If all goes according to plan, Jennifer Kupcho will be playing golf as a professional within the next year or so, ideally on the LPGA Tour.
But in the meantime, she keeps checking off accomplishments on the amateur end of things.
On Wednesday, when the World Amateur Golf Rankings released its updated lists, the Westminster resident reached the top spot in the world among female amateurs for the first time in her career. Kupcho moved up to the No. 1 position from the No. 2 spot, flip-flopping with UCLA’s Lilia Vu, with whom Kupcho won a four-ball match on Saturday in the Arnold Palmer Cup in France.
Being on top of the world, so to speak, was a heady accomplishment indeed for Kupcho, who, just since turning 21 on May 14 has won the women’s NCAA Division I individual title and has helped U.S. teams cruise to victories in both the Curtis Cup and the Arnold Palmer Cup.
And this week, the Wake Forest senior-to-be is in the midst of another big item on the agenda: competing in her first LPGA Tour event not named the U.S. Women’s Open. By virtue of her victory in the NCAA Finals, Kupcho earned a spot in the LPGA Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio.
And the Coloradan played on Thursday a lot like a golfer who belongs at that level. Competing as an amateur, she opened with a 3-under-par 68 and shares 17th place in the 72-hole event. After a five-birdie, two-bogey day, Kupcho trails leader Thidapa Suwannapura by three. (Kupcho is pictured from the tournament on Thursday. Photo courtesy of the Kupcho family.)
In her two U.S. Women’s Open starts, Kupcho missed the cut in 2016 and finished 21st in 2017.
For all the scores from the Marathon Classic, CLICK HERE.
