Author Archives: sports

Todd Bidlespacher, director of golf course operations at Lancaster Country Club. (Richard Hertzler/Staff)

Todd Bidlespacher’s handiwork comes to the fore at the U.S. Women’s Open

Posted: July 12, 2015 3:14 pm

Todd Bidlespacher’s handiwork has been in the spotlight this past week.

As director of golf course operations at the Lancaster Country Club, Bidlespacher is responsible for the course that has now been by millions on television and scrutinized in person by the world’s top women golfers.

“I am very excited to show just how exceptional our classic golf course is … and let everyone see what a special place we have here in Central Pennsylvania,” he said.

This is Bidlespacher’s 12th year at the country club, where he oversees everything on the grounds outside the clubhouse.

Preparing the course for the tournament — and caring for it throughout the event — has been the responsibility of Bidlespacher’s crew, which has been under the direction of the United States Golf Association

Bidlespacher typically manages a full-time staff of 43, oversees budgets and maintains equipment. For the tournament, his crew has nearly doubled, as greenskeepers from around the country traveled to Lancaster to help out for the week.

Family: Wife Kelly; daughters Julia, 16, and Alea, 14.

Age: 47.

Hometown: Hershey.

Growing up, I wanted to be: A professional baseball player.

First Job: Bagging groceries and stocking shelves at Pronio’s, a grocery store in Hershey.

Worst Job: Doing research by walking in cornfields for a summer, studying different varieties of corn, bagging the tassels, and collecting pollen.

Three common questions/comments I’ve gotten about the tournament: “What does the USGA want you to do for the Open?”

“I bet you’re really busy right now.”

“Do you have any tickets available?”

As far as watching the tournament: I’m able to see it in several smaller intervals and, hopefully, I’ll get to see quite a bit of the final round.

My golf handicap: 18.

Pet peeve: Weeds.

Pet: Ben, a 3-year-old border collie. He spends all day with me on the course.

Favorite movie: “Caddyshack,” but I’ve have probably watched “Goodfellas” more.

Favorite TV show: I spend the most time each week watching “The Kelly File” — when it isn’t football season, at least.

Famous person I’d like to have dinner with: Howard Stern.

Favorite singer: Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.

Favorite meal: Anything Italian.

Favorite restaurant: Piazza Sorrento in Hershey.

Always in my fridge: Swiss Premium Tea Cooler.

What I usually eat for breakfast: A bowl of Shredded Wheat.

Hobbies: Sports and music.

My popularity in high school, on a scale of 1-10: 8.

How important that seems now, on a scale of 1-10: 3. But my best friends are still those I grew up with in Hershey.

Best gift ever: A surprise party with friends from home when I was living in Cleveland.

Favorite vacation spot: Southern Florida.

Dream vacation: Italy or Australia/New Zealand.

Best advice I’ve ever gotten: You can’t please everyone.

Worst advice I’ve gotten: I was advised to leave a job that I liked for another that paid slightly more. But I ultimately disliked the new job and left.

Advice I’d give a 20-year-old old: Pursue a career that you will enjoy, and start to set yourself up now to eventually attain it.

Advice I’d give a 30-year-old: Balance your work/family, and make sure you make spending time with your children the top priority.

Advice I’d give a 40-year-old: Exercise and put more focus on living a healthy lifestyle.

Photo Gallery: Golf Club Covers at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open

Driver cover for Bertine Strauss, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Wednesday July 8, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Christina Kim, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Wednesday July 8, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Emma Talley, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Monday July 6, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover Hae Ji Kang, during first day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Thursday July 9, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Hyo Joo Kim, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Tuesday July 7, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Inbee Park, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Wednesday July 8, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Elizabeth Nagel, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Tuesday July 7, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Muni He, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Wednesday July 8, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Paula Creamer,during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Tuesday July 7, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Stephanie Meadows, during practice rounds of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Wednesday July 8, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Driver cover for Brittany Lincicome, during second day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Friday July 10, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Amy Yang follows through on her tee shot on the second hole during Round 3 of the US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club on Saturday, July 11.

U.S. Women’s Open recap: Yang leads by 3 strokes heading to Sunday

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Amy Yang is back in the final pairing at the U.S. Women’s Open, and this time she’s prepared for the daunting challenge ahead.

The 25-year-old South Korean beat back all of Stacy Lewis’ challenges in the third round at Lancaster Country Club on Saturday, and the day ended as it started: with Yang three strokes ahead of Lewis.

On Sunday, for the third time in four years and fourth time in six, she’ll be in the final group at a U.S. Open. This time, she’ll have a three-stroke cushion over her nearest competitor and plenty of experience to draw on.

(Full updated scoreboard and Sunday’s tee times)

“It was good experience, the last two — the final group experience,” she said. “Me and my coach, we prepared. We practiced hard. I’ll go out there and I’ll just do my best, like what I practice.”

Yang shot a 1-under 69 Saturday, the same as Lewis, as the last pair off went toe-to-toe, giving the pairing a match-play feel.

Yang pushed her lead to four strokes at the 13th before Lewis capitalized on a two-stroke swing at the 14th, closing within two. But Lewis’ struggles with putting carried over to the 17th, where she made a three-putt bogey, sending Yang’s advantage back to three.

