Four Professionals Advance to the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links
(L-R) Co-Medalists, Jenny Shin and Haeji Kang
WESTFIELD, N.J. - The United States Golf Association (USGA) received a record 2,107 entries for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open Championship, which will be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links from July 6-9. Four female professionals in Jenny Shin (Nevada), Haeji Kang (Florida), Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (Thailand) and Annie Park (Texas) advanced to the 78th edition of the major championship following a 36-hole qualifier at Echo Lake Country Club on Monday.
Teeing off in the first pairing of the day, Jenny Shin got off to a rock-solid start, compiling a blemish-free 6-under par 65. Shin, who earned co-medalist honors is making her ninth start in the U.S. Women’s Open. She notched a 1-over par 72 in the afternoon round to punch her ticket.
“I took the advantage of not having any wind the first front nine and had a lot of good approach shots and made good birdie putts coming in,” recalled Shin. “When that wind started picking up on the back nine, I just stayed patient and grabbed a birdie when I had a chance. I was very happy with the six-under in the first 18.”
Haeji Kang, who joins Shin as co-medalist bested her morning round of 70 (-1) with a 4-under par 67 in the afternoon on the 6,259-yard course. She will be making her first appearance in the championship since 2019.
“I really missed playing in the U.S. Open, especially this year playing at Pebble Beach, I really wanted to go,” explained Kang. “Even if I wanted to go so much, I played without any expectations and just played my best and saw what happened. It turned out to be a really nice day, then I made it, so I'm super happy.”
The final two qualifying spots were claimed by Natthakritta Vongtaveelap and Annie Park.
In the alternate positions were Kumkang Park (First Alternate) and Inkyung Kim, who earned her way via a four-way playoff that spanned six holes nearly in the dark for the second alternate position.
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