Fairways and Greens

Vicky Hurst Wins the AJGA Player of the Year Award
There have been many great performances this year by Korean and Korean American amateurs. Most notably, Kimberly Kim has continued to play well, staking her claim as one of the top amateurs in the country, while Kristen Park burst onto the scene in a fantastic way by winning the US Girls' Junior in August. Jane Rah, Tiffany Joh, Ha Na Jang, Mi Jung Hur and Jennifer Song are other golfers who have impressed this year and deserve to be mentioned.

The AJGA has decided that the best of all of them this year is another Korean American, Vicky Hurst (not many are aware that Vicky is a Seoul Sister -- her mother is Korean). They have given their award for the AJGA player of the year to Vicky to reward her for her brilliant play up and down the schedule. Vicky struggled a bit at times in the USGA events she played, notably missing the cut at the US Girls' Junior in Tacoma, Washington. But she more than made up for that with a great record in AJGA events, collecting three wins and three more runner up finishes. She also played on the Junior Solheim and Canon Cup teams, where she compiled a wonderful record (She was 2-2-0 on the Canon Cup, and 2-1-0 on the Solheim team this year). Congratulations to Vicky Hurst for achieving this auspicious honor!

Choi wins second LPGA Q-School Sectional; five others advance
The Qualifying School for the LPGA consists of two sectional tournaments; the top 30 players and ties from each sectional advance to the finals in December. The top players in the finals earn valuable LPGA membership cards. The second sectional was contested October 2 - 5 in Venice, Florida. Among the Korean stars in the field trying to advance were two top KLPGA stars, Hee Young Park and Na Yeon Choi. Both players had been on the KLPGA for several years, so it's exciting to see them at last ready to take on the American tour. Mi Jung Hur, one of the top amateurs in Korea, was also present, as were Australian amateur standouts Sarah Oh and Helen Oh (no relation to Sarah). Misun 'Sunny' Cho, a former Australian amateur who played at Pepperdine before recently turning pro, was also there, as was college star Jenny Suh. Esther Choe, a junior star who turned pro earlier in the year, had already failed to advance at the first sectional, and was taking another shot here.

After two rounds, the cream definitely rose to the top. The two KLPGA stars were playing extremely well, with Na Yeon Choi in the lead at 7 under par, three shots ahead of anyone else, and Hee Young Park in fifth place at 5 under. The only other Korean golfers in the top thirty at that point were Hyun Hwa Sim, tied for 6th at one under, Misun Cho tied for 15th at one over, and Sarah Oh tied for 23rd. Several Koreans, meanwhile, missed the cut, and would have to wait another year to try to qualify. Among them was Esther Choe, Mi Jung Hur and Helen Oh. Choe in particular has struggled since turning pro, and it makes one wonder if perhaps she made that move a bit too soon. She will have another year to play on the Futures Tour to see if she can improve her status there or even earn her LPGA card outright.

In round three, the KLPGA continued to shine. Choi maintained her lead at 8 under par, but now Hee Young Park moved into second place all by herself at 6 under. It's not surprising that these two strong pros, who have been top players on a tough tour for several years, should be shining here. Misun Cho moved up to 9th, while Sarah Oh moved to 18th. Hyun Hwa Sim fell to 23rd. They still remained the only Koreans inside the advancement line.

Na Yeon Choi did not have the strongest day in the final round, shooting a one over 73, but still easily retained the top spot on the leaderboard and earned medalist honors. Hee Young fell a little bit after a 74, but still finished fourth. Making a nice move with a 2 under 69 was Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff. Sukjin won the US Girls Junior a few years ago, beating Inbee Park, but has fallen off the radar since then. Her final round charge allows her to advance to the finals, however, where she will have a chance to earn a card on the big tour for the first time. The other Koreans to advance were the two Koreans who played in Australia as amateurs, Sarah Oh and Misun Cho, and Hanna Kang, who just crept over the line at 6 over to capture one of the final spots. Hyun Hwa Sim shot a final round 80 to slip well out of the advancement area.

Congratulations to Na Yeon Choi, Hee Young Park and all the other strong Korean golfers on advancing!

Jeong Jang defends title at the Japan Women's Open
In late September, Jeong Jang (pictured here with Korean JLPGA star Hyun Ju Shin) went to Japan to defend her title at the Japan Women's Open. JJ won the event, a Major on the JLPGA tour, last year. After two rounds, she was tied for ninth at one over, seven shots behind the leader, Shinobu Moromizato. JJ made somewhat of a move in round three, moving up to a tie for third at 3 under par. Longtime JLPGA superstar Yuri Fudoh was in second at 4 under, while Moromizato retained the lead at 7 under par.

On the final day, Moromizato struggled a little bit, but still put the tournament away at 6 under par. Fudoh had moved to 5 under but was not able to stop the young phenom. JJ ended up 5th at 1 under, not a bad finish at all in defense of her title.

Here are some of the photos from the event!

Yang nearly wins Daikin Shootout
Amy Yang, the teenage star who lives down under and plays part time on the Ladies European Tour, recently participated in a special event called the Daikin Shootout. This is a special event that precedes the playing of the Queensland PGA Championship every year. Ten golfers start on the first hole, and after each hole, the player with the worst score is eliminated until only one player remains. This year, Amy Yang was asked to participate. It wouldn't be easy: she was matched against nine men, and would be playing from the same tees as they were.

Well, give Amy a hand, for she made it all the way to the final hole before losing. She was one of the final two remaining, and on the last hole, both she and her opponent, Lucas Parsons, found the fairway off the tee. Yang was short with her approach while her opponent got to within 7 feet of the hole. Amy hit her third shot well past the hole, but at the urging of the crowd, made a fantastic par save to put the pressure on Parsons. Alas, Parsons made the birdie and took the title, but how about Amy beating eight other men before she fell?