Yang’s three-day total of 8-under 202 is the second-lowest in championship history behind Julie Inkster’s 201 in 1999. Lewis was at 5-under 205.

On “moving day,” all the action was outside the top two spots.

In Gee Chun, playing in her first U.S. Open, shot a second 2-under 68. The 20-year-old from South Korea is alone in third place at 4-under 206. Japan’s Shiho Oyama is fourth at 3 under after a 71.

Defending champion Michelle Wie played with nagging hip and ankle pain, firing a 68. She is in a four-way tie for fifth at 2-under 208, along with two-time winner Inbee Park (70).

History was made in the third round when South Korea’s Chella Choi shot the first nine-hole score of 29 for the championship. But the 24-year-old missed a three-foot putt on her final hole that would have tied the championship’s single-round scoring record. She settled for a 6-under 64, shooting up the leaderboard into the pack at 2 under.

On Sunday, Yang will again be one of the last to tee off in the U.S. Open. She has been in the last grouping two of the last three years, and in 2010. At Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, she played with Wie, was overtaken by eventual runner-up Lewis and settled for fourth. In 2012, she finished second to Na Yeon Choi, and placed fifth in 2010.

Stacy Lewis gets a birdie putt to drop on the fourth hole during Round 3 of the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on Saturday, July 11.

Lewis, a two-time major winner, figures she needs to solve the slippery, sloping greens of Lancaster Country Club if she’s to overtake Yang.

“It’s just the severity of these greens,” said Lewis, who is tied for 26th with 96 putts over three rounds. “And the moment you do try to hit one of those down the hill, that’s when you knock it five feet by. I don’t think the speed of the greens is that inconsistent; I just think it’s the slope within the greens.”

Chun is enjoying her run through her first U.S. Open. She was paired with two-time champion Karrie Webb on Saturday, saying she was 4 years old when the seven-time major winner turned pro. She offset three bogeys with five birdies in her round to stay in contention, albeit four strokes off the lead.

“Everything I experience here, it is new, completely new,” she said. “So this is an adventure to me. So tomorrow it’s going to be the same thing. Everything is going to be very fun. I just want to be enjoying every bit of the time.”

The hilly course in the heart of Amish country is taking its toll on the hobbled Wie. At one point Saturday, the 25-year-old, four-time winner was kneading her hip and thigh, trying to loosen her muscles.

“I just feel like there’s a knot in it sometimes and just trying to get it to go,” she said.
“Unfortunately it does get a little bit worse. It’s just a pretty hilly golf course. On flat lies, it’s OK. It’s just on the uphill shots,” she said.

Wie, 57th after the opening round, finally got into red numbers with a birdie at the second, but struggled to stay below par on the front nine. She gave a stroke back at the fourth before following consecutive birdies at the sixth and seventh with back-to-back bogeys closing out the side.

She finally got on track on the back side, posting birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th to reach 3 under. But she gave another stroke back at the 16th and limped in with pars.

Wie is refusing to let the injuries that forced her to withdraw from Kingsmill earlier this year hamper the defense of her major title.

“It was a long day today,” Wie acknowledged. “I’m glad to be done … I’ve played with the pain for a while. I know what to expect, nothing is unexpected.

“I just feel like it’s coming together. I just want to keep the good feelings going and keep improving on them, gaining confidence in my good shots and learn from the bad ones.”

Of the five amateurs who made the cut, Megan Khang has the lowest score at 4-over 214, good for a tie for 37th.

There was a hole-in-one Saturday. Lee Lopez used a 6-iron to ace the 156-yard sixth hole, the 23rd hole-in-one in U.S. Women’s Open history.

Big day for Alli Weaver

[youtube id=”rnEwqH1ZNls”]

Warwick High School graduate Alli Weaver played a surprise round today, though not as an official Open participant. She’s served as a “marker” for Haruka Morita-Wanyaolu, who was today’s first starter and didn’t have a playing partner. See Diana Pugliese’s full story on Weaver.

More coverage:

Saturday’s photo gallery

Kayakers and Conoers paddle along the Conestoga River through Lancaster Country Club during the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open Saturday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Canoes, kayaks make a splash in the Conestoga River

Chella Choi’s sparkling 64 vaults her into contention

Defending champion Wie is a good spot to start final day

Hand-operated scoreboards still a huge focal point

Megan Kang, family living American dream

Fox Sports broadcast team gives kudos to Lancaster Country Club

USGA historian Mike Trostel helps to put things in perspective for everyone

Saturday’s spectators give rave reviews

Amy Yang makes a putt for birdie on the sixth hole during Round 3 of the US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club on Saturday, July 11.

Mike Gross: All that’s left is focusing on 18 holes

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A working-class pro named Chella Choi shot a little 29 on Lancaster Country Club’s front nine Saturday.

A couple hours later, Choi had a birdie putt on the 18th green for a 62, which would have been the best all-gender score in the long, long history of the U.S. Open.

“I was hoping she made it,” said Stacy Lewis, standing on the putting green.
Choi three-putted for 64.

“It’s a lot harder to do it at 2 o’clock than at 9 o’clock (in the morning),” Lewis observed.
Then Lewis went out with Amy Yang in the final group of Saturday’s third round — “moving day,” according to tired golfing cliche.

Nobody moved much.

And now the deck seems clear. It looks like Yang (8-under) vs. Lewis (5-under) for the national championship.

