Qualifying for USGA championships isn’t an easy task, but Jennifer Kupcho sometimes makes it appear pretty simple.
The 17-year-old from Westminster has attempted to qualify for six USGA national tournaments in the last 13 months, and Monday marked the fourth time she’s been successful.
In the U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifying at Lone Tree Golf Club, it was more of a struggle than usual, but the senior-to-be at Jefferson Academy nevertheless made the grade.
The U.S. Girls’ Junior, set for July 21-26 in Flagstaff, Ariz., will mark the fifth USGA championship for Kupcho in 2013 and ’14 combined. Besides qualifying for the 2013 and ’14 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur, she was named to the Colorado squad that competed in the 2013 USGA Women’s State Team Championship.
Kupcho not only qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior last year, but she made it to the round of 32 in match play.
“It’s exciting to go back,” said Kupcho, a member of the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program at CommonGround Golf Course. “I obviously could have played better (Monday), but I’m excited to get to go to the tournament I did really well in last year. Hopefully I can do even better this year.”
While Kupcho — who so far this year has won both the CWGA Junior Stroke Play and the 4A state high school girls title — is set for a return trip to the U.S. Girls’ Junior, the other three players who qualified Monday out of a field of 29 at Lone Tree will be making their USGA championship debuts.
Gillian Vance, a 16-year-old from Lakewood, earned medalist honors with a 3-over-par 75, while 15-year-old Jaclyn Murray of Grand Junction posted a 76, Kupcho a 78 and 16-year-old Erin Sargent of Longmont a 79. (From left, Vance, Murray and Kupcho are pictured above, and Sargent is pictured below.)
Sargent needed three holes of sudden death to land the fourth and final qualifying spot. Anika Hitt of Mequon, Wis., likewise shot a 79. After both players made routine pars on the first playoff hole, Hitt had Sargent on the ropes in a major way on the par-4 second hole.
Both players missed the green right, but Sargent’s pitch ran 30 feet past the hole and she three-putted for a double bogey. Hitt just had to two-putt from 5 feet to win the playoff, but she rolled her par attempt 2 feet past the hole, then lipped out that putt.
Sargent took advantage of her opening to hit a 6-iron to 8 feet on the 160-yard third hole. Hitt missed the green and couldn’t sink her 15-foot par putt, leaving Sargent in a similar position as Hitt was the previous hole. But Sargent two-putted for par, earning a trip to Flagstaff.
Sargent admitted afterward she thought she was done-for on the second playoff hole.
“I was like, ‘Well there it goes. There’s always next time,'” said the junior to-be at Silver Creek High School, who placed sixth last month in the 5A state tournament. “I was lucky I got to go to the next hole and end up winning.”
Lone Tree, set up at 6,414 yards and with some challenging green complexes, put the qualifying field to the test, with less than 20 percent of the players breaking 80. Vance, a senior-to-be at Dakota Ridge High School, managed the situation best, making 14 pars, a double bogey and two bogeys before finishing with a birdie.
“I was pretty pleased,” she said. “It was a good round. The course was pretty tough. The greens were definitely fast and we played at a longer distance than we’re used to. But I was hitting it pretty straight and it was a pretty consistent day. I was happy with it.
“(Qualifying) means a lot. It’s a big deal for my career. It’s just a good experience to get to go there, and I love traveling to play (tournament) golf.”
Murray earned her trip to a national championship just a month after helping Regis Jesuit claim the 5A girls state high school team title. (Though Murray lives in Grand Junction during the summer, she spends the school year in the Denver metro area with her mother.)
On Monday, Murray punched her ticket to nationals with a four-birdie day in her first attempt to qualify for any USGA championship.
“It means the world,” she said. “I’m really happy with myself. And I’m honored to represent Colorado.”
Although Kupcho struggled by her standards on Monday — she went birdie-less for the day, didn’t make a putt of over 3 feet, and carded two double bogeys on the back nine — the Wake Forest recruit knows that that’s the exception rather than the rule. And she has high hopes she can be in good form at the U.S. Girls’ Junior next month. Last year in the national event, she not only advanced to the final 32, but she finished 11th in the stroke-play portion of the championship.
“I definitely could have won that match I lost,” she said. “I did pretty well there, so I should be able to get far in match play. I’d like to at least get to the round of 16, maybe the round of 8 this year.”
U.S. Girls’ Junior Qualifying
At Par-72 Lone Tree GC
* — Won playoff for final qualifying spot
QUALIFIED FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Gillian Vance, Lakewood, CO 37-38–75
Jaclyn Murray, Grand Junction, CO 36-40–76
Jennifer Kupcho, Westminster, CO 38-40–78
Erin Sargent*, Longmont, CO 36-43–79
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Anika Hitt, Mequon, WI 37-42–79
Sarah Hunt, Parker, CO 39-41–80
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Delaney Elliott, Superior, CO 41-40–81
Sydney Gillespie, Highlands Ranch, CO 42-39–81
Morgan Sahm, Centennial, CO 41-42–83
Zarena Brown, Arvada, CO 44-41–85
Adara Pauluhn, Longmont, CO 45-40–85
Alexandria Trask, Commerce City, CO 42-43–85
Joanna Kempton, Littleton, CO 40-46–86
Courtney Ewing, Pueblo West, CO 42-44–86
Lauren Murphy, Carbondale, CO 45-41–86
Ashlyn Kirschner, Arvada, CO 46-41–87
Anna Kennedy, Parker, CO 44-43–87
Hannah More, Littleton, CO 42-45–87
Mariah Ehrman, Westminster, CO 45-43–88
Heather Kroll-Schoonover, Arvada, CO 43-45–88
Kacey Godwin, Denver, CO 44-44–88
Sarah Hwang, Monument, Colorado 44-46–90
Julia Kim, Aurora, CO 44-46–90
Delaney Benson, Littleton, CO 47-44–91
Amy Chitkoksoong, Aurora, CO 46-45–91
Madison McCambridge, Boulder, CO 49-46–95
Kendra George, Littleton, CO 49-46–95
Andrea Reppe, Highlands Ranch, CO WD
McKenna Reppe, Highlands Ranch, CO WD
