Kansas City, Mo. – Defending champion Ya-Ni Tseng and co-medalist Mari Chun both won two matches Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.
Tseng, 16, of Chinese Taipei defeated Mariko Shimozaki of Kihei, Hawaii, 4 and 3, and Stephanie Ruiz of Edmond, Okla., 2 and 1. Tseng has now advanced to the quarterfinals in consecutive years.
Mari Chun defeated Renee Skidmore and Hannah Jun on Thursday. ( Robert Walker/USGA )
"After I hit it about the length of a flag on 13 and made the putt, I felt then that I could do it," Tseng said through a Mandarin interpreter. "I feel nervous now but more comfortable than (Thursday) morning. I can play better than (Thursday)."
Tseng, who will stay in the USA after a busy summer schedule of golf that includes the Girls’ Junior, the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the Women’s North and South, has a 9-0 mark in WAPL match play.
Chun, 17, defeated Renee Skidmore of Everett, Wash., 1 up., in the second round and outlasted Hannah Jun of San Diego, Calif., 1 up. Chun, the co-medalist at the 2004 Girls’ Junior, took a 5-up lead after 8 holes and saw it dwindle to 1-up. Jun, a member of UCLA’s NCAA title team in 2004, made a birdie on 9, an eagle on 12 and birdies on 15 and 16 to challenge Chun.
"I did say I wanted to play 36 holes. I guess it came true," Chun said, a Stanford recruit. "We had to win by making birdies. At the end, it was gutting it out to see who would make birdies."
Juli Wightman, 19, of Chicopee, Mass., stunned co-medalist and 2004 semifinalist Angela Park of Torrance, Calif., 1 up in the second round, and then beat Kailin Downs of Bend, Ore., 5 and 4, in the third.
"We were shot for shot the whole match" said Wightman of her match with Park. "I tried not to focus on how good of a player she was and kept playing my game."
Wightman, a Morman who attends Brigham Young and won the Mountain West Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2005, meets Tseng in the quarterfinals.
In the other quarterfinal matches, Chun meets 14-year-old Jane Rah of Torrance, Calif., and Elizabeth Dotson of White Bluff, Tenn., plays Eun Jung Lee of Korea. UCLA All-American and 2005 U.S. Women’s Open participant Amie Cochran of Torrance, Calif., faces Tiffany Chudy of Miramar, Fla., who was an all-Southeastern Conference choice at Florida..
Quarterfinalists are exempt from qualifying for the 2006 WAPL at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo.
Match play continues Friday with the quarterfinal rounds, beginning at 8 a.m., and the semifinal rounds, which start at 1:30 p.m. The championship concludes with the 36-hole final on Saturday.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links is one of 10 national championships for amateurs conducted annually by the USGA. The Association also conducts the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Senior Open.
Kansas City, Mo. – Results for Thursday’s second round of match play at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links played at Swope Memorial Golf Course (6,047 yards, par 71):
Second Round
Upper Half
Mari Chun, Pearl City, Hawaii (136) def. Renee Skidmore, Everett, Wash. (148), 1 up
Hannah Jun, San Diego, Calif. (145) def. Rachel Smith, Powell, Tenn. (150), 2 up
Jane Rah, Torrance, Calif. (143) def. Kwan-Chih Lu, Chinese Taipei (147), 1 up
Shannon Johnson, Sioux Falls, S.D. (146) def. Ashley Grier, Hagerstown, Md. (143), 5 and 4
Elizabeth Dotson, White Bluff, Tenn. (148) def. Christi Athas, Eldora, Iowa (152), 1 up
Courtney Mahon, Kansas City, Mo. (146) def. Ashley Tait, Littleton, Colo. (150), 3 and 1
Eun Jung Lee, Korea (141) def. Heather Rose, Chillicothe, Ohio (147), 1 up
Karen Quinn, Australia (151) def. Ali Griffin, Edmond, Okla. (149), 2 and 1
Lower Half
Juli Wightman, Chicopee, Mass. (148) def. Angela Park, Torrance, Calif. (136), 1 up
Kailin Downs, Bend, Ore. (145) def. Angela Oh, Maple Shade, N.J. (150), 4 and 2
Ya-Ni Tseng, Chinese Taipei (152) def. Mariko Shimozaki, Kihei, Hawaii (147), 4 and 3
Stephanie Ruiz, Edmond, Okla. (149) def. Jenny Suh, Fairfax, Va. (143), 2 and 1
Marina Choi, Los Angeles, Calif. (139) def. Annika Welander, Winnetka, Ill. (148), 4 and 3
Amie Cochran, Torrance, Calif. (145) def. Kelly Jacques, Longmont, Colo. (150), 5 and 4
Tiffany Chudy, Miramar, Fla. (142) def. RemiJin Camping, Hollywood, Fla. (149), 20 holes
Tiffany Lua, Rowland Heights, Calif. (151) def. Noriko Nakazaki, Hanover Park, Ill. (146), 1 up
Third Round
Upper Half
Chun def. Jun, 1 up
Rah def. Johnson, 4 and 3
Dotson def. Mahon, 5 and 4
Lee def. Quinn, 5 and 4
Lower Half
Wightman def. Downs, 5 and 4
Tseng def. Ruiz, 2 and 1
Cochran def. Choi, 2 and 1
Chudy def. Lua, 2 and 1
Kansas City, Mo. – Groupings and starting times Friday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links played at Swope Memorial Golf Course (6,047 yards, par 71):
8:00 a.m. -- Mari Chun, Pearl City, Hawaii (136) vs. Jane Rah, Torrance, Calif. (143)
8:10 a.m. -- Elizabeth Dotson, White Bluff, Tenn. (148) vs. Eun Jung Lee, Korea (141)
8:20 a.m. -- Juli Wightman, Chicopee, Mass. (148) vs. Ya-Ni Tseng, Chinese Taipei (152)
8:30 a.m. -- Amie Cochran, Torrance, Calif. (145) vs. Tiffany Chudy, Miramar, Fla. (142)