|
Interesting
Player Notes from the
2004
U.S.
Girls'
Junior Championship
There
are 94 players in this year's field appearing in the U.S.
Girls' Junior for the first time.
On
the other hand, defending champion Sukjin-Lee
Wuesthoff,
17, of Toms River, N.J., is appearing in her sixth. A year
ago, Wuesthoff came back from a five-hole deficit to win the
championship at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield,
Conn.
Three
players, Julieta Granada, 17, of Paraguay, Jennifer Hong,
17, Windermere, Fla., and Morgan Pressel, 16, of Boca Raton,
Fla., are each playing in their fifth Girls' Junior.
Along
with the defending champion, the three other semifinalists
from the 2003 championship also all return: Mina
Harigae,
14, of Monterey,
Calif.;
Paula Creamer,
17, of Pleasanton,
Calif.;
and In-Bee Park,
16, of Eustis,
Fla.
Thirteen
players have a sibling on their bag at the Girls' Junior.
They are: Taylor Barrett, 16, of York, S.C. (brother Dillon,
15); Annie Brophy, 16, of Spokane, Wash. (sister Katie, 20);
Rachel Carpenter, 13, of Fayetteville, Ga. (brother Jordan,
18); Esther Choe, 14, of La Quinta, Calif. (brother Ben);
Kate Durnan, 15, of Mendham, N.J. (brother Bill); Kathleen
Ekey, 17, of Wadsworth, Ohio (brother Byron, 14); Brooke Goodwin,
16, of Fuquay-Varina, N.C. (brother Reid, 18); Emily Johnson,
15, of Warsaw, Ind. (brother Adam, 20); Kimberly Kim, 12,
of Hilo, Hawaii (sister Christine, 16); Lisa McCloskey, 12,
of Montgomery, Texas (brother Jay, 14); Blair Ressler, 17,
of Bellingham, Wash. (sister Lauren, captain of Yale golf
team); Candace Schepperle, 16, of Hoover, Ala. (sister Abigail,
18); and Mayule Tomimbang, 17, of Kissimmee, Fla. (brother
Alvin).
Speaking
of family ties, there are two sets of sisters in the field:
Isabelle
(12) and Marika (14) of Goshen,
Conn.
(daughters of tennis great Ivan
Lendl)
and Kristin
(15) and Jessica
(17) Vincent of Burlington, N.C.
Goodwin,
Ressler and Kristin Vincent
are the only three left-handed
golfers in the field. Sofia
Janer,
15, of Colombia,
doesn't golf left-handed, although she is a lefty.
The
youngest player in the field is 12-year-old Sharon
Shin
of West
Linn , Ore.
Canada's
Jessica Potter,
who will turn 18 on Aug. 3, is the oldest player in the championship.
In
addition to the United
States , there are eight
other countries represented in this year's field: Canada,
Chinese Taipei, Colombia,
Japan,
Korea,
Mexico,
Paraguay,
and the Philippines .
Other
interesting player notes:
Anya
Alvarez,
15, of Tulsa,
Okla.,
is playing in her first USGA championship, but she's familiar
with at least one past USGA host site – she caddies at Southern
Hills Country Club in Tulsa,
site of eight USGA championships, including three U.S. Opens.
Brynn
Anderson,
17, of Dallas,
Texas,
is playing in her first-ever USGA championship. She's no stranger
to high-pressure situations – she was a competitive ice skater
until she was 10 years old.
Mallory
Blackwelder,
17, of Versailles,
Ky.,
is playing in her first Girls' Junior after three previous
attempts to qualify. Her mom, Myra
, played on the LPGA
Tour for 13 years and was Rookie of the Year in 1980. Her
dad, Worth , currently caddies on the LPGA Tour for Cristie
Kerr
.
Rachel
Carpenter,
13, of Fayetteville,
Ga.,
is the daughter of Jeff
and Wendi Carpenter,
both of whom are Navy pilots.
