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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.
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. But Kim remains one of the top amateur
stars in women's golf heading into 2008.
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