That could be as wrong as everything else This Space has predicted this week, but not by the logic and the numbers.

Other than Lewis and In Gee Chun (4-under), an obscure Korean-tour pro and purported math genius who seemed (through an interpreter) happy just to be here, no one else is within five.

The brand names who aren’t out of it — Inbee Park and Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko and Morgan Pressel — all fired and fell back Saturday. Wie, in particular, showed gumption in limping, on a bad ankle and hip, to a 68 that could have been better.

But they’re all going to need a lot of help.

Yang and Lewis seem unlikely to give it to them.

They’re both ball-strikers, and have missed just 21 of a possible combined 108 greens in regulation so far.

They’ve both been in these spots often enough.

Lewis has been the best American for quite a while now. She seemingly contends every week, although she hasn’t won in over a year now. Exactly a year ago, she was world No. 1.

The first of her two majors, the 2011 Kraft Nabisco, came in similar circumstances to today, playing in the final group with Yani Tseng, two shots back, and reeling her in with a 69.

Yang has won just twice on tour, but has three top-fives and three final-group Sundays in the USWO since 2009.

“I’ll go in to (tomorrow) with the same mindset as today,” Lewis said. “If it gets to the back nine Sunday and we’re three ahead of everybody else, it becomes a different ballgame.”

Yang, from South Korea, struggles with speaking and understanding English, but she got her broad point across.

“I just focus on my shots, try not to think too much, trust what I practice,” she said.

Yang started the day three shots clear of Lewis, who was two shots clear of everyone else save Japanese pro Shiho Oyama. The last twosome fired matching 69s with what looked like some match play moments, although both players insisted it was anything but.

Yang birdied one, but bogeyed two. Lewis did the opposite. Both birdied six and bogeyed the brutal par-3 eighth.

On the 10th, Lewis’ chip, poorly conceived and executed, went 20 feet past into the fringe. Lewis drilled that par putt, leaving Yang to stand over a knee-knocking four-footer. Which she brushed in.

Yang birdied 13, a par-5 she’s gotten all three days, but gave it back a hole later. Lewis birdied 14, but gave that back on 17, which made her five-footer for par on 18, and to avoid a bogey-bogey finish, a nervous one.

“You guys were probably rooting for me to make that one,” Lewis said, acknowledging her own temper. “Three shots behind is a lot better than four, for some reason.”
Of course they’re both burning for this championship, but, on the surface, they seem underwhelmed.

Yang went to be greeted by her parents and dog, a cocker spaniel called Boci.

“I usually sleep pretty well,” she said.

Budding Fox TV broadcaster Natalie Gulbis will probably stop by Lewis’ rental, where the gang will play some cards and eat the lasagna Lewis’ mom couldn’t cook the other day when the power went out.

That’s all. The talk about agronomy or parking or shuttles or galleries or the Amish has all boiled off.

One small request for the USGA: Sunday should be the third straight dry, warm day. Yang isn’t super-long, and she hit 6-iron into the supposedly mammoth 18th Saturday. Not epic enough.

Can we please see every effective inch of Lancaster Country Club?

Other than that, the stage is set. From here on out, it’s pure golf.

Fans check the scores at the 18th hole leader board, during third day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday July 11, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Hand-operated scoreboards still a huge focal point at Open

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The crowd forms a gentle stream as it follows the worn-down walkway between the 14th and 18th greens at Lancaster Country Club on Saturday, absorbing the hot July sun in the middle of the afternoon.

Some members of the stream peel away, though, pulling out phones or pausing for a pose under the structural centerpiece of the U.S. Women’s Open, a mammoth, hand-operated scoreboard fixed with 0s and 1s and 2s and 3s on panels that tell the tournament’s story, by hole score and round totals, in real time.

Chella Choi’s 6-under 64 today is on the big board overlooking the 18th green. #LNPOpen pic.twitter.com/Y7zEVOIJvx

— Tim Gross (@TimGrossLNP) July 11, 2015

“It’s old school,” says Katherine O’Connor of Madison, New Jersey, after posing in front of the board. “It’s like the Green Monster.”

The simple elements of the 38-foot-wide board fit its temporary home on William Flynn’s classic course at Lancaster Country Club, and its presence emits prestige while it broadcasts the scores authored by the tournament’s leaders. Behind the 0s and 1s and 2s on the scoreboard’s panels, a handful of marshals scurry in the shade to keep the structure up to speed as the 70th U.S. Women’s Open unfolds.

A couple’s tradition

The travelogue for John and Claudia Paul of Willow Grove includes vacation stops in Wichita, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Oakmont, Pennsylvania. The couple, married for 41 years, volunteers at golf tournaments across the country. They’ve seen some 25 U.S. Opens. They served as marshals at the 11th hole in Pebble Beach when Tom Watson outdueled Jack Nicklaus for the 1982 title.

“We had done our shift,” John Paul says, “and we were standing on the 18th fairway when Watson chipped in on 17.”

This year’s Women’s Open in Lancaster — about an hour’s drive up the Turnpike from their home — gives the Pauls their first chance to work the “monster board.” Working in teams of four, the Pauls join Christian Refice of Doylestown and Michael Hogan, their nephew, from West Chester, for the Saturday afternoon shift.

