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With her extreme length off the tee and height,
Seong earned the nickname 'Kwoimul', which roughly translates
as beast or creature. She did not give anyone the impression
of a teenager amateur; in fact, even to pros, she could be
quite intimidating!
Her first big splash in the States came when
she finished runner-up at the 2014 Amateur Women's Pub Links.
But it was in 2015 where she really broke through, winning
the US Girls Junior as a 15 year old. She would successfully
defend that title in 2016, and later that summer, go on to
win the US Women's Amateur as well. Seong became the first
person, male or female, to ever win both the under 18 and
adult US amateur championship in the same year. She also became
the youngest person to advance to four USGA finals.
By this point, Seong was also contending in
pro events as well. Indeed, at the 2016 BC Card Open, she
seemed to have the win in the bag, despite the presence of
Sung Hyun Park, the tour's dominating player. Seong had a
three shot lead with just one hole to play, a par 5. With
her length, a victory should have been a cinch. But her drive
got her in trouble. She put her 4th shot into some weeds,
punched out, hit her 6th about fifteen feet from the hole,
then missed the double bogey putt to drop into a three-way
tie for the lead and a playoff. On the playoff hole, KLPGA
pro Ji Hyun Oh made birdie to take the win.
Seong bounced back from that debacle, however.
She notched a top twenty at the LPGA's KEB Hana Bank in the
fall.
In 2017, Seong finished tied for 6th at the
ALPG's Oates Vic Open in Australia. A few months later, she
missed the cut at the ANA Inspiration, but did become the
first amateur to make a hole in one at that tournament! Two
weeks later, she put herself into the hunt at the Lotte Championship
in Hawaii, eventually finishing tied for 16th.
Then, she played the Texas Shootout and played
so well that she found herself in the final group on Sunday
with Haru Nomura. The weather got very tough, however, and
Seong fell apart, shooting an 86 to drop all the way to 40th.
Seong's rival HJ Choi sprinted ahead of Seong
in the summer of 2017. Choi won two events as an amaetur on
the KLPGA tour, and nearly won the US Women's Open, finishing
solo second. Seong, meanwhile, missed the cut at the US Women's
Open, and turned pro in the Fall. In 2018, while Choi joined
the KLPGA, Seong focused on the Symetra Tour. She won her
first career professional tournament at that tour's Danielle
Downey Classic in late July.
Seong continued to play on the Symetra Tour
through 2019 with little success. She only finished 94th on
their money list that year. During the pandemic, she came
back to Korea and has ever since played on the Dream Tour,
trying but so far not succeeding in earning a card to the
KLPGA.
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