Gulbis Medalist At U.S. Women's Open Sectional Qualifier
LPGA star Natalie Gulbis of Henderson, Nev., followed a course-record 66 with a two-over-par 73 (139) and earned medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Open Sectional qualifier, administered by the NJSGA, on Monday and Tuesday, June 1-2, at the 6,343-yard Galloway National Golf Course.
European Tour player Nontoya Srisawang of Thailand earned the second qualifying berth with rounds of 68-73-141. Alternate sports went to 18-year-old amateur Samantha Wagner of Orlando (70-72-142) and LPGA player Min Seo Kwak of Korea (73-70-143).
Most of the action took place on Monday, but Gulbis, Srisawang and Wagner were called back Tuesday after Monday afternoon’s rains to complete their rounds, needing two-to-three holes to do so.
The U.S. Women’s Open will be played July 6-12 at the Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
COMPLETE SCORING PHOTO GALLERY
For Gulbis, it could be one of the final times in her career that she appears in a U.S. Open. Gulbis has previously appeared in 13 Women’s Opens with a best finish of T4 in 2005. She missed four cuts and has a scoring average of 74.14 in the U.S. Open.
“This is my last full season on the LPGA Tour. I want to try to have a family. It’s my 15th season and I am 32. I’ve been out here a very long time and at 32, you’ve got to try and have kids,” said Gulbis, who recently married Josh Rodarmel, who owns a consulting company in California.
“I’ve had three major injuries, two in my back and one in my hip. My last back surgery was 2010. I hurt my hip at the U.S. Open last year and was out for six months. I haven’t played a lot this year. I wasn’t qualified for every event this year.
“I thought even par would qualify for the Open. I hit it actually well. It was nice to make seven birdies the first round, but I didn’t make any birdies the second round,” said Gulbis, who played in the LPGA ShopRite Classic down the road at Seaview Stockton Resort, but didn’t make the cut.
Later Tuesday, Gulbis would make her way to Canada for the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo where she had an 8:40 a.m. tee time for the Pro-Am there.
“I felt the 15th season today. It’s cold out there. The weather was harder for the second round. I was thinking that par would be a good score. The course played really hard. You saw the scores. There was one 70. The greens got bumpier [and] slower. The course was wet. Plus it was windy and cold. It was really nice yesterday morning. I was wearing shorts,” Gulbis stated.
After the first round, Gulbis’ 66 was two shots clear of Srisawang and three shots better than USC graduating senior Doris Chen of Bradenton, Fla., the NCAA champion in 2014 and U.S. Girls Champion in 2010. Players from 11 countries competed at Galloway National.
The 66 was the best round of the year for Gulbis, who said she wasn’t even mindful of her low number.
“I didn’t even know on this course. Whether its good weather or not, you just evaluate it and move on. I’m not stressful any more. Maybe I was my first couple of years,” said Gulbis, who qualified for her first U.S. Open in 2001.
On Monday, play was suspended at 4:07 due to inclement weather and resumed at 6:03 p.m.
Gulbis needed to qualify due to the fact that she was not in the LPGA Tour Top 75 money winners in 2014 and not in the top 10 this year. Going into the Galloway National,
Gulbis has just one LPGA Tour victory, the 2007 Evan Masters in France.
Srisawang has played in two British Opens, and flew from Thailand last week to play in the Monday qualifier for the LPGA ShopRite Classic at nearby Seaview Stockton Resort. She failed to qualify and stayed in the area until competing at Galloway National.
“I’m really happy to be playing in my first U.S. Open,” said Srisawang, who needed par saves on both of her finishing holes to gain the second qualifying berth.
Wagner is a freshman-to-be at the University of Florida.
The youngest player in the field of 67 was 14-year-old Faith Francioso of Wantagh, N.Y., who coincidentally was paired with Gulbis all day on Monday.
“I’m just not going to play full-time on tour after this year. I just have to figure out how that’s going to work,” Gulbis said. “I’m not going to commit to playing. I’m on the road 45 weeks a year; 20-25 events I play. You’ve got to practice. You don’t just show up. If I have an off-week now, I just don’t hang out. I do laundry the first day and do all my errands so I can start practicing with my coach.
“I thought I would be out here for 10 years. I started having injuries in 2006, but I love playing golf and I love playing out on tour. Even on my off days, I love to play with my nieces and nephews.”
Next stop for Gulbis is a broadcasting gig with Fox Sports. She will be doing commentary on both the men’s U.S. Open and Men’s Senior Open later this summer.
“It’s pretty special to do stuff with Fox. They really want to do some cool things in golf. And I’m excited to be part of that,” she concluded.
