Golf Babes

If you are a reader of Golf Digest , then you've probably already "met" Therese Koelbaek, but perhaps without realizing it. Koelbaek was the model on pages 76-79 of the November 2014 issue, demonstrating the tips in an instructional article. How'd she get that gig? Koelbaek works with well-known golf instructor Jeff Ritter, who has been featured in both the magazine and on the video side of the website, Golf Digest TV. In fact, Koelbaek was featured in three different videos, too, demonstrating Ritter's tips. We'll next see Therese at the Final Stage of 2014 LPGA Q-School. She was exempt from Stage I and advanced out of Stage II with four strokes to spare. She'll have some help from family at Q-School finals, too, with her brother caddying for her. That's no small thing, given that Koelbaek is Danish and her brother had to fly in from Denmark to help her. It was during another family visit in October - this one from her mother - that Therese

The Final Stage of LPGA Q-School begins on Dec. 3, and one of the top contenders there will be Stephanie Meadow. Meadow was exempt from Stage I, but did have to play Stage II and advanced with ease there, finished tied for 16th. If Stephanie hits it big in professional golf - and there's every reason to think she will - she might become a star in America. First, she's a beautiful ginger, and they always stand out. But more importantly, she has a lovely Irish accent. And Americans are suckers for Irish, Scottish, English and Australian accents. Why do we say there's every reason to think Stephanie will be a big success as a pro? Well, among other things, she made her professional debut earlier in 2014 at the U.S. Women's Open and finished tied for third place. Meadow just completed four years at the University of Alabama (where she fit into the football culture just fine, as the top photo demonstrates). She was a 3-time, first-team All-America selection, and reco

Post by Meredith Kirk . The above video was posted by golf teaching professional Meredith Kirk on her Facebook page. It's a tip on "commonly overlooked golf fundamentals and the secret to creating the shot of your dreams." You might recall from our previous post about Meredith that not only is she a golf pro, not only does she run an organization that encourages and enables junior golf, she is also the reigning Mrs. South Carolina. And she recently competed in the Mrs. America pageant. The above video was shot at Pawleys Plantation. Hopefully Meredith will be sharing more tips with us in the future. You can keep up with Meredith by liking her Facebook page , or by following her on Twitter (where in addition to golf-related tweets she sometimes posts photos such as the one on the left). And as long as you're liking and following: Follow Golf Babes on Twitter - Like Golf Babes on Facebook

Sophia Popov made her professional debut in July at the LET's Ladies German Open - only appropriate for this German golfer - and finished tied for 16th, shooting 13-under 275. One year earlier, playing as an amateur, she finished ninth in the same event. The first week of December, Sophia will be attempting to secure 2015 LPGA Tour membership at the final stage of Q-School. Sophia got to the final stage by playing her way through the first two stages. At Stage I she finished tied for 31st, and tied for 41st at Stage II. Don't let those relatively modest finishes fool you - among first-time Q-School finalists, Popov will be one of the top players to watch. Popov became part of the German national golf team as a young teen in 2006. Her amateur achievements include a victory at the European Ladies Amateur in 2010, which she won by holing a 50-foot putt. She also played in the Junior Solheim Cup in 2009 and helped Germany to a second-place finish at the 2012 World Champion

Lee Lopez is another of the many, many recent (and relatively recent) members of the UCLA women's golf team who've gone into the pro ranks. Some of them have become big-time players and even major champions; others, like Lee, show great promise and are working to turn that promise into paydays on the LPGA Tour. Lopez graduated from UCLA in 2013 (with a degree in history). She actually began her NCAA career at Long Beach State, where she was Big West Freshman of the Year in the 2009-10 season. After transferring to UCLA, she was part of a national championship team, was a first-team All-America selection and team MVP in 2011-12. This year was Lee's rookie season as a pro golfer, and she played a full season - 20 starts - on the Symetra Tour. While she didn't win, she was consistent all year and posted five Top 10 finishes. That included a 3-even stretch in June in which Lee finished fifth, second and fifth. She wound up 14th on the Symetra Tour money list. Only the

It was a red-carpet, gala night for LPGA stars on Friday, Nov. 21. That was the 2014 date of the tour's season-ending awards gala. And it looks like some of the tour players really enjoyed slipping into fancy dresses and walking the red carpet. Below is a mix of photos shared by the golfers on Twitter or Instagram: Here's Lexi Thompson getting ready to head to the party: Once at the party, Morgan Pressel and Sandra Gal served as interviewers, talking to golfers, tour officials and others as they arrived, as part of a live-streaming of the event on LPGA.com: Morgan with friends: Lizette Salas and Danielle Kang, doing it teapot style: The scene-stealer on the red carpet was Michelle Wie, in her high-slit black skirt and sleeveless, cropped top. Has Michelle ever appeared more supermodelish? One more of Wie with her friend Hally Leadbetter (left, David's daughter) and Jamie Kuhn, who is both friend and part of her management team:

The final stage of 2014 LPGA Qualifying School begins on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and Madison Pressel is one of the golfers who'll be chasing her tour card there. How did Madison get here? She earned it through her play on the Symetra Tour in 2014. She was exempt from both Stage I and Stage II qualifying on the basis of her money list finish. Pressel spent four years at the University of Texas and was the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in 2011. That 2011 NCAA season included her victory at the Big 12 Championship tournament. She also holds the school record for lowest round, a 65 she shot as a freshman in 2009. Madison graduated in 2013 and turned pro, playing in two Symetra Tour events. This year was her first as a full-time tour professional. And she did pretty darn good. So good that her Symetra season included her first pro victory. Madison won a playoff at the Decatur-Forsyth Classic in June. She also had a third-place finish and a ninth. Madison wound up 22nd on the

