wrong side of the hole they had to putt a
little more defensively.“
Said Lydia Ko, “It's kind of a surrounded
course with lots of trees. Sometimes the
wind starts to swirl and one player could
have left to right wind and it comes in op-
posite (for) the next player. The greens are
very slopey here and the pin positions
(were) not in the same place, so we can't
exactly go at the pin every single shot.”
Said Carloto Ciganda, “The course is
great. The fairways are narrow. If you hit it
good, you can be in the fairway easily, but
then you need to be very precise on your
second shots to the green, because if you
miss the green, it's really hard to make up
and down.”
WHAT THE FANS SAID
Alongside each hole, hundreds of sweat-
soaked spectators hunkered down near
the shade of a tree or under tents and um-
brellas. With numbers well into the thou-
sands, Richerson wasn’t at all surprised at
the great turnout. “The golf fans of Wis-
consin always have great support for the
events here at Kohler,“ he said.
NOT JUST FOR ADULTS
Juniors 17 and under were admitted free,
which made a huge impact on the amount
of kids in attendance. Richerson was im-
pressed with the number of young, aspiring
golfers, walking around with their parents,
waiting in line for autographs. “It was awe-
some to see kids getting autographs from
the players, admiring their idols,” he said.
“It’s great to see a lot of families and kids. I
think that’s what it’s all about.”
“The game of golf has some great traits
for kids to learn from a standpoint of hard
work and honesty,” said Richerson. “I think
as far as examples go as to what you can
do if you put your mind to it with hard
work and a dream, there were some great
examples of that out there.”
According to Richerson, there were
approximately 2,000 volunteers from 41
states who helped out with the champi-
onship. “For many of them, it’s the first
time they’ve been to Wisconsin, much less
to Kohler. So I think it’s a great way to
showcase the entire state and the golf
courses in Wisconsin. They’re golf enthusi-
asts, so when they weren’t on a shift, or a
few days before the championship or after,
they were looking to play some of the golf
courses in the state,” he said.
“I heard from different golf courses that
they saw a lot of people playing from out
of state who were involved one way or
another with the championship. These
types of events showcase our courses and
a lot of offerings that are inherent in the
state of Wisconsin.”
Vicky Hurst seeks some
relief from the sun.
DID YOU KNOW?
There were 29 teenagers in this
year’s U.S. Women’s Open field, the
youngest being 13-year-old Angle
Yin from California
Roughly 2,000 volunteers from
41 states helped put on the
championship
For 17-year-old Lexi Thompson, it
was her sixth appearance at the U.S.
Women’s Open
Se Ri Pak opened the door for
Korean women golfers as a rookie in
1998, and there are now 47 Koreans
on the LPGA Tour this season
Samantha
Marks can’t
hide her
frustration.
A young
LPGA fan.
