08kim snares women’s publinx title
the newest u.s. women’s amateur public links champion, 18-year-old kyung kim of chandler, ariz., was going
to play in the upcoming u.s. women’s open regardless of
how she performed during saturday’s wapl final at new
Jersey’s neshanic valley gc, not because of it. the soon-to-be freshman at usc got off the alternate list and into the
blackwolf run field earlier in the month. that she made 10
birdies over 34 holes to defeat 16-year-old ashlan ramsey,
4 and 2, in the championship match, then, was of no consequence except allowing the soft-spoken kim to call herself
a national champion. although earning exemptions into the
usga’s other amateur events, the wapl winner does not
gain access to its signature championship: the u.s. women’s open. (the same with the men’s publinks winner, who
gets an invite to the masters but not the u.s. open.) seems
strange for the usga not to offer a larger reward for wapl
entrants to earn. it goes back to when the talent competing
in the 36-year-old event was noticeably worse than the other women’s championships. yet winners in the last decade
read like a who’s who of college/amateur golf, michelle
wie, yani tseng, tiffany Joh, Jennifer song and emily tubert
among them. why not increase the wapl’s prestige by giving the winner more than a trophy, medal and a bouquet of
roses? —Ryan Herrington (@GWcampusinsider)
usga/hunter martin
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