From L2R: John and Claudia Paul, Christian Refice and Michael Hogan. They operate the Open’s big scoreboard. #LNPOpen pic.twitter.com/tG03zsV68J — Tim Gross (@TimGrossLNP) July 11, 2015

Behind the big board

“We’re going to put a name up on row five,” John Paul says in the middle of his shift. “It’s Park, I. Starting score is minus-2.”

The scores come in to John Paul, the designated captain, through a hand-held computer boasting names and numbers on a touchscreen. A button labeled “GET” lights up and, with a touch, issues highlighted changes from “scoring central,” which funnels information from the walking scorers throughout the course.

This is the screen that updates the scoreboard operators on the changes in the leaderboard. #LNPOpen pic.twitter.com/MjBoKwbmxz

— Tim Gross (@TimGrossLNP) July 11, 2015

“It was pretty easy for two or three hours,” Refice said of his Friday shift, “just change a number here or there. Once the afternoon tee times started, it got crazy for, like, half an hour. We were changing 10 lines, it felt like, at the same time.”

A USGA official checks the board to offering intermittent feedback as the gentle stream of people passes in front of the structure.

“He will tell us,” John says, that, ‘Hey, line seven on hole 13, move the one over a little bit because it’s not centered.’ He does quality control for us.”

Oh, what a view

The USGA officials aren’t the only ones to check the big board by the 18th green. In the days of electronic communication and real-time phone updates, few in the crowd need to check the hand-operated scoreboard to find out the leaders.

But the monster board draws more attention than ever.

“The monster board,” John Paul says, “is the most photographed scoreboard, I believe, in all of sports.”

It wasn’t always the case.

“In the old days,” he continues, “if you saw somebody with a camera, you chased them out, or you called security. People weren’t to bring cameras on the course.”

To the scoreboard operators, the backside of the board offers more than shade as it looks out from the scaffolding onto the long fairways and greens and tee boxes of Lancaster Country Club.

Says Hogan, “It’s the best view on the course.”

Tim Gross is a member of the sports staff. He can be reached at tgross@lnpnews.com or (717) 291-8666. You can also follow @ByTimGross on Twitter.

U.S. Women’s Open: Sunday’s final-round tee times

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Sunday’s final-round tee times for the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club

8:24 a.m. — Elizabeth Nagel
8:35 a.m. — Lee-Anne Pace, Haruka Morita-Wanyaolu
8:46 a.m. — Mi Jung Hur, Hannah O’Sullivan (a)
8:57 a.m. — Alison Lee, Lala Anai
9:08 a.m. — Emma Talley (a), Maria Balikoeva
9:19 a.m. — Jaye Marie Green, Mirim Lee
9:30 a.m. — Sei Young Kim, Paula Creamer
9:41 a.m. — Muni He (a), I.K. Kim
9:52 a.m. — Mo Martin, Gerina Piller
10:03 a.m. — Kim Kaufman, Karine Icher
10:14 a.m. — Ha Na Jang, Mariel Galdiano (a)
10:25 a.m. — Danielle Kang, Ayako Uehara
10:36 a.m. — Megan Khang (a), Erika Kikuchi
10:47 a.m. — Austin Ernst, Charley Hull
10:58 a.m. — Lee Lopez, Candie Kung
11:09 a.m. — Angela Stanford, Lizette Salas
11:20 a.m. — Brittany Lang, Q Baek
11:31 a.m. — Azahara Munoz, Laura Davies
11:42 a.m. — Teresa Lu, Marina Alex
11:53 a.m. — Karrie Webb, Na Yeon Choi
12:04 p.m. — Jung Min Lee, Lydia Ko
12:15 p.m. — Jenny Shin, Sydnee Michaels
12:26 p.m. — Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson
12:37 p.m. — Sakura Yokomine, Rumi Yoshiba
12:48 p.m. — Pernilla Lindberg, So Yeon Ryu
12:59 p.m. — Ai Suzuki, Ryann O’Toole
1:10 p.m. — Kris Tamulis, Jane Park
1:21 p.m. — Morgan Pressel, Min Lee

Michelle Wie, tees off on the 4th hole, during first day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Thursday July 9, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Defending champ Wie in in good spot to start final day

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Michelle Wie wasn’t terribly sure what to expect before teeing it up in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Lancaster Country Club.

The defending champion has been dealing with hip and ankle injuries all season. On top of that, she made some swing changes that made climbing any leaderboard difficult.

But she was encouraged with her play at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship two weeks ago, even though she wasn’t really rewarded by a low number. She shot 70-71 and missed the cut.

Yet she felt more comfortable and healthier there.

She battled some hip issues Saturday but finished with her second consecutive 2-under-par 68 and is 2-under for the tournament heading into Sunday’s final round. She’s scored two rounds in the 60s for only the second time this year has a chance to make it three.

And two rounds in the 60s in the U.S. Open is more commendable than doing the same in some LPGA events.

A large gallery followed Wie’s round Saturday and saw her make six birdies.

“I think my expectations were just I was going to play as hard as I can try to make as many birdies as I can,” she said. “And right now, I’m just really happy that I’m in a good spot. I just want to see what I can do (Sunday).”

Wie pointed to her short irons as one of her strengths Saturday. It was just another part of her game that feels like it’s coming together.

“I just want to keep the good feelings going and keep improving on them, gaining confidence in my good shots and learning from the bad ones,” she said.

