LPGA Futures Tour member Victoria Lovelady Alimonda will return home to South America this week to compete in the LPGA’s HSBC Brasil Cup.
Alimonda, as well as Futures Tour members Paz Echeverria of Chile and Sofi Toccafondi of Argentina, all will compete in the event as sponsor exemptions. The limited-field tournament will be held Saturday and Sunday at Itanhanga Golf Club in Rio de Janiero.
It will be Alimonda’s first LPGA tournament and a chance to return to the course where her family played as members when she was an amateur.
“I played two tournaments there when I was a junior, but I barely remember it because that was about 10 years ago,” said Alimonda, 24, a second-year professional who was a member of the winning 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship team while at the University of Southern California. “I know it will come back to me once I get there.”
As an amateur, Alimonda was a winner of the 2000 Brazil National Team South American Pre-Junior Golf Championship and member of the winning Brazilian National Team at the 2001 Peugeot Challenge Cup. She was runner-up at the 2002 Brazilian Junior Championship.
Still transitioning to professional golf, Alimonda has been working on her game in the off-weeks and recently played in two mini-tour tournaments in Florida. She played in four tournaments as a 2010 LPGA Futures Tour rookie, posting a career-best tie for 35th at the 2010 Ladies Titan Tire Challenge in Marion, Iowa.
This week, she is looking forward to having high school friends in her gallery, along with her family and her father’s “cheering squad.”
“My family and friends don’t have many chances to come see me play and some of my sisters have never seen me play before,” said Alimonda, of Sao Paulo, Brazil. “It means a lot for me to have them there. I’ll embrace the opportunity and do my best.”
Known for her singing and guitar-playing abilities off the course, Alimonda said she won’t be taking her guitar on the road this week. However, if given the opportunity, she could be persuaded to welcome LPGA Tour members with a rousing rendition of the classic song, “Girl From Ipanema.”
“I’m extremely thankful for this opportunity of playing in the most prestigious women’s tournament in all of South America, especially because I will be playing my first professional tournament in my own country,” said Alimonda, whose married name is Victoria Lovelady.
“When I imagine myself in the midst of such a great field of players, surrounded by the Brazilian crowd, I can definitely feel the butterflies roaming around in my stomach,” she added. “I think it’s going to be lots of fun and a great experience to grow as a golfer.”
Topics: Press Release
