Fairways and Greens

Korean Sunny Park wins Australian Amateur Championship
Over the last dozen years, Korean girls have had an enormous amount of success in Australian amateur golf. First there was Gloria Park, who moved to the country in the mid-90s to hone her game and wound up the top amateur there for several years; eventually, of course, she turned pro and became a mainstay on the LPGA tour, where she has won twice in her career. Next there was Mi Sun 'Sunny' Cho, and she was followed more recently by the likes of Amy Yang, who won a professional event as a 16 year old. Other Koreans such as Sarah Oh, Helen Oh (no relation to Sarah) and Haeji Kang have also won important golf tournaments down under.

Now add another Korean budding star to the list: Sunny Park. Park has been quietly collecting important event wins in Australia for the last several years, but she shocked the country in late March when she won the most important amateur event of the year, the Women's Amateur. And she did it in spectacular fashion to boot. The tournament's defending champion was Helen Oh, but it was Sunny Park who made it to the finals against another top golfer, Emma Bennett. Bennett got off to a blazing start in the championship match, and before long had carved a 5 up lead on the struggling Korean. Park finished the morning eighteen with a win on the 18th hole, but went to the lunch break with a lot of work to do. Park won the first hole of the afternoon match, but Bennett struck back on the 23rd hole of the day to regain a 4 up lead. But shortly after that, Bennett started to make nervous mistakes, and Park capitalized. She won the 24th and 25th holes to cut the lead to 2 down.

Park's boyfriend Anthony was caddying for her, and she later credited him for helping her to remain calm and to keep the pressure on her opponent as the match got closer. On the par 3 29th hole, Bennett hit a bad tee shot and Park won to move to only one down. Bennett had a few chances after that to put Park away, but repeatedly missed the crucial shots at the wrong time. Finally on the second to last hole, Park won to move out into the lead for the first time. But Bennett fought back, winning the final hole to move the match into extra holes. Two holes later, Park finally won the trophy with a par. Needless to say, she was ecstatic, but being a Korean, it wasn't too long before she was back on the practice range, preparing for her future.

Park came to Australia as a two year old with her mother and older sister Jenny. When she was 14 she happened by an indoor driving range that was in a converted squash facility. From the minute she picked up a club and started hitting balls, she was hooked. She practiced nonstop in the hopes of becoming a top golfer, and perhaps even a professional. Before long, she started collecting some impressive hardware. At age 16 she took her club's women's championship, raising more than a few eyebrows. By 2005, when she was 19, she finished as the runner up at the Australian Women's Amateur. She also added the New South Wales (the state she lives in) Junior championship to her resume. Dropping out of school after her 11th year, she has focused nonstop on golf since then, and it finally paid big dividends with her Australian Amateur win.

Park plans to try out for the Japanese LPGA tour in the fall, and if she makes it, she will turn pro and go to live in Japan. But if that falls through, she intends to try her luck on the American Futures Tour. Regardless, her eventual goal, as it is for most girls with a golfing dream, is to play on the LPGA. She is ever mindful of what her mother has done for her, and wants to pay her back as soon as she can. "My mum is the only one that supports me so it's my Mum and my sister and we are not well off or anything and they have been very supportive of my golf," she has said. "Obviously if I could help them out that would be better because I have something I love and if I could make something of myself then that is one way I could repay them."

Best of luck to another promising Seoul Sister named Sunny Park!

Amy Yang splits with coach
While we are down under, let's take a look in on another top Korean golfer, Amy Yang. Amy stunned the world in early 2006 when, as a 16 year old amateur, she won one of the biggest women's professional events in Australia, the ANZ Ladies Masters, defeating a field that included Karrie Webb, Ai Miyazato, and several top KLPGA stars among others. She turned pro by the end of the year, and was granted special permission to play part time on the Ladies European Tour in 2007.

In late March, Yang announced that she is splitting with her longtime coach in Australia, Lawrie Montague. The announcement came not long after Yang failed to make the cut in her title defense at the ANZ Masters, but she insisted that the split was not motivated by that. They had been discussing a change for a while for several reasons, not the least of which because she will need increasingly more attention as she starts to focus on her professional golf career more in the next year. Montague said that the split was amicable. "There was an expectation in some areas that what had been a remarkable growth curve in the development of Amy's game would automatically continue but by being able to spend only a couple of hours a week with her it was not really enough time. I felt we needed more time to work on things but it was not readily available."

Yang intends to begin her first extended stretch of tournaments on the LET in May. She will travel to the Canary Islands to play in the Tenerife Open, then will follow that with appearances at the Spanish Open, the Swiss Open and the Italian Open. Following these events, she will return to high school for a few weeks, then go back to Europe to play in the Evian Masters and Women's British Open (which this year is being played at the birthplace of golf, St. Andrews).