Wie kept an eye on the leaderboard throughout her round Saturday, making sure the tournament’s leaders did get too far from her score.

“I’m grateful that I have an opportunity, I have a chance,” she said. “So I’m going to try to do as much as I can with it.”

In Gee Chun tees off from hole #2 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 3 of the 2013 U.S. Women's Open Saturday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Chun, Oyama sitting 3rd, 4th as US Women’s Open enters final round

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One is a 22-year-old native of South Korea.

The other is a 38-year-old product of Japan.

At opposite ends of the spectrum age-wise, what In Gee Chun and Shiho Oyama have in common is that both have much to play for in Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club.

Shiho Oyama, eyes up a putt on the 2nd hole, during third day action of the 70th US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday July 11, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Competing in her first U.S. Open, Chun carded a 2-under 68 Saturday to go 4-under for the tournament and hold third place behind Amy Yang and Stacy Lewis.

“Today I could sense the major setting of the course and the rough is rough, the rough is growing,” said Chun. “My shots were not as good as the first two days, but I tried to manage it. I tried to be thinking always. Golf is a percentage game, so I tried to be on the more safe side and tried to survive.”

By her own admission, Chun, who is not only a golf prodigy but a math prodigy with a genius-level IQ, tried not to overthink the situation. She used her instinct more than intelligence to analyze the course and her shots.

“I play better when I respond to my instinct rather than thinking logically,” she said. “The more I think about playing golf the more I get into trouble. So I try to stay with my instinct.”

Her nickname is “Dumbo,” but obviously not for reasons relating to intellect. Rather the moniker comes from here tendency to hear everything around her, as an elephant does.

Chun turned pro in 2012. She joined the Korean LPGA (KLPGA) in 2013 and enjoyed a fantastic first year, earning nine top-10 finishes and finishing third on the money list.

Thanks to rounds of 68-70-68 in her first U.S. Open, she finds herself in the money again.

While this is Chun’s first U.S. Open, it’s Oyama’s first since 2007. After blistering LCC with a 66 Friday, she shot 37 on the front nine Saturday before rebounding with a 34.

“Unfortunately I couldn’t make my putts, but I will do my best (Sunday),” she said.

Carding 70-66-71 the first three rounds to hold fourth place, Oyama believes she has overcome the obstacles that have held her back the past few years.

“I (had) some injuries and I struggled with my playing the last few years,” she said. “But thanks to everyone’s support I came back.”

Megan Khang is handed an iron from her caddie and father Lee Khang in Round 3 of the U.> Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday. (Photo/Blaine)

Top US Open amateur Khang, family living American Dream

Posted: July 11, 2015 11:48 pm

Lee Khang was among the first members of his family to come to the United States back in the mid-1970s. It’s a move his parents put in motion by applying for a sponsorship in the U.S. when they realized it was no longer safe to live in Laos, just north of Vietnam, during the height of the Vietnam War.

“There were bullets flying near our house,” said Yer Khang, Lee’s brother.

A woman living in Massachusetts eventually picked up the Khang family as a sponsor of the seven foreign nationals when Lee came to the U.S. with his mom, dad, and four siblings.
They’re all officially U.S. citizens now. And most of them have been in attendance this week at Lancaster Country Club, where Lee Khang is serving as the caddie for his daughter, amateur Megan Khang, in the U.S. Women’s Open.

A recent graduate of Rockland (Massachusetts) High School, Megan Khang had the best two rounds of any amateur on Thursday and Friday to make the U.S. Open cut. She did so in dramatic fashion. With the cut being 4-over par, Khang entered the last three holes Friday at 3-over and birdied two of them to finish at 1-over par.

“It feels a big sigh of relief right now,” Khang said Friday. “I knew coming in to the last three holes I was 3-over total. I knew I had to make birdies at the end of my round. Thankfully some putts dropped.”

It marked the first time in Khang’s career she’s made the U.S. Open cut after missing it the previous two years, perhaps serving as a culmination of the decades of hard work put in by the Khang family that began in the 1970s, when they arrived in the U.S.

“When we came here we were on welfare,” Lee Khang said.

Lee, like his brothers and sister, was a child at the time. And none of them knew how to speak English.

“I had a friend whose mother basically took us in and taught us English,” Yer Khang said Friday while watching Megan finish on her final holes.

Yer Khang went on to graduate high school but later dropped out of college to find a job so he could pay off a car loan. But he went to trade school, learned the techniques of welding, and landed a job with a medical device company, where he’s been ever since. His brother, Lee, has a similar story.

“I used to fix cars. And now my wife has a full-time job and I do part-time teaching,” said Lee Khang, who also travels with Megan to tournaments to serve as her caddie. “We have one income. That’s why it’s so hard. We’re not like everyone else. She’s not ranked as a high amateur because we don’t have the resources (to travel to tournaments).”

Yer was the one who, 15 years ago, introduced golf to Lee, who introduced it to Megan when she was 5 years old.

“So my wife says, ‘You have a little baby. You can’t be playing golf all the time.’ So I said, ‘OK, I’ll take Megan with me,’” Lee Khang said. “So I go to Megan and I’m like, ‘You want to come with me? You can drive the golf cart.’”

But Lee gave Megan, an only child, incentives before he let her drive the cart.

