Tuesday, June 16, 2009

U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifying

Sorry, all, I took June 15th off to celebrate Momoko Ueda's birthday. So no live blogging of the sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Women's Open. Brent Kelley lists who's in--and 2 big names who aren't (Michelle Wie and Natalie Gulbis). Others I was rooting for who also didn't advance include China's Tao-Li Yang, Hawaii's Stephanie Kono and Ayaka Kaneko, Evian Cup teammates Annie Park and Kyung Kim, and former Waggle Room regular Tiffany Joh. But I was glad to see both Mika Miyazato and Shiho Oyama qualify, along with Meaghan Francella, Kyeong Bae, and Hye Jung Choi. Still waiting on a few qualifier results to be posted, but the Kenosha News is reporting that Mina Harigae and Amanda Blumenherst finished 1-2 at the Wilmette, IL, qualifier. Can't wait to see how heralded youngsters Kimberly Kim, Alexis Thompson, and Victoria Tanco stack up against the competition at Saucon Valley this July!

[Update 1 (8:55 pm): Brent's updated his lists and the Kenosha News was right. Other Futures Tour regulars who qualified at Wilmette include Naree Song, Walshe, Sophia Sheridan, Hannah Jun, and Esther Choe, as well as new pros Maria Hernandez, Jennie Lee, and Cindy LaCrosse. The JLPGA's Miki Saiki was the lone Hawaii qualifier; looks like she's serious about playing in the States--look for her at Q-School again this year.]

[Update 2 (9:01 pm): Whoops, Ryan Ballengee and Hound Dog were on this, too! Ryan's got lots of links, and both note that Vicky Hurst was another non-qualifier.]

[Update 3 (9:39 pm): Golfweek has micro-bios on some of the qualifiers.]

[Update 4 (9:44 pm): My dad, a former golf coach, notes that Libby Smith, who played on the U of Vermont men's team (the only woman he knows of to do this), also qualified.]

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