By Katie Filbeck
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
kfilbeck@media.ucla.edu
UCLA Sports Info
UCLA freshman Yvonne Choe in the U.S. Amateur Championships.
The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship ended last week in Sunriver, Ore., sending home UCLA golfer Yvonne Choe without a trophy but with her morale still intact.
The tournament, sponsored by the USGA, is the seventh national event the UCLA sophomore has participated in. She advanced to the semifinals in the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2000 and in last week’s tournament.
Choe’s semifinalist status in the 2000 tournament exempted her from a sectional 18-hole qualifying cut used to choose the participants of this year’s Amateur Public Link Championship.
Choe succeeded in beating Kimberly Rowton of San Antonio, 4 and 3, then lost in the semifinal round to the tournament’s eventual winner, 19-year old Annie Thurman of Highland, Utah, 2 and 1.
Despite her loss, it is safe to say this 9-year veteran of golf did quite well for herself, advancing to the final four among the tournament’s 702 participants.
“I was happy with the results,” she said. “I hit pretty well but struggled with my putting. She didn’t make any mistakes. She was a good player.”
For Choe, this was her first time on the 6,189-yard, par-71 Meadows Course. With minimal time to practice, added to the recuperation factor of just having gotten through with her finals, Choe’s expectations were never too high.
Choe lead the match with a par at the third hole, only to lose the advantage when Thurman birdied the fifth. Thurman won both the 11th and 14th holes with pars, then closed the match when both players birdied the par-5 17th hole. The tournament ended with Thurman’s defeat of 19-year-old Hwanhee Lee of Cerritos, 6 and 5.