DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — The LPGA Futures Tour announced today its 2011 tournament schedule.

The 31st season of the tour will feature 16 tournaments in 13 states, including two new events in Michigan and Georgia, plus a return to Mexico.

The Island Resort & Casino’s Sweetgrass Golf Club, located in Michigan‚s Upper Peninsula in Harris, Mich., will play host to the Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass from June 24-26. This marks the first time the tour has competed in the Upper Peninsula and the tour’s first return to Michigan since 2005.

Women‚s professional golf returns to Georgia after a two-year hiatus for the LPGA Futures Tour’s inaugural Vidalia Championship, set for August 26-28, at Hawk’s Point Golf Club in Vidalia.

“We are very pleased to add two marquee tournaments to our 2011 tournament schedule,” said Zayra F. Calderon, CEO of the LPGA Futures Tour. “The 2010 season was one of the most competitive and compelling years in the history of the LPGA Futures Tour and I am confident next year will be even more exciting for not only our players, but also for our fans and sponsors.”

The 2011 season will kick off in March with two events in Florida, starting with the Florida‚s Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven, Fla., March 21-27, and the Daytona Beach Invitational in Daytona Beach a week later. Following back-to-back Florida tournaments, the tour heads south of the border for the second Riviera Nayarit Challenge in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Following the event in Mexico, the Tour will travel to the Lone Star State for the Symetra Classic in San Antonio.

The tour’s Midwest swing includes the Kansas City Championship in Kansas City, Kan., the Ladies Titan Tire Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and The Teva Championship in Mason, Ohio. In its 27th year, the tour will return to Decatur, Ill., for the Tate & Lyle Championship. That event is the tour’s only major championship, only 72-hole event and the longest-running tournament. The Decatur tournament will be followed by the inaugural event in Michigan.

The tour moves on to the Northeast, with stops in Bloomfield, Conn., Concord, N.H., and Syracuse, N.Y., where the Futures Tour returns for its 16th consecutive year. Rounding out the season will be tournaments in Pennsylvania, Virginia and the inaugural Vidalia Championship in Georgia.