12 Apr 2019 | Amateur golf | National Championships |

LPGA dreams for #AusJnr champ Park

by Contributor

Hye Park wins the 2019 Australian Girls' Amateur at Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club.
Hye Park wins the 2019 Australian Girls' Amateur at Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club.

By Kirsty Wrice

Hye Park has always dreamed of playing golf professionally on the LPGA Tour.

And by virtue of her incredible seven-shot victory at the Australian Girls’ Amateur today, that dream is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The Queenslander completed a memorable win at Coolangatta Tweed Heads Golf Club shooting rounds of 65-73-70, including a first-round course record, and earning an exemption into next year’s co-sanctioned ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open.

Park, 15-years-old, started the day with a three-shot buffer over Auckland’s Fiona Xu but excessive rain and two time delays caused havoc during the third round.

By the ninth hole of the day, the local led Xu by five shots after a steady two-under opening nine.

With her fourth major amateur title just seven holes away, a downpour of heavy rain halted play for over an hour, with no choice but to cancel round four and reduce the championship to 54-holes.

By the time groups returned to the course to complete round three, she couldn’t be caught.

Park fired back against any advancements from playing partners Xu and Concord’s Belinda Ji and the chasing pair fell away in the closing holes with bogies.

The Year 9 student signed for a closing three-under-par 70 round for a seven shot margin over Xu who was joined in second place by Queenslander Lion Higo.

The outstanding performance sees the Korean-born player granted entry into the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in February 2020 in Adelaide and the IMG Academy Junior World Championships in July in California.

Outright fourth place was won by Ji, with South Australia’s Charley Jacobs firing a sublime seven under 66 round to share fifth with Hannah Reeves.

FINAL RESULTS

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