Fairways and Greens

Song Hee Kim wins 4th event of the year
What is the most repeated headline in Seoul Sisters Magazine this year? It probably is 'Song Hee Kim wins on the Futures Tour'. The teenage phenom has been dominating this season, winning three times and establishing a huge lead on the money list over the rest of the league.

Well, to no one's surprise, at the CIGNA Chip in for a Cure FUTURES Golf Classic in Bloomfield, Connecticut, Song Hee once again showed that she is the player to beat whenever she tees it up. The event was contested July 14-16. The 16th was Song Hee's 18th birthday, and she was greeted all day by well wishers wishing her a happy birthday. After two rounds, she had put herself into a tie for the lead at one under par on the tough course. Would she be able to make her birthday a truly happy one by treating herself to another trophy?

Well, as the headline above indicates, she did indeed do that. The conditions were again brutal on Sunday, and the players were dropping like flies as they tried to hold on. Tour veteran Brandi Jackson made it a contest early on. After Song Hee grabbed an early lead, Jackson's putter got hot, and it was she who had the lead at the turn. But Jackson made early mistakes on the back nine, and Song Hee patiently made pars, waiting for her chance to move. When they reached the 17th hole, they were still tied, with fellow Korean rookie In-Bee Park also perfectly positioned to win. But Song Hee calmly drained a 25 foot birdie on that hole, while Jackson struggled to a double bogey, knocking herself out of the competition. Now, only In-Bee could make Song Hee's birthday an unhappy one.

In-Bee is herself a teenage phenom, and although she had yet to win on tour, she had worked her way into the top five on the money list. But although In-Bee had made three birdies on the day, she was unable to make any on the final five holes, and Song Hee hung on for the one shot victory. Now no longer a precocious 17 year old, Song Hee can console herself with the fact that she is almost a lock to gain her LPGA tour card for 2007. And she has a shot of equaling or even bettering Grace Park's Seoul Sister record of five Futures Tour wins in the 1999 season. If anyone can do it, it's the birthday girl!

Ha Na Chae wins Futures Event
Song Hee Kim was on the Korean National team before she joined the Futures Tour. One of her teammates last year was Ha Na Chae, who also joined the Futures Tour this year after finishing third at Q-School last year. Chae did not get out to a great start this year, but she gained confidence watching her former teammate play so well.

Chae finally put herself into position to win an event at the Alliance Bank FUTURES Golf Classic in Syracuse, New York, which was played on July 21 - 23rd. After two rounds, she found herself tied for the lead at 6 under par with two other players. But early in the third round, Chae suffered a double bogey, and it looked as though she might not be able to recover.

But she showed a lot of gumption, and as her group hit the back nine, her iron play caught fire. She hit the ball close on several holes, and made birdies on 10, 11 and 12. Even a bogey on 14 only slightly slowed her down; on 15, she drained a 40 foot birdie to get that stroke back, then hit her approach on 15 to within three feet.

Still, she hadn't put the win away. A group ahead, Katie Allison had a birdie putt that would have moved her within one shot of Chae. But she was not able to make it, and Chae two putted for her first win. She was greeted on that green by her friends, who soaked her in beer.

If anything, it was probably surprising that it had taken Chae so long to get that first win. She had made every cut in 2006, and had been a strong amateur and junior player in Korea. Add to that a winner on the professional circuit. The 20 year old may just be getting started!

Jenny Shin defeats Vicky Hurst in US Girls
The US Girls Junior Championship is the most important amateur girl's golf tournament in the United States. It's an event that, in recent years, has been a hotbed for Korean success. Aree Song became the youngest in history to win it when she collected the title as a 13 year old. A few years later, In-Bee Park won the event, then very nearly repeated, but lost to another Korean golfer, Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff. It marked the first time the event featured two Koreans in the final.

But not the last time, for the same thing happened again in 2006, although this time the battle was between a Korean and an American with Korean blood. At first, though, it did not look like those two would make it into the finals. The top young amateur in the country, Mina Harigae, was on a tear. Not only did she win medalist honors (she was the top qualifier in the field by shooting the lowest two day score in the first portion of the event), but she whipped opponent after opponent in the match play portion. Indeed, after the first three rounds, Harigae had yet to play past the 15th hole.