What was the quality of the competition? Pretty decent! Among those she beat was Peter Senior, an Aussie golfer who has won more than twenty professional tournaments around the world, as well as several past and current champions of the Queensland event. After being awarded the $2,200 runner up check, Amy immediately donated it all to her high school golf program, which had nurtured her when she first came to Australia. It was not the first time she made such a gesture, either. In 2006, when she was the low amateur at the British Women's Open, she earned a voucher. She convinced the officials to transfer the value of the voucher to her school so it could buy golf equipment.

Amy graduated from high school shortly after the Shootout, and now is in America preparing for the LPGA's Q-School, where she hopes to earn her exempt card.

Grace spotted at the Korea Series
At SeoulSisters.com, I get a lot of questions about Grace Park. Where is she? Is she still playing golf? What are her plans for next year? Presumably, she will continue to play on the LPGA as she has in the past, and with luck, she will return to her former glory in the process. In the meantime, Grace is taking a little vacation in Korea. She was recently spotted at the fifth game of the Korea Series, the Korean baseball equivalent of the World Series. The series this year is between the Dusan Bears and the SK Wyverns (yes, corporations sponsor baseball teams over there). Not sure which team she is a fan of, but she seems to be enjoying herself, as these photos attest! Click the thumbnails to see more!

Se Ri Pak Participates in a Skins Game In South Korea
In honor of Se Ri Pak's entry into the Hall of Fame, three top LPGA golfers were invited to join Se Ri in South Korea in a day of festivities. The other invited players were fellow Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam and American stars Brittany Lincicome and Paula Creamer. The four golfers participated in two events on Monday, October 29th.

The first competition the four participated in was quite an unusual one: the Shinhan Card Big 4 Long Shots competition. It was a long drive contest, but unlike normal competitions of this kind, it took place on a runway at the Inchon Airport. The four women were each given three chances to bomb their drives down the runway, to see who could get the longest drive! Se Ri established an early lead when her first drive flew a whopping 440 yards down the tarmac; Lincicome, meanwhile, hit her drive out of bounds. Sorenstam then hit her first drive 478 yards to establish the new lead. On the second drives, Lincicome kept hers in bounds, but was only able to hit it 370 yards. Se Ri won that round by belting hers an eye melting 489 yards for the new overall lead. In the third and final round, Lincicome, one of the longest drivers on the LPGA tour, finally got a good clean shot off, and set the new mark of 515 yards. None of the other women could come anywhere close to that distance, so Lincicome ended up winning, Se Ri finishing second, with Creamer and Sorenstam each tying for third.

Later in the day, the four friends participated in a more traditional Skins Game, called the Sky72 Invitational Skins Game at the Sky 72 Golf course. The total purse was 100 million won, all donated to a Korean charity called the Community Chest of Korea after the competition. Spectators paid in excess of 100,000 won each (roughly $100) to attend, but that did not stop the crowds, which were rumored to be in excess of 3,000 people.

A Skins Game, for those who don't know, works like this: The four players play each hole. If one of them gets the lowest score on that hole, she wins the 'Skin', which is an amount of money set aside for that hole. If there is a tie, the money from that hole is added to the money for the next hole. Thus, if there are a lot of ties, the value for winning the next hole gets larger and larger. The 'winner' of the game is the one who wins the most skins. If you win a hole after a lot of ties, you are considered to have won the skins for all those tied holes as well. Thus, often one hole can determine who wins the entire match.

In the end, Paula Creamer walked off with the Skins title, having claimed thirteen of eighteen skins, with Se Ri winning the remaining five and Sorenstam and Lincicome winning zero. There would be a playoff after a tie between Pak and Creamer on the 18 million won 18th hole. Both players had to hit to a tiny floating green in the middle of a lake. Creamer got her shot the closest, just a few feet from the hole, and won those valuable skins.

So it was a good day for Se Ri, for Korean golf fans, and for charities in Korea. Giddy after the day's events, Se Ri said she was moved that the other three golfers had shown up for the event to honor her. Sorenstam said that Se Ri's induction into the Hall of Fame was as meaningful to golf fans across the world as it had been to Koreans. Congratulations to all who attended, and nice job by Se Ri to get the runner up position in both contests.

Click here for more photos of the Se Ri Skins Game and driving contest

Se Ri's Hall of Fame earrings
Se Ri Pak received another nice gift at the time of the Skins Game: a set of specially designed earrings to honor her for her Hall of Fame achievement. Looks like she was pretty happy to get these!

Money List
This last month and a half has been a very slow one for the Korean golfers. They had a good chance to win the Samsung and the Kolon-Hana Bank, and there was some good money made by them at those events. But the other events on tour were not so successful.

Hee-Won Han made a strong comeback. Playing her only tournament since March, she almost made a top ten in defense of her title at the Honda Thailand Classic, and was the top Korean finisher. Jee Young Lee and Seon Hwa Lee have had a couple strong events, and JJ continues to put herself in contention. Lee and Jang joined the millionaire's club, while Kimmie moved to third on the money list. If she can hang on, it will be her best money list finish ever. For JJ, it marks the third straight year she has broken a million in earnings. Jee Young Lee and Angela Park look strong to join them in the seven digit club before the end of the year. There are currently five Koreans in the top ten, a season high.

For most players, the season is over. Four Korean rookies secured two year exemptions on tour: Angela Park (who also won Rookie of the Year), Inbee Park (as she now spells her name), In-Kyung Kim and Na On Min. Ji-Young Oh, Eun-Hee Ji (who finished second at the Kolon, her career best finish) and Jin Joo Hong also secured exemptions for 2008.