Northwestern University Athletics
Chip-In Eagle Highlights Park's Meijer LPGA Classic First Round
7/23/2015 3:10:00 PM | Women's Golf
PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A chip-in eagle at the par-5 eighth highlighted Kaitlin Park's first round at the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club. The Wildcats senior, competing as an amateur, carded a 3-over 74 over the opening 18 holes in her LPGA debut.
Park earned her spot in the field by firing an even-par 72 on June 23 at Blythefield to secure one of two sponsor exemptions to compete in championship play. While she worked to stay levelheaded in preparation over the last several weeks, balancing practice with a full-time internship at sports and entertainment marketing firm Intersport, Park admitted to nerves.
"I've dreamed of this moment of playing in the LPGA since I was in the eighth grade," she said. "To play on this stage, with these girls, I was feeling a lot of things; I was excited, I was freaking out."
But the nerves subsided once she got to Blythefield and the comfort of the course.
"The one thing that surprised me was that I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be on the course," said Park. "I got to the first tee, and the night before I was thinking I'd just have to get it over with and I'd be fine, but I had no problem. I went up there like it was any other tournament, and I competed. It was cool to see how I've grown over the years, and feel like I had every right to be here and compete with these girls."
In fact, the nervousness of the actual competition was nothing compared to what the Tustin, California, native experienced during Wednesday's practice round.
"I played a couple of holes during my practice round with Inbee Park, who happens to be No. 1 (in the Rolex World Women's Golf Rankings) and for the first few holes I was so nervous. I think I was more nervous playing with her for five holes than my first tee-off today."
Park's group of Thursday included tour pros Marina Alex and Laetitia Beck, who competed collegiately at Vanderbilt and Duke, respectively.
"I expected it to be really intense," she said. "But the girls I played with, they're not so removed from college golf themselves and they were great. I had little conversations here and there with them."
The 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and three-time All-Big Ten honoree was pleased with her opening round but knows there are some adjustments to make in order to climb the leaderboard in round two.
"Overall today I was doing a lot of scrambling," said the senior. "I had a lot of up-and-downs to make a lot of 4-to-6-foot putts. I want to work on my second shots, my iron shots, kind of straighten them out so I can have some more birdie chances. I think I'm still in it, hopefully I can put out a good score tomorrow."
Park will tee off in the afternoon on Friday at Blythfield in pursuit of a spot above the cut line and a spot in the Saturday's third round.
Park earned her spot in the field by firing an even-par 72 on June 23 at Blythefield to secure one of two sponsor exemptions to compete in championship play. While she worked to stay levelheaded in preparation over the last several weeks, balancing practice with a full-time internship at sports and entertainment marketing firm Intersport, Park admitted to nerves.
"I've dreamed of this moment of playing in the LPGA since I was in the eighth grade," she said. "To play on this stage, with these girls, I was feeling a lot of things; I was excited, I was freaking out."
But the nerves subsided once she got to Blythefield and the comfort of the course.
"The one thing that surprised me was that I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be on the course," said Park. "I got to the first tee, and the night before I was thinking I'd just have to get it over with and I'd be fine, but I had no problem. I went up there like it was any other tournament, and I competed. It was cool to see how I've grown over the years, and feel like I had every right to be here and compete with these girls."
In fact, the nervousness of the actual competition was nothing compared to what the Tustin, California, native experienced during Wednesday's practice round.
"I played a couple of holes during my practice round with Inbee Park, who happens to be No. 1 (in the Rolex World Women's Golf Rankings) and for the first few holes I was so nervous. I think I was more nervous playing with her for five holes than my first tee-off today."
Park's group of Thursday included tour pros Marina Alex and Laetitia Beck, who competed collegiately at Vanderbilt and Duke, respectively.
"I expected it to be really intense," she said. "But the girls I played with, they're not so removed from college golf themselves and they were great. I had little conversations here and there with them."
The 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and three-time All-Big Ten honoree was pleased with her opening round but knows there are some adjustments to make in order to climb the leaderboard in round two.
"Overall today I was doing a lot of scrambling," said the senior. "I had a lot of up-and-downs to make a lot of 4-to-6-foot putts. I want to work on my second shots, my iron shots, kind of straighten them out so I can have some more birdie chances. I think I'm still in it, hopefully I can put out a good score tomorrow."
Park will tee off in the afternoon on Friday at Blythfield in pursuit of a spot above the cut line and a spot in the Saturday's third round.
Players Mentioned
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