The two Coloradans who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open a year ago will be back for more on Wednesday (May 24) when a 2017 qualifying tournament is held at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton.
Sixty-four players are scheduled to compete in the 36-hole qualifier, with the top two finishers earning spots to the national Women’s Open, set for July 13-16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
Among those 64 are Jennifer Kupcho of Westminster and Hannah Wood of Highlands Ranch, two college golfers who earned spots in arguably the biggest tournament in women’s golf a year ago. Both players fell short of making the 36-hole cut in the U.S. Women’s Open, Wood by three shots and Kupcho by seven.
Kupcho, a three-time CWGA Player of the Year, has won three individual titles this college season while at Wake Forest and is currently No. 13 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. Wood, the 2014 CWGA Stroke Play champion who plays her college golf at the University of Oklahoma, is No. 129 in the women’s WAGR.
Also scheduled to play in Wednesday’s qualifier are Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, Calif., the 14-year-old who made the cut in the 2017 ANA Inspiration, the first major of the LPGA Tour season; 2013 CoBank Colorado Women’s Open champion Becca Huffer of Denver, who played in the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open; up-and-coming University of Colorado freshman Robyn Choi (No. 155 in the world among women amateurs); Utah’s Sirene Blair (No. 132); three-time state high school champion and CWGA Stroke Play winner Ashley Tait; former University of Northern Colorado golfer Carleigh Silvers, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.
More than half of Wednesday’s field are amateurs.
All told, 25 qualifying tournaments will be held for the 72nd U.S. Women’s Open.
Birdie Kim won the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club after competing in a qualifying tournament that year.
Riverdale Dunes hosted the 1993 U.S. Amateur Public Links and two Web.com Tour events during the ’90s.
For U.S. Women’s Open pairings from Riverdale Dunes, CLICK HERE.
