Fairways and Greens

Se Ri wins the 2006 Heather Farr award
Se Ri Pak has received a huge honor from her fellow pros on the LPGA tour. She is the recipient of the 2006 Heather Farr award, given each year to a player who, through hard work, dedication and perseverance has demonstrated her love of the game of golf. As every Seoul Sister fan knows, the last few years have not been easy for Se Ri. She managed to win enough events to qualify for the Hall of Fame in just her seventh year on tour. But almost from the moment the final putt fell on her 22nd victory in May, 2004, life has been tough for this great champion. Her game took a massive downward turn as she battled swing problems and growing indifference to the game. As if that weren't bad enough, she also had to deal with injuries that interrupted her practice, ruined her flow, and eventually sidelined her for months at a time.

"It was tough. I had never had an injury and was not used to not playing. The first month and a half to two months were very stressful," she told the LPGA's website on receiving notice that she had won this award. But the time away from the game helped recharge her batteries, and this season she has proved herself worthy of this award with the intense dedication she has shown. Usually when a player slumps as badly as Se Ri has, she never returns to the winner's circle, but Pak refused to give up, and was rewarded with a Major victory and several more top ten finishes in 2006.

Se Ri was extremely touched when she was told she received this award. "Of all of my success for nine years, this award is the most important and biggest, maybe for the rest of my life," she said. She was especially moved by the fact that the award was voted on by her peers on the LPGA. "When I came out (to) the first event (this year) and every person gave me a big hug, I never expected it. For the first time, I felt like we're family and friends out there. I'm a lucky person, I'm here and play the LPGA Tour," she explained. Congratulations to Se Ri Pak on this great honor!

Hee-Won Han signs three year sponsorship deal
On November 1st, 2006, Hee-Won Han appeared at an event in Seoul with her primary sponsor, Fila. Fila announced that they were renewing Hee-Won's sponsorship contract for three more years. Han started with the company several years ago, and has proved to be the most consistent Korean golfer during that period, amassing six LPGA wins while sporting the Fila logo. Hee-Won's new deal will go until the 2009 season, and though precise details were not released, the deal will be worth more than one billion won to the superstar golfer (that total equals more than a million US dollars).

Hee-Won also appeared at a golf clinic sponsored by Fila in Seoul at this time. She gave valuable golf tips to the people who attended. Also dispensing wisdom was fellow Fila sponsoree and KLPGA star Hyun Hee Moon. Moon recently won her first KLPGA event at the Hite Cup. Moon is aiming to join Han on the LPGA next year. She has already taken the first step, winning the first of two LPGA Qualifying sectional tournaments. She will compete in the Q-School finals at the end of November.

Click HERE to see photos of Hee-Won and Hyun Hee at the Fila Golf Clinic!

Hee-Won Han's husband returns to baseball
Hee-Won Han is part of the most famous athletic marriage in Korea. Her husband, Hyuk Son, was formerly a professional pitcher for several teams in the Korean leagues before shoulder problems caused him to retire in 2004. Recently, however, he started attending an academy for rehabilitating pitchers in San Diego, where he lives with Hee-Won when she is not competing. The people there were impressed enough with his progress that they sent video of his pitching to several Major league teams. One of them, the Baltimore Orioles, expressed interest. Provided he can get out of his contract with his last Korean team (which will be fine provided he does not try to play for another team in Korea), Son should be playing next season for a minor league team in the Orioles farm system. If he has success there, he could end up playing for the Orioles in the Major Leagues! What a story it would be to have a Korean power couple where both husband and wife are competing at the top levels in their respective sports at the same time!

Amy Yang's first professional event
Amy Yang, the Korean teenage wunderkind who lives in Australia, keeps going from strength to strength. She burst onto the international scene when, in February of this year, she won the ANZ Ladies Masters as a 16 year old high school student. By doing this, she became the youngest person, male or female, to ever win an event on a Major golf tour (the event is an official stop on the Ladies European Tour). This earned her a three year membership on the LET, with one limitation: she would not be able to join the tour until she turned 18, still a year and a half away at that point.

But after playing the Evian Ladies Masters and the Women's British Open, and finishing the low amateur in the latter, Amy decided last month to turn professional. She petitioned the LET to be allowed to play on that tour, even though she was still too young, and they granted her request. So for the next year, until she graduates from high school, she will be continuing her studies in Australia, while occasionally flying all over the world to play in events on that tour.

