June 21, 2007

Click HERE to read the other "Chip Shots" entries from the 2006-07 season.

Go behind the scenes of Illinois women's golf with "Chip Shots", the online golf journal. In the first summer edition, senior Stephanie Mory talks about playing in the Women's Western Amateur at Stone Creek and what she and her teammates are up to this summer.

Chips Shots Women's Golf Blog // Thursday, June 21, 2007 // Stephanie Mory

Hello! This past week, June 11-16, the Women's Western National Amateur Championship was held at Stone Creek Golf Club. This was an awesome opportunity for our team because it is our home course and with the majority of our team being upperclassmen, we have all played the course countless times. For me, it was a fun tournament to prepare for, since I was staying in town to take term 1 summer school and it was going to be my first tournament since our spring season ended after Big Ten's. I was really excited when the rest of my teammates came into town the weekend before the tournament, so we could all catch up on how our summers were going, and hang out before the tournament started on Monday.

The first two days of the Western Amateur are stroke play qualifying rounds for match play which begins on Wednesday. The tournament is set up where the top 64 finishers make championship flight in Match play, and then the rest of the field is divided up into first, second, and third flights according to their position after the first two days. The team had a great showing after the first two days of stroke play with four girls making the championship flight. I finished in fifth place with my career low 36 hole tournament score at 142 (72-70), two under par, and I was excited to go into match play as the fifth seed. My teammate and fellow senior, Kristine Cook also went into match play looking good, with a stroke play total score of 150 (75-75), followed by Seul Ki Park at 151 (76-75), and Nancy Featherstone at 155 (76-79). Other Illini that headed into match play on Wednesday were Casey Burden as the number one seed in first flight with a stroke play total of 161 (78-83), Kristin Kallergis, and Kelsey O'Neal.

We also had a new recruit and incoming freshman for the Illini, Raquel Hopton in the field, who advanced to the finals and won the match play for the third flight. During match play the rest of the team all made it through the first round and moved on to Thursdays matches. Kristine Cook advanced to the Sweet 16 in Championship flight on Thursday as well. All in all it was a great week of golf for the Illinois team, and it was a blast to have the whole team together again for the first time since classes ended in mid-May.

As for the rest of the summer, it is filled with golf for everyone on the team. Many of the girls from Illinois will be playing in the Illinois Women's Amateur this coming weekend in Decatur and also in a U.S Amateur qualifying tournament in the beginning of July. I am going to be heading back to Haslett, Michigan to spend time at home and play the Michigan Women's Amateur and Open, which both take place in July as well. After that, at the end of July the whole team will be back together again at the Illinois Women's Open at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville, Illinois.

Following the Open, we hope to have most of the girls playing in the U.S Amateur the first week of August, which is held at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana. It would be exciting to have lots of girls in that tournament not only because it is the U.S Am, but also it is team member, Kristine Cook's home course, and a place all of us have played before.

So far it has been a great start to a summer filled with great golf for the whole team. All of us have high goals for the upcoming 2007-2008 golf season at U of I and we are working hard to get ready for fall.

Thanks to all of our supporters and GO ILLINI!!

Love,
Steph