Rebecca Kim leaves Duke, sets sights on LPGA Tour

'I want to be the best,' says the three-time Oregon prep champion

By Steve Brandon

The Portland Tribune, May 13, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

Rebecca Kim, considered by many the best female golfer in Oregon high school history, will concentrate on golf after leaving Duke University.

/ COURTESY OF DUKE UNIVERSITY

Rebecca Kim, a three-time Oregon high school girls golf state champion, has left the illustrious program at Duke University after two years. Kim, 19, plans to make a run at qualifying for next year’s LPGA Tour.

“I learned a lot of things, life lessons, at school. I just felt like it was time for me to give this whole golf thing a shot and just concentrate on golf,” she says. “I want to play golf for a living, because it makes me happy. Doing golf and school was extremely hard, and you have to fit into somebody else’s schedule, and I didn’t feel like it fit me in a way that would help me to improve.”

Kim advanced to the U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier in a local qualifying event in Bellingham, Wash. She also hopes to qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur this summer. She has exempt status into the U.S. Women’s Public Links June 16 to 21 in Erin, Wis., and will try to play in a couple of Futures Tour events at the LPGA developmental level and the U.S. Men’s Public Links.

Then comes sectional qualifying, Sept. 16 to 19 in Palm Springs, Calif., for the LPGA Q-School. If she passes that sectional test, she would make the final qualifying tournament, Dec. 1 to 7 at Daytona Beach, Fla., for the chance to earn a 2009 LPGA playing card.

If she doesn't make the LPGA Tour, she says she wants to play next year on the Futures Tour.

“I can’t settle for anything other than the best,” she says. “I want to be the best, to be better than Annika (Sorenstam) and Lorena (Ochoa) combined. Not just for myself, but because I want to represent God and show the world that I became this good not just because I tried hard and had great support but because I did it with God’s help and God gave it to me.”

Kim had some physical problems while at Duke, including an appendectomy last winter, and she played in only a couple of tournaments this year with the deep, talented Blue Devils, who have won the last three NCAA titles, are ranked No. 1 this year and feature two-time national player of the year Amanda Blumenherst. She had the second-lowest scoring average on the team, 74.0, but with just two starts out of 10.

Kim says she got along fine with her teammates and coach Dan Brooks, the Oregon State graduate who has won five NCAA crowns in 23 years at Duke.

“Coach Brooks is a great guy and an Oregonian, which made it easier for me to get to know him,” she says. “He knows what he’s doing. Before I went there, I thought he probably cared just about winning, but he wants his players to grow as people while they’re at Duke. If you give him 110 percent, he’s not going to ask for more.

“For me, the timing wasn’t really very good in college. I had little setbacks each year, but things happen for a reason, and I have no complaints. What’s done is done. I learned a lot the last two years.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit