Updated: May, 2017

KIMBERLY KIM

The Facts

Birthday: August 23, 1991
Rookie Year on LPGA: 2011
Birthplace: Hilo, HI
Best LPGA Finish:
T-66th (2006 US Women's Open)
Best LPGA Major Finish: T-66th (2006 US Women's Open)
Best Score: 71 (2011 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship)
Best Scoring Average for a year: 75.71 (2011)
Best Season money total: $0 (2011)
Best Season Money Position: None (2011)
Most Top Tens/Season: 0 (2011)

Height: Unknown
2017 LPGA Status: None
Nicknames: Kim Squared, K Squared
Sponsors: None Known
How's her English?: Fluent
Road to the LPGA: Finished T-14th at 2010 LPGA Q-School to gain full status on tour.

Capsule Bio

Kimberly Kim is a long hitting teen prodigy from Hilo, Hawaii. She is half Korean, but was born in the States. Kim has been a good junior player for several years, but really broke through in 2006 in a huge way. Her summer started with a bang when she reached the finals of the US Women's Pub Links, one of the most important amateur tournaments in the country. She lost that match to fellow Korean American Tiffany Joh.

Galleries

2007 Photos
Photos
Seoul Sisters Pix

But Kim Squared (as she is known) really astounded the world later in the summer at the US Women's Amateur. She relentlessly worked her way through the field, finally making the finals. In the process, she became the youngest golfer to ever get to the finals of a national amateur golf championship. She fell five down at one point, but clawed her way back to a one up lead with four holes to go. Despite amazing play by her opponent, she hung onto that lead, making a birdie on the final hole to win the title. Needless to say, she is the youngest to ever win that title, male or female.

Later in the year she represented the US at the Women's World Amateur Golf Championship. She also moved to Arizona to be closer to the top golf action in the country, but still considers herself a Hawaiian. She returned to the islands in early 2007 to play a pair of LPGA events via sponsor's exemptions. She missed both cuts, but it was a worthwhile experience for her nonetheless.

Kim would miss the cut at all three Majors she played in 2007, but in the amateur ranks, she was still tearing it up. She tied the record for the lowest 18 hole score in the history of the USGA when she shot a 10 under par 62 in the first round of the stroke play portion of the US Girls' Junior. She would end up the medalist of that part, but lost in the quarterfinals of match play. At the US Women's Amateur, where she was defending champ, she played well, but lost in the semis to Duke star Amanda Blumenhurst.

Kim was also named to play on the Junior Solheim team, but lost all three of her matches in Sweden.

Throughout much of the Fall, she found herself in a pitched battle with Vicky Hurst for AJGA top player. In the end, Hurst won out, thanks to a win at the season ending Ping Invitational.

Among the highlights of Kim's 2008 season was a stint on the US Curtis Cup team.

The 2009 season saw Kim Kim finish her career as a junior golfer when she turned 18. She had another fantastic summer in amateur golf. She made it all the way to the finals of the Women's Amateur Pub Links for the second time, but lost pretty badly to fellow Korean American Jennifer Song. She also made it to the finals of the US Girls Junior in her final appearance there, but also lost in a rout to Amy Anderson. She did manage to win the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, her final AJGA event.

In the fall, Kim enrolled at the University of Denver. After playing on the Curtis Cup team the following summer, however, she turned pro. In the Fall, she earned full membership on the LPGA with a tie for 14th place finish at Q-School.

2011 turned out to be a disaster, however. She played 9 tournaments and did not make a single cut. At Qualifying School in the Fall, she played so terribly that she did not come close to earning LPGA membership (her first round was an 89!).

KimKim did get onto the Futures (now Symetra) Tour, and played 9 events there in 2012. Alas, her results were not promising. She missed 6 cuts and made barely $1000 in the other three tournaments. She continues to play part time on the Symetra Tour as of 2017.

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