But in the semifinals, she ran into Vicky Hurst, and suddenly, for the first time all week, she was in for a real challenge. Hurst is a 16 year old from Melbourne, Florida. Her father was a military man who married a Korean woman he met while serving over there. Hurst idolizes Seoul Sister Supreme Se Ri Pak, and was definitely channeling her idol in this match against Harigae. Harigae had made only one bogey in the entire tournament before meeting Hurst, and looked virtually unstoppable. But Hurst kept it close the first 12 holes. On the 13th hole, Hurst sunk a birdie putt of fifteen feet to go one up. Both players later agreed that that was the turning point in the match. After that, for the first time all week, Harigae began to look tentative. Three holes later, Harigae made a critical mistake in trying to hit a wood out of a fairway bunker. She hit the ball thin and it wound up going out of bounds. Hurst won the hole with a bogey, and went on to beat Harigae 2 & 1.

Meanwhile, Jenny Shin was stunned to even still be alive in the semifinals. Only 13 years old, Shin's goal had been to make it to the quarterfinals this week. Indeed, she had not brought enough clothes with her for the final two days and had to go shopping to get some; and she had checked out of her hotel already by this time and had to get another room. After Shin beat Michelle Shin in a battle of the Shins in the quarters, she played the comparably ancient 17 year old Alex Bodeman in the semifinals. But it was the younger Shin who struggled in the heat, feeling great fatigue by the turn. She managed to square the match on 14, however, then went ahead when her opponent double bogied the 15th. Shin would go on to win the match 2 & 1, and the final was set.

For Jenny Shin, who had come from Korea a few years earlier, this was all new ground. She had only played in one other nationally important golf event in her life, the US Women's Pub Links a few weeks earlier. Hurst, meanwhile, had played in the US Women's Open in Rhode Island. Although she missed the cut, she later said that that tough course made the course they were playing this week seem easy in comparison, which greatly helped her rise to the finals.

The 36 hole final between the two girls was a tight affair at first. In fact, they were tied after the morning 18 holes. But in the first nine holes of the afternoon, Hurst surged to a 3 up lead rather quickly. She was routinely outdriving her opponent by 30 - 40 yards, and it was starting to wear on Shin. But Shin hung in there and finally won a hole on 10 to cut the lead to 2 up. On 13, Hurst left herself with a 9 foot par save which she missed, and the lead dropped to 1 up. But Hurst won the next hole to return to a 2 up lead. On 15, Hurst needed only to make a 2 foot par save to halve the hole, but inexplicably missed it, and the lead was again cut to 1 up.

Still, it looked like Hurst was in position to win, especially after, on the 17th hole, she had a 15 foot birdie putt to put the match away. But her birdie try came up inches short, and they went to the 18th hole. On this hole, Hurst put her ball on the green, but above the hole, while Shin left her approach short of the green. Shin needed to win the hole to extend the match to extra holes, but things looked bad. Nonetheless, she put her chip shot close, and looked good for par. Hurst now had two putts to win.

But Vicky put her first putt well past the hole and was not able to save par. Shin then made her par, won the hole, and the match moved on to extra holes. In the first bonus hole, Shin hit the fairway as usual. Hurst, however, perhaps shaken by having lost her 3 up lead, pulled her drive well left, almost putting it into the water. Indeed, she was lucky she did not put it into the water. But she was left with a terrible stance, and she badly mishit her approach into the water. Shin, meanwhile, had put her approach on the green, so Hurst was now very under the gun. She hit her fourth shot into a greenside bunker, then surprised everyone by conceding the match. It's true that Shin would have had to really mess up to lose at that point, but it was not impossible; Hurst probably should have at least tried one more shot.

Soo Young Moon wins on KLPGA tour
Soo Young Moon has not had the greatest of seasons on the LPGA tour, but things certainly got off to a great start. After struggling with injuries much of the last few years, in her first event of 2006 in Hawaii, she wound up in a playoff with Lorena Ochoa and Joo Mi Kim for the title. She outlasted Ochoa, but still lost to Kim in the end. Still, the second place finish seemed to suggest that she was back and ready to play top level golf on tour.

Alas, it didn't work out that way. Following this great start, she missed more cuts than she made, and even when she made a cut, she would finish around 60th. Perhaps what she needed was a change of venue? For whatever reason, Moon decided to go play an event on the Korean LPGA tour. And, lo and behold, she came out with the win!