Birdie Kim splits with KTF, signs with Alphira
Before Birdie Kim won the US Women's Open in 2005, she had made little money on tour. One of the ways she made ends meet during those hard times was thanks to her sponsorship with Korean telecom company KTF, the same company that also sponsors Mi Hyun Kim and Meena Lee. But since that win, Birdie has struggled to make cuts. Her driving accuracy has gone into the toilet, and to compound her troubles, she has recently suffered from poor health. In 2007, she had missed all her cuts before a top ten finish at the Ginn Open righted the ship.

Unfortunately, it seems that KTF decided to sever their relationship with Birdie, which made the top ten at the Ginn and the money she earned there all the more helpful for her. But never fear, for there is some good news on the horizon. On April 22nd, golf fashion company Alphira announced that they were signing on as Birdie's new official apparel sponsor. The exact details of the deal (the length, the money she will earn) were not disclosed, but it is known that Alphira will be outfitting Birdie for the rest of the 2007 season at least. "Aphira is proud to establish this relationship with such a talented and high-spirited young golfer," said Jennifer Glaspie, Aphira's founder and president. "The caliber of her play provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the combination of style and durability of our line in a professional environment." Congratulations to Alphira on picking up a great golfer, and to Birdie for bouncing back in style!

Kangsy signs new deal with Hite Beer
Soo-Yun Kang has surprisingly struggled with her game since her breakthrough 2005 season. That year she finished 14th on the money list, notched her first LPGA win, and looked ready to take off into the stratosphere. Instead, in 2006 she struggled on course pretty much from start to finish. A big part of the problem was a persistent back injury that hampered her game and prevented her from practicing as much as she would have liked. The problem has so far continued to dog her in 2007, and her results remain subpar for a player of her caliber.

But there is good news on the Kang front. Soo-Yun recently signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Hite Beer as her primary sponsor. On March 6th, Hite Beer announced that they have signed Soo-Yun to a three year deal. The deal is worth $300,000 a year plus incentives if she does well on course; she could end up making well over a million when all is said and done.

Kangsy joins Joo Mi Kim and Na Ri Kim in the stable of LPGA golfers the company sponsors. She will wear the Hite logo on the front of her cap, and with any luck will get free samples of the company's product when she plays well. Congrats to Soo-Yun! I gotta say, having those three wild and crazy gals represent a beer company just seems right to me!!

Sports Illustrated website features the Seoul Sisters
If you haven't seen it already, check out this sweet article on the Seoul Sisters, recently posted on their website. It mentions a little fun fact about every active Korean golfer who has won on the LPGA tour - except, strangely, Jee Young Lee. Ah well, they remembered all the rest of them!

Click here for the article

And while you're at it, you might want to check out this photo feature on the top women in sports. Both Se Ri Pak and Michelle Wie get a nice full page spread:

Se Ri's page
Michelle's page

Jeanne Cho-Hunnicke signs sponsorship deal
Jeanne Cho is a Korean rookie on the LPGA tour in 2007, but she isn't an ordinary rookie. She made a name for herself in 2006 by finishing as the runner up on the Golf Channel's golf themed reality show the Big Break. She then missed gaining her exempt card at the LPGA's Q-School by a single stroke. Now she is trying to make her way on the big tour as a conditional player, not the easiest thing to do.

She will doubtless be helped by the following news: she has signed a three year sponsorship deal with Universal Insurance Holdings of North America, a personal lines carrier. Jeanne will wear a hat emblazoned with the company's logo, and carry a bag with the Universal logo as well. In addition, she has shot a video of golf tips that will be distributed to the company's agents all over the country. These tips will also be available in the future on the company's web site. When they are, we'll be sure to let you know!

Other March and April photos:

Click HERE to see some all the photos from this month!

Money List
Shi Hyun Ahn has been the most consistent of the Korean golfers in the past month, notching three top tens in her first three events of the year. It seems like her injuries are, for the moment at least, in remission. Se Ri Pak had the heartbreaking loss at the Nabisco but still notched a top ten there. Seon Hwa Lee has struggled, even missing her first cut as an LPGA member at the Nabisco. Her fellow second year player, Jee Young Lee, continues to shine, narrowly missing a top ten in that event.

The Korean rookies have yet to catch fire in 2007. Jin Joo Hong was one of only two Korean rookies who played in the Nabisco, but she finished well back in the pack. Angela Park has grabbed the early lead in the Rookie of the Year race, but did not make significant progress in that race in the past month.

Welcome back to Grace Park! She made the cut at Nabisco, although she struggled mightily on the weekend, and shot a 65 during one round at the Safeway. It seems only a matter of time before she returns to fighting shape. Meanwhile, Hee-Won Han has finished all the events she will compete in before her sabbatical to have her first child. She will supposedly be back in action around October.

It has not been the strongest of starts for the Korean women on the LPGA tour in 2007, but hopefully they have turned the corner and will start to shine soon!