“I put her ball next to mine and I said, ‘If you hit it into the rough, I drive the golf cart. If you keep it in the fairway, you can drive the golf cart.’ And that is when you could see the intensity. Every shot was in the fairway.”

The rest is history. Megan Khang began getting full athletic scholarship offers for golf from colleges at the age of 12. Now 17, she still hasn’t decided on a college, as she’s debating possibly turning professional or becoming a full-time member on the lower-level Symetra Tour.

Khang’s third round Saturday didn’t go as well, tallying a double bogey and three bogeys but saving herself a bit by hitting two birdies to finish 3-over-par 73 for the day to sit at 4-over through three rounds. It doesn’t matter. Her effort this weekend proves she can hang with the best women’s golfers in the world. It’s another step forward for a family that epitomizes the American Dream.

“Oh, yeah. That’s why we always laugh, the people in other nations have no idea what this country offers,” Lee Khang said. “We’re not even there yet. But to have the opportunity is what you want.”

U.S. Women’s Open: Third-round final scoreboard

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Saturday
At Lancaster Country Club
Lancaster, Pa.
Purse: TBA ($4 million in 2014)
Yardage: 6,483; Par: 70
Third Round
a-amateur
Amy Yang 67-66-69—202 -8
Stacy Lewis 69-67-69—205 -5
In Gee Chun 68-70-68—206 -4
Shiho Oyama 70-66-71—207 -3
Chella Choi 71-73-64—208 -2
Michelle Wie 72-68-68—208 -2
Mi Hyang Lee 68-72-68—208 -2
Inbee Park 68-70-70—208 -2
Min Lee 71-68-70—209 -1
Morgan Pressel 68-70-71—209 -1
Jane Park 66-72-71—209 -1
Kris Tamulis 72-69-69—210 E
Ryann O’Toole 71-70-69—210 E
Ai Suzuki 70-71-69—210 E
So Yeon Ryu 72-68-70—210 E
Pernilla Lindberg 70-70-70—210 E
Rumi Yoshiba 70-68-72—210 E
Sakura Yokomine 71-73-67—211 +1
Lexi Thompson 71-72-68—211 +1
Brooke Henderson 70-73-68—211 +1
Sydnee Michaels 68-74-69—211 +1
Jenny Shin 74-68-69—211 +1
Lydia Ko 70-72-69—211 +1
Jung Min Lee 70-71-70—211 +1
Na Yeon Choi 67-74-70—211 +1
Karrie Webb 66-72-73—211 +1
Marina Alex 66-71-74—211 +1
Teresa Lu 71-71-70—212 +2
Laura Davies 70-72-70—212 +2
Azahara Munoz 69-72-71—212 +2
Q Baek 70-71-71—212 +2
Brittany Lang 70-70-72—212 +2
Lizette Salas 71-69-72—212 +2
Angela Stanford 71-69-72—212 +2
Candie Kung 71-70-72—213 +3
Lee Lopez 71-70-72—213 +3
Charley Hull 71-72-71—214 +4
Austin Ernst 68-74-72—214 +4
Erika Kikuchi 71-71-72—214 +4
a-Megan Khang 71-70-73—214 +4
Ayako Uehara 71-70-73—214 +4
Danielle Kang 71-73-71—215 +5
a-Mariel Galdiano 70-74-71—215 +5
Ha Na Jang 72-72-71—215 +5
Karine Icher 73-71-71—215 +5
Kim Kaufman 72-72-71—215 +5
Gerina Piller 71-72-72—215 +5
Mo Martin 71-72-72—215 +5
I.K. Kim 74-69-72—215 +5
a-Muni He 68-74-73—215 +5
Paula Creamer 69-73-73—215 +5
Sei Young Kim 73-67-75—215 +5
Mirim Lee 71-73-72—216 +6
Jaye Marie Green 71-73-72—216 +6
Maria Balikoeva 74-69-73—216 +6
a-Emma Talley 70-72-74—216 +6
Lala Anai 71-70-75—216 +6
Alison Lee 70-73-74—217 +7
a-Hannah O’Sullivan 72-71-74—217 +7
Mi Jung Hur 73-69-76—218 +8
Haruka Morita-Wanyaolu 71-73-75—219 +9
Lee-Anne Pace 73-69-77—219 +9
Elizabeth Nagel 68-75-83—226 +16

Lancaster Country Club's Alli Weaver chips on #8 in Round 3 of the 2015 U.S. Open Saturday morning. Weaver is the "Marker" who is playing along with Haruka Morita-Wanyaolu who is unpaird for this round of the tournament. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Round of a lifetime: Warwick grad Weaver tabbed to play as a marker in US Women’s Open

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Five-thirty in the morning.

It’s a time most people would rather sleep through, but Alli Weaver is probably glad that she didn’t Saturday.

While her parents headed off to the beach to start their vacation, Weaver was answering a text message from Lancaster Country Club’s head golf pro Rick Gibson.

The 24-year-old was going to play in the U.S. Women’s Open.

After failing to qualify for the Open last month at a USGA tournament at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey, Weaver had spent most of the week as merely a spectator, but now it was time to grab her clubs.

Following Friday’s second round of play, the championship field of 156 golfers shrunk to just 63. That odd number left Haruka Morita-WanyaoLu, the last player to qualify, all alone to tee off at 8:24 a.m. — until Weaver was tabbed as a non-competitive marker.

