Fairways and Greens

Se Ri to play men's event, back in Korea
After completing the Samsung World Championship, Se Ri flew back to Korea for an extended stay. The rumors that she would in fact participate in a men's event during this stay have proved true. Her plan is to play in the SBS Super Tournament Golf Championship, an event on the Korean Men's Tour, from October 23 - 26. By the time you read these words, she'll be just about to tee it up! Se Ri is playing in the event to challenge herself, and see how she stacks up against the male pros. "There is no limit in the world of golf, and golf is a procedure of constant challenge. I am fulfilled if I learn something with a learner’s attitude." Asked if she feels she can make the cut, she replied, "I am not 100% sure of that. Honestly speaking, in terms of capacity and distance I am not equal to men golfers... (But if) I pass the preliminary, I will try to make it within the top 10."

Here's a link to an interview with Se Ri about her upcoming battle of the sexes:
Se Ri Interview

A few days after this interview, Se Ri played her first nine hole practice round on the 7000+ yard course. By and large the results were very promising. Though she used driver on every hole except the par 3s, she only once had more than a 7 iron approach. On one downhill par 5 she hit a whopping 330 yard drive! Her short game was also firing on all cylinders; while the press watched she dunked a 50 foot chip and hit several impressive bunker shots. Her overall impression was that the course did not seem as hard as she was anticipating. Stay tuned: Se Ri has a chance to make history here if she can play well!

Check out the photos from her practice to the right, or click on the link below to see a (Korean) news story about her.

Se Ri TV news story

Han breaks 1 mil for season
Hee-Won Han reached a milestone at last week's Samsung Championship: she broke $1 million dollars in season earnings for the first time. In all of LPGA history, only eight players have managed this feat: Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Juli Inkster, Meg Mallon... And Se Ri Pak, Grace Park, Mi Hyun Kim and now Hee-Won Han! Congratulations to the Seoul Sisters, who continue to set records all the time!

Grace and Hee-Won arrive in Korea
last week

Several of the LPGA's Korean players were participating in a tournament in Korea last week. The Fourth Woori Securities Classic Ladies’ Championship was held in the city of Yongin. It ended on October 17th, with the winner being 19 year old rookie Ju-Mi Kim. Kim, who had a total score of 9 under par, has now won two events on the KLPGA this year and is a lock for Rookie of the Year honors. The win also catapulted her to the top of the money list and Player of the Year standings. Meanwhile, Jung-Yeon Lee continued her great play of late by finishing second at 5 under par. Jeong Jang and Gloria Park tied for 7th. Mi Hyun Kim, who at one point was in the top ten, slipped to a 19th place finish.

Professor Grace?
Grace is branching out into new areas! Much as Mi Hyun Kim gave a lecture to Samsung executives last year around this time, Grace has agreed to give a talk at the graduate school of the Catholic University of Korea on October 22 at 7 PM. The talk will center around her life as an LPGA pro, the various challenges she has had to overcome, and other aspects of her life. Attendees will be important business executives from various companies. The school is located in Puchon, South Korea.

Meanwhile, Grace has been added to the Pantene web site, and her shampoo commercial is now playing in Korea. Follow the links below to get to the Pantene web site featuring Grace's pictures. Unfortunately, Grace verified when I interviewed her in Portland that the ad would be shown in Korea only, and would not give any details about its content so as not to spoil the surprise. But click the bottom link to get a look at it!

Here's the main page

Hair Test

Hair Tip

The Caption on the left says something like 'Pantene every day for healthy hair' (feel free to correct me!)

***Here's a video clip of the commercial***!

Grace's Pantene homepage picture

Screen capture from Grace's shampoo ad

Money List
Se Ri had another disappointing finish to a tournament. After leading the Samsung following round 2, and being only one shot out of the lead after round 3, she shot a poor 73 to fall to 5th. Nonetheless, she still had the best finish of the Korean players, and thus made the biggest move of the week. Her scoring average also dropped to 70 on the dot for the year. Grace and Hee-Won were the only other players to play in the last two week period, but Hee-Won's finish at the Samsung enabled her to break a million dollars in a season for the first time in her career.