Volume 27 · Number 1 · Fall 2009
Sports
Aggie golfers find the fairway to the U.S. Open
By Mike Robles
Chelsea Stelzmiller didn’t need a course map for the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open to know it would be the most difficult layout she’d ever play. Her nerves told the UC Davis junior everything she needed to know.
Chelsea Stelzmiller at a dual meet last spring
(Mark Honbo/UC Davis)
“I think throughout the tournament I felt nervous the entire time,” said Stelzmiller, a Placerville native planning to major in international relations. “Even during the practice rounds there was a ton of people watching.”
Another competitor knew exactly what Stelzmiller was going through. Teammate Alice Kim, a junior from Walnut with a planned major in international relations, also qualified for the mid-July national championship. They were among just a handful of amateurs who played in the 156-competitor event held at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Sending two players to the U.S. Open, the world’s most prestigious women’s golf tournament, is uncommon even among premier collegiate programs — and rarer still for a fledgling program like UC Davis’, which just finished its fourth varsity year.
“UC Davis is not only a renowned academic institution, it is also an institution that exhibits athletic excellence,” said second-year head coach Anne Walker. “Alice and Chelsea were fine examples of that this summer. Their participation in the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open was a remarkable achievement and a defining moment for the women’s golf program.”
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Alice Kim competing in the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open
(Steve Chen/Big West Conference)
Neither player made the 36-hole cut needed to play the weekend after shooting identical rounds of 80 and 79 over the first two days, but that mattered little to the Aggies. They relished the chance to play alongside the same players they’ve idolized. In fact — thanks to a good-natured coin flip with Kim — Stelzmiller had the chance to play a practice round with Lorena Ochoa, the top-ranked player in the world.
“It was pretty unreal just to (play against) everyone I see on TV all the time and the people I’ve grown up watching,” Stelzmiller said.
Both players earned spots in the tournament after qualifying in sectional tournaments in June, adding to careers that have seen them each earn All-Big West Conference honors twice and participate in a pair of NCAA Division I Championships. Kim parlayed her 2009 appearance in the event into All-America honorable mention accolades.
Kim’s summer also included a strong showing at the U.S. Women’s Public Links Championship in Massachusetts, while both players returned to the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in August for the second straight year.
With first-time jitters aside, perhaps more U.S. Opens are on the horizon as well.
Mike Robles is assistant athletic director for media relations.