“It definitely never got easier, I can tell you that,” Weaver said of the experience. “My nerves never really let down. I didn’t really care what I shot today, honestly. I was just trying to get the ball in the fairway off the tee.”

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Although her parents might not have been able to watch her play, spectators who recognized Weaver started to follow her in droves. The Warwick graduate, who played collegiately at Murray State, ran into trouble with a triple bogey on No. 3 and a double bogey on No. 7 to finish with an 82.

She was all smiles, however, as she walked the course, soaking in the day and the cheers from the crowd.

“Go get ’em Alli,” someone yelled out as she walked down the 11th fairway.

“Let’s go Alli Weaver,” another fan added further down the course.

“By like my third hole, I had a lot of members recognizing that I was out there and cheering me on,” said Weaver. “It was really cool to see the members out here. It just shows how much interest they have in me playing.”

Weaver has become a familiar face at the club, working in the golf shop and having played the course more times than she can count. Before Saturday, her biggest round there came at the Women’s Western Amateur, held last year.

The insider’s perspective may have helped, but Weaver was quick to point out that there were a lot of changes — including tee positions — which resulted in a much different layout.

“Last year at the Amateur, there definitely wasn’t this big of a crowd,” Weaver said with a laugh when comparing the two tournaments. “I said a couple of times, the rough is really thick. It was fun to hit out of, but I tried to avoid it the rest of the day. The bunkers, I think, are different as well.”

The championship might provide invaluable experience itself as Weaver heads out to California for an LPGA qualifying tournament next month.

“I don’t ever want to regret not trying,” she said. “I’m just going to do it and see what happens.”

Looking back on her round, Weaver said a tough chip shot on 11 stood out as her best golf moment, but it won’t be the thing she remembers most.

“The roar of the crowd was the coolest thing today,” she said. “You would be standing over a putt and, I don’t know who was putting or made a shot or did something great, but I have never heard a crowd. … You can hear it on TV, but when you’re standing there that close, it’s amazing.”

The moment was also special for Sean Hennessy, an LCC caddie who carried Weaver’s clubs.

“When you’re down here caddying golf everyday, you don’t hear that,” said Hennessy. “I just imagine for her (Weaver), she just makes a routine par and people applaud her and that’s got to feel pretty good.”

The assumption is that Weaver will be back as a marker for Sunday’s final round, but there has been no official word from organizers.

Either way, there’s no tarnishing this moment for the 24-year-old.

Asked how this ranks among her many accomplishments, all Weaver could do was smile and hold up a single finger.

“Number one.”

Chella Choi tees off on the 14th hole, during third day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday July 11, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Chella Choi’s sparkling 6-under Saturday pulls her into contention

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By the time she sank a second straight birdie putt on the 17th hole early Saturday afternoon, more than a murmur ran through the ever-growing gallery.

“That’s Choi,” someone said.

“That’s golf!” another exclaimed.

Indeed. Respective rounds of 71 and 73 Thursday and Friday at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club had Chella Choi at 4-over and on the fringe of making the cut. By her round’s end Saturday she was tied for fifth, having flirted with history by firing a 64 that was one shot off the U.S. Women’s Open record set by Helen Alfredsson in 1994.

As it is, the South Korea native and Jacksonville, Florida, resident tied marks set by Kelli Kuehne, Lori Kane and Becky Iverson in 1999.

“I made birdies a lot today,” a smiling Choi told the media. “My putting was good.”

Good enough to burn up the course on this sunbaked Saturday. Wearing a bright yellow top, there was no mistaking her as she shot a 29 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in U.S. Women’s Open history, courtesy of birdies on 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9. No. 8, she recalled, was “a really good birdie putt,” a five-footer that broke left-to-right.

Hole No. 8 at LCC is a par-3 measuring 198 yards. In reality, it plays some 15 yards longer, requiring a long iron or wood to the smallest green on the course. According to the course description it’s pitched dramatically from front to back and left to right, with the right side of the green defended by a deep bunker. It’s said that shots from the left of the green, as Choi made Saturday, require “a magician’s touch.”

For much of the day Choi was Merlin with her magic wands. She credited a new putter and said she also relied heavily on hybrids and low irons. One more weapon in her golf bag was the confidence gained from seeing her “29” on the board at the turn.

“Really confident,” she said.

Holes 10-13 brought mixed results — par, bogey, par, birdie. She saved par on 14 by chipping her bright-orange ball across the manicured green to within four feet of the cup and holing in from a pin-high lie. She was now at 6-under and the gallery, which included neighbors from Jacksonville, stirred excitedly as it moved along to 15, nicknamed the “Devil’s Elbow” due to a big dogleg-right.

“Wow. … She’s 6-under.”

“Get the heck out!”

Choi bogeyed 15 when her steep downhill putt found the cup but lipped out. She settled for a tap-in, and if she was bedeviled by the Devil’s Elbow, she didn’t show it. She birdied 16 and 17, and now a startling 7-under, she and her father/caddie Ji Yeon Choi and the sizable gallery strode to 18.

One spectator, puffing out cigar smoke and opinions in equal measure, said, “I don’t think this group anticipated this kind of following.”

