Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Emily Powers doesn’t want to remember how she played this weekend in the U.S. Women’s Golf Open in Edina, Minn., but she’ll never forget what she went through to get there.
The Kansas junior, who missed the cut at the tournament after finishing 19 over par, was one of the final golfers to qualify for the event in May.
On May 18, Powers received an invitation to a sectional qualifying tournament that began at 7 a.m. the next day in West Bloomfield, Mich. — nine hours away from her native Quincy, Ill.
The Powers family got to the qualifying course as fast as they could but it was still only minutes before the tournament began — leaving no time for Powers to play a practice round. She didn’t need it.
Powers played 36 holes and posted scores of 76 and 78, which forced a nine-player playoff the next morning. Powers parred the first hole and clinched a spot in the U.S. Women’s Open.
So that’s the story she keeps telling — not how she finished 153 out of 156 in the actual Open alongside world-renowned golfers such as Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak.
“Even though I’m upset with how I played, being able to have that experience was good enough for me,” Powers said.
She also got to experience the Open, which was played at Interlachen Country Club, with two of her closest confidants by her side.
Emily’s father, Tim Powers, served as her caddie and Kansas coach Erin O’Neil traveled from Lawrence to watch her play. O’Neil said she was impressed with Emily’s demeanor throughout her two rounds.
“It was neat to see her in that atmosphere and just to see how she carried herself,” O’Neil said. “It seemed like she fit right in.”
The problem the course presented to many golfers was its excessive length. At 6,789 yards, Interlachen Country Club is the longest course to ever host a U.S. Women’s Open.
Both Emily Powers and O’Neil agreed, however, that it didn’t affect her game. They blamed her woes on poor course management. Powers hit only eight of 18 greens in her first round and took 36 putts in her second round.
Powers would like to play in the LPGA full-time someday. Seeing the inner-workings of a major tournament and how professionals handle themselves could be beneficial to reaching that goal.
“You get there and you say ‘woah this is a major’,” Tim Powers said. “This is one of the biggest tournaments for men or women – it’s what everyone works for.”
Inbee Park, a 19-year-old, won the tournament with a 9-under par, becoming the youngest player to ever win the Open. Powers didn’t stick around to watch the finish. She was ready to return home and work on her game.
She’ll play in at least two more tournaments this summer before returning to Lawrence to prepare for the Jayhawks’ upcoming season. Last season, Powers was the most consistent performer for Kansas with a team-best 75 stroke average. Powers said her goal for next season was to lead the Jayhawks to the national tournament.
O’Neil thinks Powers’ U.S. Women’s Open experience will help with that ambition.
“It will be a good motivator for the rest of the team,” O’Neil said. “They can see that they can do it too if they put their mind to it.”
— Edited by Jesse Temple
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