ESPN Golf Online: 1999 Women's U.S. Open: Notebook: Heat taking its toll

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Friday, Jun. 4
Notebook: Heat taking its toll

Associated Press
WEST POINT, Miss. -- The umbrellas were out and the practice areas at the U.S. Women's Open were less crowded than usual Friday.

Akiko Fukushima
Akiko Fukushima was among the players using an umbrella to block the sun.
No, it wasn't raining. The players were trying to escape the brutal heat that has hit the first two rounds at Old Waverly Golf Club. Temperatures were in the low 90s, with high humidity.
"It's definitely a large factor. It's starting to really steam up out there. It is going to make a difference," said Moria Dunn, who finished her 1-under 71 round just after noon Friday.
Grace Park, the 20-year-old amateur champion who is turning pro after the Women's Open, didn't wear make-up Friday, but others tried.
"It's really thrown my makeup off. I've got to keep reapplying," co-leader Juli Inkster joked.
Only one player, Stefania Croce of Italy, wore long pants.
Many players carried umbrellas for shade. Most took advantage of ice-packed towels made available at some holes.
The heat is also making the golf course more challenging. The greens, softened by rain earlier in the week, got stiffer and quicker in the heat.
Kellie Kuehne, the first-round leader after an opening 8-under 64, shot a 71 on Friday to fall one stroke back. The seven-stroke difference: 32 putts Friday after just 25 on Thursday.
High expectations
Dottie Pepper doesn't want an LPGA career measured by majors. Her goal is loftier.
Pepper, who won the season's first major with a record 19-under par at the Nabisco Dinah Shore, is 7-under and only three strokes off the lead halfway through the U.S. Women's Open.
As one of the fiercest competitors on the tour, there is no question Pepper would like to win the Open. But she insists her focus is on the LPGA Hall of Fame.
"I'm in this for the big picture. I'm not in it to just win majors or X number of tournaments," Pepper said Friday after her second sub-70 round at Old Waverly Golf Club.
Under requirements revamped this year, there is a point system for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. Instead of needing to win at least 30 tournaments with two major titles, players now need to earn 27 points.
Players get one point for each career victory, scoring title and player of the year award, and a bonus point for winning in one of the four majors.
Pepper, who is 33 years old and a 12th-year pro, has 19 points.
"My goal is the Hall of Fame. I'll take whatever it takes to get in there," Pepper said. "It can be eight more regular tournaments. It could be four more majors."
Bauer on the clock
Duke sophomore Beth Bauer figured she needed a birdie on the 18th to have any chance of making the cut. Those hopes vanished when USGA official Tom Meeks told her in the 18th fairway she had been assessed a two-stroke penalty for slow play.
Clearly shaken, Bauer made a bogey and then left Old Waverly in tears.
Bauer's group, which included Kelli Kuehne and Jill McGill, was behind from the start. One rules official warned them on the third hole, and they were put on the clock after the 11th.
Bauer's infraction came on the par-3 17th, when she played her three shots in 139 seconds. The limit under USGA rules is 30 seconds per shot plus 10 seconds for the hole, meaning Bauer was allotted 100 seconds for No. 17.
She appealed to Meeks that while she took 46 seconds to hit her tee shot, she had to back off the ball and wait for the gallery -- nearly all of them following Kuehne -- to stop moving.
But her worst offense was on the green. Bauer took 57 seconds for her final shot -- a 3-foot putt for par.
"I'm not sure I agree with the call, but it's not my place to say," Kuehne said. "I don't feel like she took forever."
Heather's heaven
The seventh hole at Old Waverly Golf Club is known as "Heather's Heaven" in memory of LPGA golfer Heather Farr, who died in 1993 from breast cancer.
Farr joined Nancy Lopez, course designer Jerry Pate and PGA player Ben Crenshaw in the first foursome to officially play Old Waverly when the course opened 11 years ago.
On Friday, a life-sized statue of Farr was dedicated near the tee box of the par-3 hole that features a flowing creek through the fairway and an elevated green. The statue is a likeness of Farr swinging a golf club.
Course founder and owner George Bryan says Farr was "an inspiration for us to bring the Women's Open here."
No cap and gown
Jeanne Cho missed her high school graduation Friday night.
Instead of accepting her diploma along with the rest of her classmates, Cho was one of 12 amateurs playing in the U.S. Women's Open.
Cho, who is from France and a member of the French national junior team, will enroll this fall at Florida.