March 8, 2011

Former Lady Vol All-American golfer Nicole Smith is keeping a weekly blog about life on the LPGA Futures Tour this season for golfweek.com.

Smith, who graduated from Tennessee in 2009, was a three time All-SEC selection for the Lady Vols and an All-American in 2007. She played under Tennessee head coach Judi Pavon from 2005-09 and competed in three NCAA Championships. Her career average of 74.96 ranks as the fifth-lowest in Lady Vol history.

A native of Riverside, Calif., she is entering her second season on the Futures Tour. She had back-to-back top-five finishes during the 2010 Futures season and finished 40th on the tour in earnings.

This season's Futures Tour slate begins from March 25-27 at the Florida's Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Fla. The season runs from March to September and the top-10 money-winners at the end of the schedule earn cards to the LPGA Tour. Former Lady Vols, Angela Oh (2010), Jessica Shepley (2008) and Violeta Retamoza (2007) have all earned their LPGA Tour cards while competing on the Futures slate in recent years.

Smith could be the next. Check our her first blog entry posted this week here.