(Photos: twitter.com/Cheyenne_Woods ) As she's shown us on Instagram, Cheyenne Woods has been working hard on her game to prepare for LPGA Q-School finals: One of my favorite shots: bunkers! What's yours? A video posted by Cheyenne Woods (@cheyenne_woods) on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:23pm PST The final stage of 2014 LPGA Q-School begins exactly two weeks from the date of this post, and Woods is one of 156 golfers trying to earn a place on the LPGA Tour for 2015. Over the next two weeks, leading up to Round 1, we'll take a look at some of those aspirants. How did Cheyenne get to the final stage? She was exempt from Stage I, but did have to play Stage II. And at Stage II Woods shot 74-72-70-70 for a total of 2-under-par 286, tied for 12th place and easily good enough to advance. Cheyenne started 2014 with a bang, winning the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters, a Ladies European Tour event, in February. And just a week ago she had a strong showing at the Arizona Women's O

We're going to start a new, semi-regular feature on Golf Babes called Instagramming. (Semi-regular because we'll be doing it regularly, but not on any kind of set schedule.) "Instagramming" means checking in on professional golfers on Instagram to see what they've been up to lately. And why not start with golfer, reality show contestant and model Meghan Hardin? So: What has Meghan been up to lately? Well, there's this: She wrote of the above pic, "Sunday Funday! Caddying in Palm Springs! Wearing @chasefiftyfour and caddying for a fellow @wilson_golf staffer!" And there's also the following, of which Meghan explained, "Thursdays Work Days! It's not easy being a professional golfer so this off season I have been working a couple days a week to help pay for my 2015 Tournament Season! Back to the golf course tomorrow!" So in our brand new Instagramming, we've already learned that Meghan sometimes caddies and that she also

If you follow Ryann O'Toole on any of her social media accounts, then you know she loves living the California lifestyle. So it's only appropriate that she is the cover girl on the inaugural issue of OC South magazine, a lifestyle magazine covering southern Orange County in California. O'Toole was a member of the 2011 United States Solheim Cup team. She first came to fame a little earlier as a cast member on Big Break Sandals Resorts . And in the OC South debut issue, Ryann gets a multipage spread that even includes an elegant centerfold photo. The article refers to Ryann's "striking good looks" and "breezy personality" and "candor with the media," and all three are on display in the in-depth Q&A that makes up the bulk of the article. You can read the article online here . More Ryann O'Toole posts on Golf Babes

If you're going to force your way onto the LPGA with last-minute heroics, then you need to make the next step business-wise, too: finding an agent. And Demi Runas has done that. She announced on Facebook that she has "signed with Los Angeles based sports agency, Yee & Dubin Sports. So excited for the opportunity to get to work with such a great group of people! Happy to be part of the Y&D fam." Yee & Dubin reps some big-name athletes, including other golfers - although they appear to just be breaking into the golf world. Among the agency's golf clients are Emily Tubert and Mo Martin. They also rep some big-time NFL players. Have you heard of Tom Brady? You know, the New England Patriots quarterback? Yes? He's repped by Y&D. So are Patriots receivers Josh Boyce and Julian Edelman, along with Saints coach Sean Payton, among others. So congrats to Demi! As for our opening comment about her forcing her way onto the LPGA Tour: You might recal

Mi Hyang Lee won her second tournament of 2014 at the LPGA Mizuno Classic, but it's her first-ever win on the LPGA Tour. Lee won a 3-way playoff that took five holes to settle, but she finally pulled it out with a birdie on that fifth extra hole. Back in February, Lee won the LET's New Zealand Open , which was her second victory as a pro golfer. Mi Hyang's first pro win was on the Symetra Tour in 2012, and she finished sixth on the money list that season, earning LPGA status. In 2013 (the year she turned 20) Lee played 17 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, but finished in the Top 25 only once. The 2014 season has been a different story for Mi Hyang. In 25 starts, she has 10 Top 25 finishes, including four in the Top 10. After her Mizuno Classic victory, Lee is 29th on the LPGA money list. Originally from Korea, Mi Hyang now lives in South Carolina. She's been playing golf since age 3. And if she wasn't a golfer? Lee once told LPGA.com that her childhood dre

If this golf thing doesn't work out for her, Tisha Alyn Abrea probably has a future in television. Currently a senior at Cal State Fullerton - her coach is former LPGA player Pearl Sinn-Bonanni - Tisha majors in broadcast journalism. And she's getting on-the-job training as an intern for FilAm TV, the first-ever over-the-air (broadcast) channel aimed at Filipino-Americans. FilAm TV can be seen in the southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and parts of Ventura, and some its programming can be watched on its website at filamtv.com . What is Tisha doing for them? During her internship she's interviewing at events. The FilAm TV Facebook page includes photos where you can spot Tisha doing her thing, such as in this photo album in which she's interviewing figure skater Michael Martinez. Martinez was the only representative of the Philippines at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Great experience for a broadcast journalism major. But tha

For years now - going back at least to 2006 - Paula Creamer has done a wall calendar that is available only in Japan. She does the calendar with Golf Digest Japan , whose website offers it for sale . The catch? It's sold only in Japan, with no shipping overseas. Paula's 2015 calendar is now available: The photo shoot for Paula's 2015 calendar was done in San Francisco. You can catch glimpses of Paula in other outfits and poses in this making-of video: As noted, you can't order this calendar from Golf Digest Japan unless you actually live in Japan (or have a friend in Japan who can receive it, then ship it on to you). However, that doesn't mean you can't get one. Every year, some of these show up on eBay. So if you really want one, I recommend you periodically check eBay. You can see samples of Paula's poses in previous years here: search Golf Babes for 'Paula Creamer calendar.'