Paula
Creamer,
17, of Pleasanton,
Calif.,
will have a lot to talk about when she is asked what she did
this summer. So far, she has helped lead the USA to victory
at the Curtis Cup Match in Formby, England, finished second
at the LPGA Shop-Rite Classic, shared low-amateur honors at
the U.S. Women's Open, and earned low-amateur honors a the
Canadian Women's Open. A year ago, she advanced to the semifinals
of both the U.S. Girls' Junior and the U.S. Women's Amateur.
She's also familiar with the layout at Mira Vista – she won
the Kathy Whitworth Invitational here in March.
Kaitlin
Drolson,
14, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., has two loves – golf and horses.
Someday, she'd like to own a golf course where the golf bags
are transported by horses.
Lauren
Espinosa,
17, of Hickory Creek,
Texas,
had more than 2,000 Beanie Babies, which she donated to the
Scottish Rite Hospital of Dallas. The hospital earned more
than $30,000 for the collection in an auction.
Lauren
Johnson,
17, of The Woodlands, Texas,
learned how to play golf on a sand course – she lived in Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia
for seven and a half years.
Katie
Kempter, 17, of Albuquerque, N.M., is busy this summer – not
only is she playing in her first Girls' Junior, but when she's
not playing golf she's hard at work with her school's marching
band – she's the drum major.
Mia
Kabasakalis,
15, of Alameda,
Calif.,
was a reporter for Time for Kids from 2002-03. One of her
favorite assignments was an interview with Tiger Woods.
Melanie
Kier,
16, of Orange,
Conn.,
has established a Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention chapter
in Connecticut .
She writes a monthly environmental column in her local newspaper.
She is also starting a web site for her nonprofit service
organization called Artists Who Care ( www.artistswhocare.org
).
Katie
Loncke,
17, of Sacramento,
Calif.,
has a passion for civil rights. For the past two years, she
has served as president of her high school's Gay-Straight
Alliance, raising awareness of the need for celebration of
diversity and respect for all students. Loncke has twice spoken
in Washington ,
D.C. ,
at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference about this
topic.
Michelle
Morgan,
17, of Muncie,
Ind.,
has been a busy young lady. By the time she graduates from
Muncie Central
High
School, she will have
earned 16 varsity letters. In addition to golf, she also plays
basketball, softball and soccer.
In-Bee
Park, 16, of Eustis, Fla., is hoping to make the Girls' Junior
final for the third consecutive year. She won the championship
in 2002 and lost a 1-up decision to Wuesthoff a year ago.
Park was also a semifinalist at the 2003 Women's Amateur and
2004 Women's Amateur Public Links. In 2002, she became the
youngest player to ever earn AJGA Player of the Year honors
(age 14).
Jane
Park,
17, of Rancho Cucamonga,
Calif.,
helped lead the USA
to victory at the 2004 Curtis
Cup. This is her third
USGA championship this year – she reached the third round
of the Women's Amateur Public Links and qualified for the
Women's Open for the second consecutive year. A year ago,
she was the Women's Amateur runner-up.
Morgan
Pressel,
16, of Boca Raton,
Fla.,
made headlines when she qualified for the 2001 U.S. Women's
Open as a 12-year-old, the youngest to ever do so. She missed
the cut that year but qualified again in 2003. She made the
cut after opening with a 1-under-par 70 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf
Club's Witch Hollow course.
Maria
Troche,
17, of Paraguay,
is playing in her first Girls' Junior. Her sister Celeste
played in the 1996 and
1998 Girls' Juniors, and is now a rookie on the LPGA Tour.
Ya-Ni
Tseng, 15, of Chinese Taipei, won the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur
Public Links, sinking a 12-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole
to outlast defending champion Michelle
Wie
.
Cheyenne
Woods, 13, of Phoenix
, Ariz.
, is playing in her first
Girls' Junior. Her uncle is no stranger to USGA junior championships
– Tiger Woods won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateurs from
1991-93.
Home / News / Players / Course / History
|
