The Canadian PGA Announces New Monthly Column with Alena Sharp

The Canadian PGA Announces New Monthly Column with Alena Sharp

ACTON, ON (February 12, 2008) - The Canadian PGA is pleased to announce that Alena Sharp will be featured on the Association’s National website as she writes a monthly column detailing her experiences traveling the world throughout her third year on the LPGA Tour.

“I am really excited about writing my column for the Canadian PGA website every month,” states the 2004 Canadian PGA Women’s Champion. “I think that people will find interest in my stories about traveling and being on Tour as a professional athlete and the positives and hardships that follow along with it.”

Growing up, Alena’s passion was to play sports. She loved to compete, especially in golf. She received a scholarship at New Mexico State University which was ranked a top 10 school for golf in the United States at that time. At NMSU, Alena was very successful in both the team and individual events. After college, Alena decided to stay amateur for the remainder of her summer following graduation. During this time, she notched a few more victories under her belt, gaining the confidence to turn professional. After that summer, Alena decided to test her strength both mentally and physically at the LPGA Qualifying School. Unfortunately the 2003 Qualifying School ended up being an unsuccessful event for Alena that year, as it is for most on their first try.

In 2004 Alena played in a handful of Futures Tour events and had quite a successful number of finishes. Shortly after, Alena played on the West Coast Ladies Tour where she collected five victories and never finished under the top five. Alena also took part in a few Canadian Tour events in 2004 and won the Canadian PGA Women’s Championship the same summer. She attempted Qualifying School for the second year in a row and acquired a conditional card allowing her to play in limited events in the LPGA Tour. Instead, Alena chose to play on the Futures Tour in 2005 and finished inside the top twenty almost every week, while never missing a cut.

From the experience she had gained in 2005 as a professional, Alena knew that 2006 was the year for her to get her card. She went into 2007 Qualifying School with the confidence she needed to pull off a great last round that still remains memorable to her today. “I holed out from the fairway and made three birdies to finish with a 33 to add to my 36 on the front, for a 69 and a full exempt card,” Alena explains about her success attaining her 2006 LPGA Tour Card.

Alena associates her first full year on the LPGA as “a rocky one to say the least”. She made some cuts and had a good run at the end of the season but fell about 700 hundred dollars short of keeping her full exempt card. Alena received her non-exempt card for the 2007 season, after finishing 91st on the money list.

2007 marked Alena’s third year as a member of the LPGA and her second full year on the LPGA Tour. “I made big strides this past season, learning how to shoot low numbers, putting myself in position for the weekend, and seeing myself grow as an individual and a golfer,” states Alena. She broke the Top 10 barrier twice and is please with the success that she has seen so far.

This year, Alena is back on the LPGA Tour and recently represented Canada in South Africa with Lorie Kane for the World Cup of Golf placing sixth among twenty teams.

Watch for Alena’s first column appearing on the Canadian PGA website today.

About the CPGA
Established in 1911, the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association is a non-profit association comprised of approximately 3,500 golf professionals across the country with a mandate to promote and advance the game of golf, serving the needs of both its membership and the golf public through professional and junior golf development programs and high-calibre competitive events. The National Office is located in Acton, Ontario with nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information, visit www.cpga.com

For More Information:
Erica Bury
Communications Coordinator
Canadian PGA
519.853.5450
erica@cpga.com