ESPN Golf Online: 1999 Women's U.S. Open: Notebook: Park ends amateur career in style

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Notebook: Park ends amateur career in style

Associated Press
WEST POINT, Miss. -- Grace Park left one last mark on amateur golf at the U.S. Women's Open, again outdoing Jenny Chuasiriporn.

Grace Park shattered the amateur scoring record by six shots.
In her last event before turning pro, Park set an Open scoring record by an amateur with a 5-under 283 at Old Waverly Golf Club to tie for eighth place. The 283 is seven strokes better than the mark Chuasiriporn set last year.
"I'm glad that it's over, this tournament. I was a little bit stressed out," Park, the NCAA champion from Arizona State, said after a closing 1-over 73 Sunday.
Last year, Park became the second player ever to win golf's three major women's amateur titles in the same year. She beat Chuasiriporn to win the U.S. Women's Amateur. Chuasiriporn had a 6-over 290 in the Open last year and lost in a 20-hole playoff to Se Ri Pak.
Unlike Chuasiriporn, who made her pro debut in this year's Open by not making the cut, Park does not plan to take any sponsor's exemptions into LPGA Tour events with hopes of getting her card.
Park will instead play the remaining eight events on the Futures Tour. She can earn her card by finishing in the top three on the money list, or be exempt to the finals of Q-school by finishing fourth through 10th on the list.
"I'm ready to move on," Park said. "I'm looking forward to playing in Futures events the rest of the summer. I'm going to stick with the Futures."
Because the Open exemption was based on her amateur titles, Park had to wait until after the USGA championship to turn pro.
The only other amateur to make the cut, Kellee Booth, shot a 2-over 290 to match the mark set by Chuasiriporn last year.
Park penalty
Park's final-round 73 including a two-stroke penalty that was almost more costly.
While searching for her ball in the rough at No. 8, Park's caddie stepped on the ball. Park then declared an unplayable lie, taking a one-stroke penalty.
It wasn't until playing partner Sherri Steinhauer pointed it out on the next hole did Park realize that she also had to take a penalty stroke for the caddie stepping on the ball, even though it was unplayable.
Had the score not been changed to a double bogey instead of a bogey before Park signed her scorecard at the end of the round, she would have been disqualified and her record score would not have stood.
Green drops
Tammie Green's streak of five straight top-10 finishes at the U.S. Women's Open came to an end this year.
Green finished at 11-over 299, last among the 63 players who made into the weekend rounds. It was her worst finish in the 12 Opens where she has made the cut.
In all, Green has seven top-10 finishes at the Open, the best as runner-up in 1994.
Interested observer
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne was at Old Waverly Golf Club on Sunday to watch his sister, Kelli, in the final round of the U.S. Women's Open.
Kelli Kuehne played in the final group with champion Juli Inkster, but finished in third place -- seven strokes behind Inkster and two behind Sherri Turner -- after a closing 2-over 74 that put her at 9-under 279.
Ignoring critics
Old Waverly founder/owner George Bryan, who four years ago convinced the U.S. Golf Association to bring the Women's Open to his course, isn't concerned by some of the criticism.
"There has been some controversy about the softness of the golf course and controversy about being in the middle of nowhere," Bryan said Sunday. "Some people like living in Mississippi. Each to their own is the way I look at it.
"Other than that, I think everything's been perfect."
Unseasonably mild conditions prior to the tournament kept the rough from growing to its usual challenging standards and rain earlier in the week softened the greens and fairways. As a result, the Old Waverly course yielded record low scores for an Open.
"I'm not embarrassed that some of them are 10, 15 under," Bryan said. "These girls can play, they are the greatest athletes in the world."