From the Devil’s Elbow Choi and Co. proceeded to the Pearly Gates, the nickname for the par-4, 470-yard finishing hole. It’s so named, perhaps, because its prodigious length may require some divine intervention.

The 18th boasts a generous fairway but also a dramatic uphill hole. Because the green has more than seven feet of elevation change, putting can be as demanding as the tee shot.

Choi scraped the high sky with her drive and said she was not aware that history beckoned moments later when she methodically lined up her putt. She bogeyed the hole, but having shot the lowest third-round score in U.S. Women’s Open history, walked off with head held high as applause and sunshine washed over her.

“So exciting,” she said later. “So close.”

And, it should be added, so in contention for Sunday’s final round.

Fans cheer on the players from the 6th hole gallery, during third day action of the 70th US Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club Saturday July 11, 2015. (Photo/Chris Knight)

Saturday’s fans, even non-golfers, give rave reviews of course, Open experience

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Fan experience is an integral part of any golf tournament. A positive fan experience will mean a better opportunity to return to the tournament venue in the future.

So far there have been few complaints about Lancaster Country Club.

“I think it’s been great,” said Kevin Barth of Lancaster. “The weather has been fantastic and all the accommodations look wonderful.”

All of those things have added up to a successful tournament so far, with near-record crowds expected once the total attendance is added up. The all-time record — 131,298 total fans — was set in 2005 at Cherry Hill in Denver.

The USGA expects more than 25,000 people on both Saturday and Sunday.

With the world’s best female golfers playing, many hardcore golf and sports fans jumped at the chance to come out.

“I would definitely say I’m a big golf fan,” Barth said. “Obviously it’s really cool to go follow the bigger names like Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie.”

The enjoyable experience and relatively cheap ticket prices — tickets were $45 a day, $70 for a two-day pass — allowed many fans to stay multiple days.

Kathleen Yellets of Lititz attended Friday and Saturday, and said she was considering coming back for Sunday’s final round as well.

“I’m not a golfer, but I just thought that because it was in Lancaster it made for an interesting opportunity,” Yellets said. “It’s been really good for the county as well. Everyone I know has been pleased with it and it has not disappointed.”

The course itself has gotten great reviews, especially after the men’s U.S. Open outing at Chambers Bay drew fire. Lancaster Country Club has been a refreshing sight for American golf traditionalists.

“The course is in great shape, and the sights alone are incredible,” Barth said.

“It’s been incredible to watch and walk through,” said Erin Battaglia, also from Lititz.

She, too, is enjoying the bigger names playing in the tournament.

“I was following Lexi Thompson earlier and just saw Laura Davies come through,” Battaglia said. “Seeing both of them is really cool.”

Kayakers and Conoers paddle along the Conestoga River through Lancaster Country Club during the 2013 U.S. Women's Open Saturday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Canoeing, kayaking fans make a splash at US Open

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If you’ve tuned in to the U.S. Women’s Open on TV at all this week, at some point there’s probably been a shot of kayakers floating on the Conestoga Creek, some in the background as golfers teed off from No. 7.

The creek flows down alongside the No. 7 fairway, separating Holes No. 3, 4, 5, 6 and the tee box of No. 7 from the rest of the course on the other side.

Kayakers on the Conestoga River watch Morgan Pressel tee off at hole #7 at Lancaster Country Club in Round 3 of the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open Saturday. (Photo/Blaine Shahan)

Folks on the water are allowed to float on the creek while observing the action up close because Lancaster Country Club has no jurisdiction over the creek — it’s defined as a public thoroughfare, according to a USGA medial official.

As a result, people in canoes and kayaks have been allowed to watch the Open free of charge from one of the best — and perhaps most unique — viewing areas of the whole course. It’s something usually only seen at Major League Baseball games in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, where fans hang out on boats, canoes and kayaks, some hoping to shag a home run ball.

Of course, there’s no shagging golf balls on the Conestoga Creek during the U.S. Open. As one fan, overheard earlier this week, said, “These golfers wouldn’t be here if they were hitting it into the creek.”

So where do these canoers and kayakers on the Conestoga come from? Apparently, all over Lancaster County.

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On Saturday at around 2 p.m., Steve and Wilma Wagler, of Upper Leacock Township, had just arrived at the Lancaster Country Club section of the Conestoga Creek after putting their canoe in the water south of Lancaster Country Club and paddling upstream for about 15 minutes.

“Our son did it on Thursday and said he had a good time and no trouble,” Steve Wagler said. “So we decided to give it a try today.”

Right behind the Waglers were a group of four kayakers who had also paddled upstream after getting in the water south of LCC.

“I’ve been boating on the Conestoga my whole life,” said Max McPherson, of Lancaster City.
McPherson paddled alongside friends Sarah Dommel, of East Lampeter Township, Jen Willmer, of Lancaster City, and Shawn Leed, of East Cocalico Township.

Some on the creek Saturday could be seen fishing, while others observed golfers teeing off from No. 7 while parked in the shade under the lone bridge that gives spectators access to Holes 3 through 6 on the other side of the creek. It’s about the only reprieve from the sun for canoers and kayakers who come down the creek through LCC.

And while others might be big fans of golf and paying close attention to the action from the water, Leed acknowledges he’s just enjoying the whole experience.

“I do a little pitch-and-putt, but I just thought it’d be cool to check out the event,” Leed said.