DuPont, Wash. – Katie Lee of Silverdale, Wash. earned medalist honors in leading the field of 19 players who competed today in sectional qualifying at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. Along with Lee, three other players advanced from this sectional qualifier into the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, to be held at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla. from June 17-22.
Four players finished tied at 3-over par 75 and were forced into a playoff for the remaining three spots into the championship. The sudden death playoff lasted three holes and the three that lasted the test and qualified are Kelli Bowers of Chelan, Wash. a junior on the University of Washington women’s golf team; Kendall Gray of Federal Way, Wash., a sophomore at Fife High School; and Cherokee Kim of DuPont, Wash.
These four players will be heading to the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla. in a couple weeks to compete in the championship field of 156. The 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) will be the 20th USGA championship played in the state of Oklahoma. The last championship held in the state was the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. This will also be the second WAPL conducted in Oklahoma, following the 1988 championship at Page Belcher G.C. in Tulsa, where Pearl Sinn successfully defended her title.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links began in 1977 as a national championship for women who play the nation’s public courses. When the June deadline for entries to the new championship arrived that year and results were tallied, the championship had attracted 686 players – more than the combined fields of the 1977 Women’s Amateur, Women’s Open, Senior Women’s Amateur and Girls’ Junior. The first championship was played at Yahara Hills Golf Course (East Course) in Madison, Wis.
The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. will be the host of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship on July 14-19, 2014. The last USGA National Championship that was staged at The Home Course was in 2010 when it assisted Chambers Bay as the companion course for the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship.
The USGA accepted 700 entries for the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, three more than in 2012. The record of 1,085 entries was set in 1986.
Entries for the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship were open to female amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, 2013, have been bona fide public course players and have not held privileges of any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public, or privileges of any private club maintaining its own course and have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 18.4. A bona fide public course player may hold incidental privileges of a course not open to the public when such privileges are provided by (1) an educational institution at which she is a student, or (2) a federal armed service of which she is a member or retired member, or (3) an industry by which she is employed or retired.
For final results and statistics for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Sectional Qualifying, please visit http://www.ghintpp.com/wsga/TPPOnlineScoring/Default.aspx?id=124
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association (USGA), 10 of which are strictly for amateurs. The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) is the local representative of the USGA and conducts this qualifier for the United States Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.