Amateurs in name only
The U.S. Women’S open doeSn’T Scare YoUng golferS, Which helpS explain Wh Y a T Black Wolf
rUn nearl Y 20 percen T of The field pla Yed for pride, no T mone Y // By Dave SheDloSki
J.D. Cuban
Ko, a 15-year-old who lives in New Zealand, backed up her No. 1 ranking by earning low amateur honors ( T- 39) at Blackwolf Run.
lEXI THomPSoN, old hand that
she is at the U.S. Women’s Open, was
marveling aloud last week about the
plethora of teenagers in the field at
Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. “There
are a lot of young girls playing,”
Thompson said prior to her sixth
appearance in the women’s national
championship. “I think I played with
two 14-year-olds my first practice
round. It’s pretty cool to see their
games and how they got there.”
Thompson is the U.S. Women’s
Open poster girl for precociousness.
She was 12 when she became the
youngest competitor in the champi-
onship’s history during the 2007
Open at Pine Needles GC in Southern
Pines, N.C. Although Thompson is
still a teenager at 17, the nascent
professional welcomed the ample
company in her age group.
Moreover, the amateur ranks
swelled to 28 players at Blackwolf Run,
ranging from 13-year-old Angel Yin of
Los Angeles to 21-year-old Brittany
Altomare of Shrewsbury, Mass.,
continuing a recent trend in which
amateurs in the Women’s Open comprise
nearly 20 percent of the field. Last year
at The Broadmoor there were 25, and
at Oakmont in 2010 there were 28.
Those relatively high numbers
compared to the men’s game—only
eight amateurs competed at Olympic
Club in last month’s U.S. Open, fewest
since 2002—could seem to translate
into an indictment of the women’s
professional ranks or an endorsement
of junior golf programs. With the
answer undetermined, for now
followers of the women’s game can
just accept it as the new normal.
