listing in 16 events.
This year, Cox stands 28^th on the money list (through May 19) over six events. She matched the best finish of her career when she tied for eighth place on May 17-19 at the Greater Kansas City FUTURES Charity Golf Classic. Larrauri, who sits 74^th on the earnings sheet over seven events, notched her best showing of the year with a tie for 20^th at the Kansas City tournament. She has played in 49 FUTURES Tour events since joining the circuit in 1999. Torrisi ranks 116^th on the FUTURES Tour money list in her inaugural professional campaign. She earned her first FUTURES payday on May 12 at the Denver FUTURES Golf Classic when she tied for 32^nd.
The FUTURES Tour is the largest international women's professional developmental tour in the world. Since 1984, the average purse has grown from approximately $10,000 to $64,500 in 2002.
In 1999, the FUTURES became the "official developmental tour of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). The tour also established eligibility criteria for play during each season, which includes a qualifying tournament each November.
Through its relationship with the LPGA Tour, the FUTURES Tour provides its players direct avenues to qualify for the LPGA Tour. The top three players on the FUTURES Tour Money List after the York Newspaper Company FUTURES Classic in mid-August, who play in a minimum of six FUTURES events, automatically receive exempt status on the LPGA Tour for the following year. In addition, players ranked fourth through 10th on the FUTURES Tour Money List receive direct entry to the LPGA's Final Qualifying Tournament. In 2002, more than 180 FUTURES alumni are members of the LPGA Tour.
This year, the FUTURES Tour features 20 tournaments in 15 states across the United States from March to October, with purses totaling nearly to $1.3 million. The Tour hosts three and four-day tournaments with full fields of 144 players. Some of the Tour stops include Albuquerque, N.M., Denver, Colo., Grand Rapids, Mich., Syracuse, N.Y., Lima, Ohio, and York, Pa., where the tour concludes with the 2002 York Newspaper Company FUTURES Classic.
To follow the FUTURES Tour on-line, visit www.futurestour.com.