Rachael Schmidt, a 2009 graduate of Upper Iowa and a four-time National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American Team member, returns to Iowa this weekend to compete in the LPGA Futures Tour Ladies Titan Tire Challenge sponsored by Titan Tire at Hunters Ridge Golf Course in Marion, Iowa.

Rachael is set to tee off at 1:00 p.m. Friday afternoon and will complete her first round alongside Juli Erekson of Chicopee, Mass. and Izzy Beisiegel of St. Hilaire, Quebec.  Erekson played collegiate golf at Brigham Young University while Beisiegel was a student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma.

Schmidt qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships every spring and earned 20 tournament wins during her four-year career at Upper Iowa. She finished her final appearance at the 2009 Championships in a tie for 15th place after turning in a four-round total of 313 (80-78-77-78). The Peacock alum competed in 15 rounds in her four NCAA Championships carrying a 78.13 stroke average. Her best finish came as a freshman when she tied for 10th. After finishing 32nd as a sophomore, Schmidt tied for 15th as a junior and senior. In 2008, she was named the Northern Sun Conference Women's Golfer of the Year and was ranked as high as #2 in the nation during the 2007-08 season. Schmidt also won the 2007 Minnesota State Match Play Championship and the 2009 Minnesota State Open Championship.

This marks the third time Marion, Iowa has hosted the 54-hole event which was won last year by Christine Song of Fullerton, California.  Song, just a few days shy of turning 19 years old at the time, took home the first prize check of $15,400 and now competes on the LPGA tour.

The LPGA Futures Tour is known as "the Road to the LPGA" and since 1999, it has been designated as the LPGA’s developmental tour. The LPGA acquired the Futures Tour in July 2007.

The three day event will end Sunday afternoon and benefits the Junior League of Cedar Rapids.