Carling Coffing
Identification
Everything seems to be coming together for Carling Coffing.
In a weekend that saw her earn her best finish of the 2010 Duramed Futures Tour, with appearances on The Golf Channel’s “Big Break” reality show ready to air soon and a recently announced national campaign to help fight for a cure for diabetes, Coffing is on a roll.
The former Middletown Middie and Ohio State Buckeye shot a final-round 68 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 28th place at the Teva Championship on the Grizzly Course at Kings Island. That was her highest finish so far this season in the women’s professional golf Futures Tour and it came with her highest paycheck of the season — $1,023 — after tying with eight others.
“It was a great weekend for me,” Coffing said. She was driving to Decatur, Ill., for this weekend’s Tate & Lyle Player’s Championship tournament, stop nine on the 17-event Futures Tour. “I was hitting my putts, and three of them were from more than 40 feet away. When you’re dropping bombs like that, your confidence just goes up with it.”
Coffing will be seen by millions of TV viewers when Big Break’s 13th season debuts June 21 on The Golf Channel. She’s already been featured on reviews of the upcoming show, and she’s enjoying more fan support as a result.
“At Mason, it was fun because I had my hometown friends and family, plus a lot more people I didn’t know, but who had seen me on the preview show. They were all out there cheering me on. It feels great to get that kind of attention already,” she said.
While Coffing said she has done this throughout the season, it was announced by GolfNews.com on Monday that she is donating five percent of her 2010 professional golf earnings to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Coffing, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was 5, has used an insulin pump she called “Hank the panc” to help maintain her blood sugar levels, but recently made a change.
“I’m a spokesman for Medtronic, and they sent me a brand-new Cadillac of insulin pumps. I call it ‘Hank the panc, the sequel,’ ” Coffing said, laughing. “I really enjoy going out and speaking with kids and diabetes organizations while I’m on the tour. That motivates me to play well for them.”
With new fans, new publicity and a newfound confidence in her golf game, Coffing’s anxious for the Player’s Championship to get started.
“I feel so good right now, I’d like to just show up Wednesday and tee off,” she said, “but I’ll get a practice round in for sure.”
The Duramed Futures Tour is the developmental women’s golf series for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Coffing is in her third year on the tour. Her parents, Tom and Leona Coffing, often caddy for her. While Coffing has never missed a cut when mom has caddied for her, dad will be on the bag in Decatur.
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