Her very first event as a pro took place at the end of October. It was the inaugural Dubai Ladies Masters, which was played in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Yang was up against some stiff competition, highlighted by the number one women's golfer in the world, Annika Sorenstam, and Karrie Webb, who had won four tournaments on the LPGA in 2006, including the year's first Major. As it turned out, Sorenstam started the tournament strongly, shooting a 7 under par 65 to take the lead. She never looked back after that, and won the event easily by six shots. Webb would finish third, while another veteran golfer, Helen Alfredsson, finished second.

But Amy Yang would wind up finishing tied for fourth in an extremely impressive start to her professional career. She started the week with a solid three under par 69 that included birdies on her final two holes. That got her into the top ten, not far out of the lead. In round two, she had an up and down day that included a double bogey on the 14th hole. But despite those struggles, she still put in an even par round that kept her in 8th place.

On the weekend, she picked her game up another notch. On Saturday she shot a two under par 70 that kept her in 8th place. Then on Sunday, she got out to a decent start with a one under par 35 before kicking into gear on the back nine. She started that stretch with four straight birdies before a second double bogey on the 14th hole threatened to derail all she had accomplished. Refusing to crumble, however, she finished her day, for the third time in four rounds, with two straight birdies. She shot a 3 under par 69 and wound up with an 8 under par total, good for the aforementioned tie for fourth. In her first week as a professional, she earned a tidy 24,000 Euros, or about $40,000.

She wound up the week with some impressive statistics, including a 1.67 putt per green average, and hit 83% of her greens in regulation. She also averaged more than 270 yards off the tee. She intends to play twice more before the end of the season, at the Samsung Ladies Masters in Singapore and in Mauritius. If her first event was any indication, she has a long and profitable professional career ahead of her!

Addendum: You may notice Amy wearing a Samsung hat in these photos. There are some unconfirmed rumors that Samsung is looking to sponsor her, much in the same way they sponsored Se Ri Pak when she first started out her LPGA career. Stay tuned as more details become available!

Click here to see more photos of Amy in action, plus some other fun photos of Jin Joo Hong and Se Ri Pak!

Se Ri Pak voted 'Best Dressed' by GolfWeek Magazine
OK, so it isn't like winning the Heather Farr award, but Se Ri collected another accolade in the last few weeks. GolfWeek Magazine chose Se Ri Pak as the Best Dressed player in women's golf in their October 28th issue! GolfWeek complimented Se Ri's sister, Yoo Ri, who designs all her outfits, saying she has a great eye for color and is wonderful at accessorizing. They cited the berets Yoo Ri designed for the outfits Se Ri wore at Evian as particularly inspired. Since Yoo Ri is planning on selling the outfits next year to the general public, GolfWeek suggested she get Se Ri's agents IMG to ink a deal for her, expecting them to be big sellers. Judging by the amount of e-mail I get complimenting Se Ri's fashion sense, I think they have a point!

No other Korean made the top ten on their list, although you could certainly make a strong case for fashionistas like Grace Park, Soo-Yun Kang, Shi Hyun Ahn and Jin Joo Hong to be included. However, one Korean did make the worst dressed list: Seon Hwa Lee. They objected to her short shorts, finding them tacky. No offense, but I think they were way off the mark here. Seon Hwa usually looks quite good, and if the short shorts are not for everyone, they hardly look bad on her, which is the point of fashion. So a mixed rating for GolfWeek's taste this year!

Money List
The Koreans finally got back on track this period, winning two of the four trophies contested. This allowed both Jeong Jang and Hee-Won Han to join Mi Hyun Kim in the millionaire's club. This marks the second time in history that three Koreans have broken a million in earnings in the same season (the first time was 2003, when Se Ri Pak, Grace Park and Hee-Won Han all did it). With a good push, both Se Ri and Seon Hwa are close to breaking a million this year as well. Hee-Won made the most money of any Korean this period, thanks to her win in Thailand. JJ finished second in Korea, and despite earning nearly $150,000 lost ground, thanks to Hee-Won leapfrogging ahead of her on the money list.

Shi Hyun Ahn finally returned to action after a long layoff, and played well enough to maintain her position on the money list. Gloria Park also had some notable success this period. Her play enabled her to move into the top 30 on the money list.

The Korean who made the most money this period was Jin Joo Hong, who of course is not here because she is not a member of the LPGA tour. She will be a member in 2007 and 2008, thanks to her win at the Kolon-Hana Bank Championship. At first, she thought about playing in Japan next year, which was her original plan, but has changed her mind, and will play on the LPGA in 2007 after all.