2008
A BANNER YEAR FOR COMER’S STUDENTS

LEAH WIGGER, a 2007 graduate of the University of Virginia, moved from having qualified as a non-exempt player on the 2008 LPGA Tour and winning her first professional tournament on the Duramed FUTURES Tour to earning her fully exempt status on the 2009 LPGA Tour. Wigger locked up her player's card in a sudden-death playoff among four players after 5 rounds of golf in the December LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Her birdie putt on the 4th playoff hole gave her the last available spot on the Tour. "Yes, I felt a little pressure, but I knew that putt was moving left and I said, 'If it goes in, it goes in', and it did. I got it done." Wigger's steady playing allows her to focus on only one tour this year... the LPGA.

Although before last summer WHITNEY NEUHAUSER, a University of Virginia junior, called her college career "mediocre", the summer and the fall proved anything but that. Starting off her summer Neuhauser won two of her three matches in helping Virginia win the 52nd annual Virginias-Carolinas Team Matches. At the Western Women's Amateur Tournament she reached the round of 32, and at the USGA Women's Amateur she was a quarterfinalist. The fall only got better. At Auburn's The Derby Invitational, she finished second, and followed that up with a career best finish for second at the Cougar Fall Classic in Charleston, SC. She shot two rounds of 68 and an even par 72 to set UVA's 54-hole scoring record. Her team-leading 72.08 scoring average earned her Golf World's Most Improved Player. Whitney is currently the 11th ranked player in women's collegiate golf.

LAUREN DOUGHTIE, started her summer off with the medalist honors after her qualifying round for the 2008 US Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. Her 71 led the field by two strokes. Her success continued at the tournament itself. After finishing no lower than 7th in her two rounds of stroke-play qualifying, she moved easily through match play, making it to the quarterfinal round where she finally lost 4 and 3. Doughtie's next tournament took her to the ultimate position, that of Champion this time of the 83rd VSGA Women's Amateur. She had to beat her friend, Kristen Simpson (see below) to achieve this. A member of the Virginia team in the Virginias-Carolinas Team Matches, Doughtie won all three of her matches to help the Virginias Team win for the fifth time in the last six summers. In August, she played in the U.S. Women's Open, where she made it into the second round of match play. Lauren credits Comer with improving her putting and making her ball striking more consistent. Doughtie is a senior at North Carolina State.

In January of 2008 KRISTEN SIMPSON, a 2009 graduate student at the University of Virginia with one year of eligibility remaining on the golf team, started her year off by finishing seventh at the Harder Hall Women's Invitational. It took 2 extra holes for Simpson to capture the VSGA 31st Annual Virginias Women's Stroke Play Championship. After a dramatic playoff, Simpson credited Comer with advice that allowed her to maintain a mind set that kept her focused. A few weeks later, playing in the VSGA Women's Amateur Championship, Simpson made it all the way to the finals, where she went head to head against her friend Lauren Doughtie. Despite hitting every green on the first 12 holes, Simpson could not overtake the winning Doughtie. This is the second time Simpson has been runner-up in the tournament, the last time in 2006. A third member of the Virginia Team at the Virginias-Carolinas Team Matches, Simpson's 6 points helped the team beat the Carolinas on their home turf for the first time in four years.

ELIZABETH BRIGHTWELL, a high school senior at St. Anne's-Belfield, had a strong summer. As a member of the eight-player Virginia team at the 10th Virginia-Maryland Junior Girls' Team Matches, Brightwell 's wins in both her four-ball match and singles match helped Virginia win for the ninth time. At the VSGA Women's Amateur Championship she reached the second round of match play. Elizabeth has signed to play with University of Virginia.

Another member of a Virginia Junior Team, DANIEL WALKER played in the 19th Annual Virginia-West Virginia Matches. On the first day Walker scored a 1 ½ point half in his four-ball match. On the second day Walker registered one of three shutouts, which helped the team win for the ninth time out of the last 10 intrastate matches. Walker had top 10 finishes at the Future Collegians World Tour National Championship and at the Southern Junior. Daniel recently committed to play his college golf at the University of Richmond.