I have decided to follow this tour for the rest of the year and hope to encourage more women golfers interested in these young girls trying to make professional golf their career. This week they are in Lost Marsh Golf Club in Hammond, Indiana. This is the third year Lost Marsh has held this tournament. It is called the Horseshoe Casino Classic and on their web site www.horseshoecasinoclassic.com you will find a welcome back letter from the Mayor of Hammond, Indiana.

Lost Marsh has been an annual stop by the Duramed Futures Tour at Hammond and they have a newly opened club house with all the facilities to give their players and guest a bird’s eye view of the course and downtown Chicago. Lost Marsh is a public golf course and it sets a standard for public courses by proving that “green” can work in industrial areas. Lost Marsh is an 18-hole championship golf course with 330 acres over rolling acres with picturesque trees, water and links-style holes.

Lost Marsh has been honored by Golf Digest for environmentally aware in wild life habitat and water quality management. It is known as the finest Public Golf Course in Northwest Indiana. It is close to Chicago and minutes from a popular casino called Horseshoe Casino. Lost Marsh is near Lake Michigan and Hammond Marina so there will be plenty of extra entertainment for the golfing tour players and their families.

The weekend of June 25 to June 28 this Futures Tour will have a purse of $100.00 with the winner receiving $14,000 and runner-up $10,000. The playing roster features 144 members and I noted they are from all around the world with many from Asian countries. I did note three were from Texas and One from Iowa so I will note these girls to see how they finish in this event. Always nice to have someone in the field that will hold your attention and cheer them on.

Those who benefit from this Futures tournament will be Lake Area United Way of Hammond. Lost Marsh Golf Course is it is located at 901 East 129th St. Hammond, IN 46320 with their phone number of 219-932-4046 their Director of Golf is Don Ploha. Winner of the 2008 tournament was Vicky Hurst of Melbourne, FL with a winning score of 213 and one stroke winner over Jin Young Pak from Kang Leung, South Korea.

Check out the Lost Marsh Golf Club web site at www.lostmarshgolf.com and you will find some stunning photographs of the area. It looks like a beautiful setting with the sky line of Chicago and Lake Michigan with shots of the golf course. I plan to be in Chicago to visit my son and his wife in the middle of July so I will miss this event too. We do plan to watch the Cubs baseball but my trip is over a weekend and not bringing golf clubs. If golf is in the plans I will just use my daughter-in-law clubs.

The Horseshoe Casina Classic web site gives you directions on how to find the Futures Tour tournament plus weather conditions. If any one in this area would like to attend this tournament check out their web site and be prepared to watch some good golf with future LPGA golfers.