The event in question was the KB National Bank Star Tour Stop #2 (this bank sponsors four events on tour throughout the year which is labeled the 'Star Tour'. This is part of the regular KLPGA tour, but confusingly sounds like it is not. This was the second event in that series). The event was contested in Pusan at the Pusan Asiade Golf Club on a 6,210 yard par 72 course. It concluded play on the 22nd of July.

She got out to a great start with a four under par 68. The leader after round one was Hee Kyoung So, who shot a 66. Among notables on the KLPGA, Woo Ri Choi, a tour winner in 2005, posted a 68, while Na Yeon Choi, one of the tours rising stars, shot a 67. The biggest stars on the tour, Bo Bae Song and Hee Young Park, shot 73 and 71 respectively.

In round 2, Na Yeon Choi followed up her 67 with a second one to move into the lead at 10 under. But Moon repeated her 68 with a second one, and now sat in second place at 8 under. Most of the stars in the league were stuck near even par after two rounds, so it looked as though the battle would be between these two young players for the title.

Indeed, on the third day, the battle was nip and tuck between these two much of the day. After the front nine, Moon had reduced Choi's lead to one shot. She caught her on the par 5 11th with and eagle while Choi made a birdie. There was then a two shot swing on the par 3 13th when Moon made birdie and Choi bogey. Choi was never quite able to recover from that, and Moon went on to win with a score of 10 under to Choi's 8 under.

Final Scores:
1. Soo Young Moon [68-68-70] -10
2. Na Yeon Choi [67-67-74] -8
5. Eun Hee Ji [69-72-69] -5
9. Ji Ae Shin [73-69-71] -3
14. Hee Young Park [71-72-71] -2
14. Bo Bae Song [73-74-67] -2

JJ Brings Smiles to children's faces
Jeong Jang has had a lot to smile about in the last year. It all started when she won her first LPGA event, which also happened to be a Major. Since then, she's been a fixture on the top ten list at LPGA events. She's also collected her second career win, finished fifth on the money list in 2005, continues to be a top ten golfer in 2006, earned multiple big money endorsements, and gotten a boyfriend as well.

But JJ has also embraced the concept that, as she has become a more important figure on the golf landscape, she needs to give back. She has given interviews exclusively in English to the American press. She has reached out to fans, such as giving a young fan one of her head covers as a souvenir. She visited a Korean War memorial following her win in Rochester to pay respects. And now, she is literally planning on putting smiles on the faces of physically deformed young children.

Jang has announced that she is teaming up with an organization called Operation Smile to raise money and awareness for their work. Operation Smile is a charity that provides free reconstructive surgery to poor children and young adults suffering from facial deformities, surgery that these people would never be able to afford if they had to pay for it themselves.

JJ and Operation Smile are still working out the details of their relationship, but she has already committed herself to helping them in a number of ways. She has said she will pay for the operations for 18 children over the next 18 months to repair cleft lips, she will feature the Operation Smile logo on her golf bag, and will work to raise money for other operations. A typical Operation Smile mission costs about $150,000, and involves sending doctors to a developing nation, where they see several hundred children and decide on between 100 and 150 kids to receive treatment.

For more information about Operation Smile, check out their web site at http://www.operationsmile.org.

Click here to see a gallery of some photos from this story. And click here to see the video on YouTube.

Money List
The last few weeks have not been strong for most of the Seoul Sisters, with two exceptions. Mi Hyun Kim has continued to play great golf, winning her second event of the season at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, which allowed her to become the first Korean to break a million in earnings this year. She also did well at the Evian Masters, but missed the cut at the British Women's Open. Se Ri Pak has also played well, with top six finishes at the Farr and Evian, but she was forced to drop out of the British due to injury problems.

Seon Hwa Lee has been struggling for the first time in her rookie year. She still hasn't missed a cut, but has now had three straight finishes out of the top 20. Jeong Jang, however, is bouncing back after a mini-slump following the US Open, and Hee-Won Han is also showing signs of life. Her tenth at the British was her second top ten in a Major this year, after having no top tens in Majors in all of her previous career. Kyeong Bae, meanwhile, is fighting to finish in the top 40, which would give her a two year exemption on tour.

Grace Park did not play during this period owing to her injury problems. Originally, she was to return for the Evian. It's now up in the air when, and if, she will be back in 2006.