Kim, Kliebphipat 1-Under After Day One Of WAPL Qualifying
7/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
DuPONT, Wash. - Gonzaga University senior-to-be Alice Kim and 2014 graduate Tai Jade 'TJ' Kliebphipat are tied for 12th at 1-under par heading into Tuesday's final 18 holes of qualifying in the 38th and final Women's Amateur Public Links (WAPL) Championship being held at The Home Course.
Bulldog junior-to-be Raychelle Santos is tied for 44th at 2-over par and 2013 graduate and current assistant women's coach Victoria Fallgren is tied for 74th after a 4-over par 76 over the 6,169-yard, par 72 layout.
The top 64 finishers qualify for match play. The cutoff last year for the 36-hole qualifying was 153.
Kim, playing in her second WAPL, was the model of consistency Monday. Starting on the 10th hole, she opened with three pars, birdied the 13th hole and played par golf the remaining 15 holes.
Kliebphipat, starting on the front nine, opened with birdie-birdie, pared the third hole and then went bogey-bogey to fall back to even par. She strung together 11 pars after the bogeys before getting birdie on 17 and making par on 18.
Santos, who advanced to the match play semifinals a year ago and received an automatic qualification into this year's field of 156, opened with six straights pars before bogeying the par 4 seventh and the par 5 eighth as she made the turn at 2-over par. She began the back nine with three pars, bogeyed the 13th and then played par golf the rest of the way with the exception of a birdie on the par 5 16th.
Fallgren, participating in her third WAPL after appearances in 2010 and 2012, is far from out of the match play chase. There are 73 players ahead of her at 75 or better, so a strong second round would move her up into contention for one of the 64 match play spots. She made the turn at 1-over 37 after a birdie 2 on the par 3 sixth and bogeys on the par 3 fourth and the par 4 ninth. She had six pars and three bogeys on the back nine.
Tuesday's tee times will have Fallgren teeing of No. 10 at 8:02 a.m. PDT, Kim teeing off No. 1 at 12:51 p.m. PDT, Santos off No. 10 at 1:44 p.m. PDT and Kliebphipat going off No. 10 at 2:36 p.m.
Cindy Ha, a 17-year-old from Demarest, N.J., shot a 67 for the first-day lead. Defending champion Lauren Diaz-Yi was at even-par 72. Lucy Li, the 11-year-old who played in last month's U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst, that championship's youngest qualifier, shot a 74.
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