VICKY HURST

The Facts

Capsule Bio

Many people are not aware that young golf superstar Vicky Hurst is an American Seoul Sister. In fact, her mother, Koko, is Korean, and her father was a Caucasian American. Not only does she have Korean in her blood, she also comes by her golf talent honestly. Her parents were both avid golfers: in fact, her mother was playing golf while pregnant with Vicky when her water broke on the 16th hole (she was winning, too!). Needless to say, she didn't finish that match, but soon thereafter, a new golf prodigy was brought into the world.

Vicky grew up in Florida, where she idolized Se Ri Pak, who, when Vicky was 8, had her marvelous victory at the US Women's Open. After a few years of hard work, Vicky became one of the very best girl golfers in the world. In 2006, she very nearly won the US Girls' Junior championship, but made a few critical mistakes in the final few holes to lose to fellow Korean American Jenny Shin. Still, by mid-July of that year, she had broken into the top five in the girls' rankings.

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Tragedy struck her that summer. She was slated to play the Ginn Open, when she received the news from home that her father had died. She was not able to play the Ginn that year, obviously, but was invited back in 2007 (she missed the cut). Since her father's death, she has dedicated her career to him.

Hurst continued to climb the AJGA rankings. She won the 2007 Betsy Rawls Girls Championship and climbed to second in the rankings. Her win at the season ending Ping Invitational moved her into the top spot and won her the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award.

Vicky played in that year's Futures Tour Q-School, and stunned everyone by finishing first. Though only 17, she decided to turn pro and join the Futures Tour in 2008.

It didn't take Vicky long to make an impact on tour. In just her third event, she found herself in a playoff with Korean teen star MJ Hur, which she lost. But the very next week it was Vicky's turn to beat Hur. With that win, she broke Song Hee Kim's record as the youngest professional woman to win a pro event in the US. But it was her next win at the Duramed Futures Tour Player Championship, the one Major on the tour, that cemented her spot at the top of the money list, a position she held most of the rest of the season.

Hurst would go on to win 5 events in total (one unofficial) and shatter the record for most money made in a single season on the Futures Tour. She will be one of the top prospects for Rookie of the Year on the LPGA in 2009.

Vicky also got a chance to player in several LPGA events in 2008. Her best result was a tie for 21st at the SemGroup Championship. Amazingly, she did not qualify for the US Women's Open in 2008, but will doubtless have many chances to play that event in the future.

Vicky's rookie year was pretty good all in all. Although she did not win in 2009, she did notch three top tens and several more top twenties. She did fail to qualify for the US Women's Open for the second straight year, but still finished 44th on the money list to easily maintain her top status on tour for 2010.

Hurst had her best finish yet at an LPGA event in 2010, when she challenged Na Yeon Choi down the stretch at the Hana Bank Championship, ending up second. Hurst had only one other top ten that season, but her money total was better than in 2009, and she finished inside the top 30 on the money list (28th) for the first time.

2011 was a bit of a step back for Hurst. She had only one top ten, a fifth place finish at the Safeway Classic. She finished 45th on the money list. The highlight of her year was when, immediately after her fifth place finish in Portland, she was made a Captain's selection for the her first Solheim Cup team. She ended up winning her singles match but lost when paired with Brittany Lincicome.

Vicky had a pretty good 2012 season. She notched three top tens and earned over $400,000 on the year, just a little worse than her best money list total for a season. She also made top 20s in three of the 4 Majors; all those finishes topped her previous best Major finish.

2013 was a pretty poor year for Vicky, unfortunately. She only had two top 25 finishes, her best being a tie for 17th at the Lotte Championship. She finished 74th on the money list and barely maintained her full status for 2014.

In 2014, Hurst missed almost every cut before stopping playing entirely in June; perhaps injuries have hampered her. She did attend Q-School in the Fall, but did not earn any card there.

Vicky played in a few LPGA events in 2015, but focused more on the Symetra Tour instead. This was a good idea: she won twice there and finished 8th on their money list, which earned her category 9 status on the LPGA for 2016.

Vicky's 2016 results on the LPGA were not all that good, however. She did have one top ten in Portland, and with about $85,000 earned, managed to retain limited category 16 status for 2017. But she missed far more cuts than she made, and seems to be continuing to try to find her way on tour.

2017 was more of the same. Her best finish was a tie for 31st, and she finished just 125th on the money list. She held on to a tour card for 2018, but only made $10,000 that year and made just three cuts.

Vicky played only one event in 2019, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, which is a team event. She and her partner missed the cut.

In 2020, the whole world was rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the LPGA and KLPGA canceling or postponing many events. Vicky played just three events that season and missed every cut, but she kept her card, because the tour decided to allow players to keep their cards for two years due to the disease. Hurst mostly played on the Symetra Tour, where she had a few top tens.

Vicky earned just $13,000 playing on the LPGA in 2021. She mostly focused on the Symetra Tour, where she had a couple of top tens but no wins. She has played on the Epson tour since, trying to get back on the LPGA.