Toyota Danielle Downey Classic
Brook-Lea Country Club
Rochester, NY
July 18, 2015
Third-Round News & Notes
ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 18, 2015 - Annie Park (Levittown, N.Y.) said one of her favorite hobbies is sleep. She’ll need a good night’s rest tonight as she takes a 54-hole lead into the final round of her fourth event as a professional. Park carded a 3-under 69 and stands at 12-under 204, three strokes ahead of 2011 Solheim Cup member Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Fla.). Park is the lone player in the field with three rounds in the 60’s.
“A good finish tomorrow would mean a lot, everything really is happening so fast like I said yesterday,” explained the 20-year-old Park. “I just need to focus on me and regardless of the results if I just try my best out there I think I’ll be happy.”
Park started strong with a birdie on the second and a birdie on the seventh to get to 11-under. She hit a bump in the road with back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth to make the turn at even par for the day.
“The first few holes, I missed some greens, but I made 10-foot par putts so I was like ‘thank god’,” said Park. “On the back nine, I started putting better and that was key to my round.”
Park rebounded immediately with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. Her final birdie of the day came on the 15th hole. Putting has been key all week for Park, who has attempted 28 putts or less all three rounds.
Although she has been in the lead before, she said this position feels different.
“There are so many great golfers out here,” said Park, who won five times at USC including the 2013 NCAA individual title. “It is definitely different than college golf, but I am having a lot of fun out here.”
Park had a chance to sleep in this morning after play was delayed until 12:00 p.m. due to nearly three inches of rain overnight. Her original tee time of 11:43 a.m. was pushed back to 2:01 p.m.
“I don’t have any special meals or routine tonight, I just need to be able to sleep,” said Park. “I woke up at 10 today and saw my phone said flash flooding so I said ‘yes, I get to sleep more’ and then I got the email that play was delayed.”
Park won’t be able to sleep in on Sunday as she’ll tee at 10:01 a.m. in the final group with Hurst and Marina Choi (-8).
5-TIME EPSON TOUR WINNER HURST IN CHASE POSITION: Vicky Hurst has a long list of golf achievements already on her resume. She has five Epson Tour wins (all in 2008), nine LPGA Tour top 10 finishes and she played for the U.S. as Rosie Jones’ captains pick in the 2011 Solheim Cup. On Sunday, she will try to chase down Park and add another win to her resume.
“The last few days, I’ve been hitting it really well,” said Hurst. “I worked on some putting last night and my putting was good today.”
Hurst carded a 5-under 67 to move to 9-under.
In five Epson Tour events this year, Hurst has not finished inside the top 20. She said this is the best she has felt and played since her wrist injury.
“The last couple years, I’ve been battling a little wrist injury and also working on my swing changes so it is kind of what happened first the chicken or the egg,” said Hurst. “Finally in the last couple tournaments out here, my game is coming together. Overall, everything seems to be feeling pretty good.”
TWO EPSON TOUR PROS HIRED BY THE AIR FORCE: Epson Tour professionals Joanna Coe and Molly Aronsson will still be on Tour over the next month, but it won’t be with an eye on the LPGA. Coe and Aronsson were hired by the United States Air Force Services Activity to put on golf clinics at bases around the world.
Coe’s itinerary for the next several weeks after Rochester includes trips to North Dakota and then to Europe with stops in London, Venice and Frankfort.
Several LPGA Tour players like Amanda Blumenhurst and Jenny Gleason have worked with the Air Force in a similar capacity.
“Molly got in touch with Doug Quirie from the golf side of the Air Force and I brought Molly to a pro-am in Curacao and she kind of saw me in action teaching a kids clinic,” said Coe, who has her eye on being a teaching professional as a backup plan. “I taught with my instructor at the New Jersey Academy of Golf when I was recovering from my knee surgery so I know how to put on a clinic so Molly thought of me when Doug asked her for another player.”
In early August, Aronsson and Coe will be at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany giving a clinic. They’ll host a lunch meet & greet, do a short game exhibition and then a short game clinic. The next day, they’ll do some radio interviews in the morning, host a player development session that includes club fitting, loft & lie, grips and shaft and then host a driver exhibition in the afternoon.
Coe estimated that the Air Force puts on 14 of these three day clinics around the world.
“Honestly, teaching is another career of mine, I have the Academy of Golf on my bag because I don’t want people to think of me just as a Tour professional and this trip will give me more experience,” said Coe. “Obviously, I’m excited to put a smile on the face of the troops because they are sacrificing more than we can ever imagine. To be able to help them with their golf swings and get their mind off the seriousness of what they are doing is very appealing to me.”
MARINA CHOI GETS PUTTING ADVICE FROM NANCY LOPEZ: Marina Choi met Nancy Lopez at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic earlier this year at the pro-am party. Choi told Lopez that she was having issues with the putter and during the party, Nancy gave her putting advice on the green outside the clubhouse.
“I was very fortunate to meet her in person and she gave me her contact information and told me that whatever I need to let her know,” said Choi after her 67 to get to 8-under. “I told her I needed help with putting and she helped.”
Choi is actually staying this week with the Coyn family, a friend of the family that Lopez stayed with for many years while playing the LPGA event in Rochester.
Choi has one top 10 finish this year. In addition to Lopez, Choi also credited her caddie Rachel Schmidt for improved play this year. Schmidt played on the Epson Tour last year.
“Rachel is one of the main reasons I make putts too because she reads the greens well,” said Choi. “Obviously Nancy helped me a lot, but adding Rachel to my team has been big.”
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