The Pinx Cup

And then there was Se Ri. In all the matches she had played before, Se Ri had never lost in this competition (though she had tied a couple times). On this day she was playing Kasumi Fujii, another strong Japanese player, in the final match of the day. She got off to a good start, and they were all square after four when Se Ri took a look into her bag and discovered something that turned her stomach. She had 16 clubs in her bag! The limit in golf is 14, and if you have more, you must be penalized. Se Ri was not working with Colin Cann, her usual caddy, this week, but rather a caddy that had been supplied by the golf course, a young woman who probably had never been in this situation before. Presumably, Se Ri assumed the caddy had checked to make sure the number of clubs she had in her bag was correct (you know Colin would never make a mistake like that). Anyway, this fubar cost Se Ri four holes, and Se Ri ended up losing her match 2 & 1. What's most frustrating is that Se Ri actually managed to catch Fujii, despite being four down, only to see Fujii win the next three holes and take the match. Still, it's hard to comeback from a deficit like that in 18 holes.

Still, despite Se Ri's troubles, the Korean ladies dominated day one, taking a 16 to 8 lead. All they had to do was get a few wins on Sunday and things would be fine.

The weather on Sunday, however, got far far worse. The temperatures plummeted, and there were times when it was snowing on course! When the ladies were not hitting shots, they were wrapped head to toe in winter gear. This would be the stroke play competition, and the terrible weather yielded high scores.

Se Ri was a bit frazzled after her caddie left 16
clubs in her bag during the first round!

Se Ri confers with her caddie on the left

Young Kim would collect the winning
points for Team Korea

Fortunately, the early Korean players did very well. Or, rather, they did better than their opponents, which is what counts. Mi Chon Jung, for instance, won her match by the score of 80 - 81. Hey, a win is a win! Woo Soon Ko shot one of the worst scores of the day, an 82, but still beat her opponent, who shot an 83.

By the time five matches were completed, Korea had won three and halved one, and so sat at 23 points. One more win or tie would give them the cup (because the defender gets the cup in the case of a tie). Next in was Young Kim, and she was in a dogfight. She had a two shot lead, but hit her drive on 18 near the water. She wisely did not try to go for the green from there (which would have required a water carry), but instead laid up, then put her third shot near the hole. Her opponent did manage a par there, but Kim's tap-in bogey gave Korea the win at 25 points.

Next was Mi Hyun Kim, who halved her match with Akiko Fukushima, probably the second best Japanese player. She did it by nailing a clutch par save on the 18th hole; they both shot 77. Grace Park was next in, but though she had an outside chance of tying, she did not play hole 18 that well, and lost her match to Miho Koga 77- 75.

Then came Se Ri Pak, with the proper number of clubs in her bag, playing none other than Yuri Fudoh. This is the match everyone wanted to see, the two top players mano a mano. Do you think Se Ri was a bit piqued by her club snafu of Saturday? Maybe, because she played awesomely. Fudoh, in fact, finished with a 75, the second best score anyone managed all day. But Se Ri was 2 under par after 14 holes, and had several more good chances to birdie coming in. On 18 she hit a 250 yard 3-wood (yeesh!), then hit a wedge to 8 feet. But she missed that birdie and finished with a 2 under par 70, five shots better than anyone else in the field. Se Ri Fighting!

As it turns out, Se Ri was the final Korean player to win or even halve a match. The remaining players all lost to Japan, but it was too little too late. Shi Hyun Ahn made it interesting, though. She was too far back to have a chance, but chipped in for birdie on 17 while her opponent bogied, then hit her approach on 18 closer than anyone else had for another birdie while again her opponent bogied. She made up four shots in two holes, but still lost to Kasumi Fujii 78 - 75.

Se Ri drives during a snowstorm on Sunday

Team Korea, half frozen, flashes the 'V' for victory!

So the Korean team's final margin of victory was a commanding 28 - 20. The MVP was Woo Soon Ko, who won both days, although I would have picked Son Hwa Lee, who played better than Ko on Sunday and destroyed her opponent on Saturday, and did it at the tender age of 17. Se Ri won an award for low score of the day on Sunday. And Korea tied up the all time record for the Pinx Cup competition at 2 - 2. I suspect next year's match will be a real war!