LPGA Up and Coming Stars

Nicole Castrale

(cass-TRAHL-ee)

Rookie year: 2002

Status: Exempt

Career-best finish: T3

Career-low round: 64

Career earnings (rank): $409,467 (254)

Education: University of Southern California (2001, Social Science)

Professional__________________________________________________________________________

2006

• Recorded a career-best tie for third at the Honda LPGA Thailand 2006.

• Tied for fourth at the Fields Open in Hawaii, where she posted all rounds in the 60s.

• Carded a career-low 64 during the first round of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola.

• Finished ninth at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger and tied for 10th at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

2006 Stats (rank)

Rds under par: 38/83 (31) Rds in the 60s: 21/83 (23) Birdies: 281 (21)

Eagles: 4 (31) Greens in reg: 72% (9) Driving accuracy: 72.3% (60)

Sand saves: 36.2% (100) Putts per GIR: 1.79 (20) Driving avg: 253 (61)

Career

• In 2005, won back-to-back tournaments on the Futures Tour—the Northwest Indiana FUTURES Golf Classic and the Quality Concepts Kankakee FUTURES Golf Classic—en route to a fourth-place finish on the season-ending money list, which earned her exempt status for the 2006 LPGA Tour season.

• In 2004, competed on the Futures Tour and recorded two top-10 finishes.

• In 2003, recorded a season-best finish at the Wachovia LPGA Classic hosted by Betsy King, where she tied for 29th; did not retain her status for the 2004 LPGA Tour season.

• In 2002 she did not compete after August due to a right shoulder injury that required surgery.

• In 2001, turned professional in June and competed on the Futures Tour and recorded one top-10 finish; tied for 52nd at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn non-exempt status for the 2002 season.

Amateur_____________________________________________________________________________

Castrale was an American Junior Golf Association Rolex First-Team All-American in 1996. The following year, she made it to the round of 16 in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and won the Southern California Golf Association High School State title. In 1998, she was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She played golf for four years at the University of Southern California and was a three-time member of the All-Pac 10 Team (1998-99, 2000).

Personal_____________________________________________________________________________

5’8”...Started playing golf at the age of 10...Credits her husband Craig, her parents Anthony and Patricia Dalkas, golf instructors Bill Harmon and Dick Harmon and Fischer Sports Physical Therapy and Conditioning with most influencing her career...Married Craig Castrale on Jan. 8, 2005…Competed as Nicole Dalkas from 2002-03…Hobbies include working out, shopping, cooking and watching all sports…Originally qualified for the Tour on her first attempt…Represents Ashworth and Cytosport.

Major Championship History_______________________________________

98 02-04 05 06

KNC DNP DNP DNP DNP

LPGA DNP DNP DNP T34

OPEN MC DNP MC T57

WB X DNP DNP T31

Castrale’s LPGA Record___________________________________________

Information above the line indicates record before originally qualifying for the LPGA Tour.

Year # of events Cuts made Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best finish Earnings Rank Scoring average

1998 1 0 0 0 0 0 MC N/A N/A 81.00

2002 8 3 0 0 0 0 T38 $ 8,106 177 74.30

2003 10 5 0 0 0 0 T29 26,255 143 73.57

2004 1 0 0 0 0 0 T70 2,376 N/A 73.33

2005 1 0 0 0 0 0 MC N/A N/A 77.50

Golfing career

She is of Latvian descent and was born in Sacramento, California, and played in her first LPGA tour event as an amateur at the age of 14. She attended Granite Bay High School and graduated when she was 16. She turned professional at age 18 after playing for one season on the women's golf team at the University of Arizona.

As of the end of 2006, Gulbis has not won any LPGA tournaments, although she has reached the final instances, losing in a playoff to Mi Hyun Kim at the 2006 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Despite not winning a tournament, in 2005 she finished sixth on the LPGA money list with over $1 million (U.S.) in earnings and played on the winning United States Solheim Cup team. She placed in the top-10 in four consecutive major championships from the 2005 LPGA Championship to the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

[edit] Personal life, business and media

Gulbis is considered to be a sex symbol in the LPGA. When she released her calendar for 2005 just before the 2004 U.S. Women's Open, which featured Gulbis in different pictures that showed her playing golf, in addition to striking poses in swimwear, the United States Golf Association (USGA) barred it from being sold at the event, deeming it inappropriate, though the calendar was sold very openly at Golf Canada. The USGA was criticized for overreacting. Gulbis also posed for the November 2004 issue of the magazine FHM, an issue that also gave away a chance to play golf with her at her home course, the Lake Las Vegas Resort, where her calendar photo shoot took place. Gulbis has said that she likes the attention she gets, even if it is for her appearance; she has endorsement deals with Taylor Made Golf, Adidas, Canon, Amstel Light, Winn Golf Grips and Lake Las Vegas Resort.

In 2006, Gulbis began writing a monthly golf advice column in FHM. In November 2005, a reality television show, The Natalie Gulbis Show, made its debut on The Golf Channel. The show had its second season premiere on October 18, 2006. Gulbis has also appeared on the 2007 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour by EA Sports along with fellow professionals such as Annika Sorenstam, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald, among others.

Gulbis used to date Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

[edit] LPGA Tour wins

None to date

[edit] Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship DNP DNP T48 T58 T17 T3 CUT LPGA Championship DNP T15 T20 T61 T5 T20 DNP U.S. Women's Open T34 CUT T13 T37 T4 T16 Women's British Open DNP T13 CUT T13 T8 T16