A Right Wedding Day

Kent State Junior Advances Following ’02 WAPL Heartache

By David Shefter, USGA

Palm Coast, Fla. – It should have been a time for celebration. Instead, it became a time for tears.

For Gabrielle Wedding, the 2002 Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship morphed from sweet to bittersweet. The Wilmington, Ohio, native carded a 2-under-par 69 in the second round of stroke-play qualifying at the Sunriver (Ore.) Golf Resort. It was her lowest round in three USGA competitions and it would have earned Wedding the No. 2 seed in the 64-player match-play field. But not long after signing her scorecard Wedding was informed that her grandmother had passed away. She quickly informed USGA officials that she needed to withdraw from the competition.

“It was disappointing,” said Wedding, who will be a junior at Kent State University. “(The death) completely took my focus away from golf. At the time, I was really into the golf and then all of a sudden it didn’t matter.

“Even though I was leaving the next day, I had to withdraw because I would have taken up a spot for someone else.”

A year earlier, Wedding had advanced to the third round at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Long Grove, Ill., so after shooting the 69, she felt confident that it could be another strong event.

Nevertheless, the summer did go well for Wedding. She posted a 65 in the Women’s Ohio Amateur and then recorded three top-10 finishes in the fall for Kent State. She also helped Kent State win the Mid-America Conference title and to a second-place finish at the Central Regional. At the NCAAs, Wedding placed 50th and the team wound up tied for 19th. In qualifying for this year’s WAPL, Wedding needed to birdie her final hole to get into a playoff where she earned the last spot from her sectional site.

In stroke-play qualifying, the 19-year-old Wedding followed up an opening-round 78 with a 2-over-par 74 to easily get into the match-play draw, where she defeated Allison Johnson of Amarillo, Texas, 3 and 1, on Thursday to earn a second-round match with medalist Virada Nirapathpongporn, the 2002 NCAA Division I women’s individual champion.

“It’s been getting progressively better,” said Wedding, who was the equivalent of one over par over 17 holes against Johnson. “My game was really good coming in here and then I kind of struggled in the first round with the 78. It got better the second day and I played even better (on Thursday).”

But Wedding said last year’s disappointment has not entered her mind. She is trying to draw on her experience from 2001, where she lost to the eventual runner-up, Missy Farr-Kaye.

“If anything, it showed that I could play in the field,” Wedding said of the 69 at Sunriver. “I’ve been pretty much thinking about the year before. … I am starting to trust myself a little more. I don’t have as many jitters. College (golf) really helps because most of the people that are here I have played against or met in college tournaments. They are all really good but it kind of helps when you have played with them enough times.”

While Wedding has racked up her share of honors on the golf course — Mid-America Conference Freshman of the Year for the 2001-02 season and a two-time first-team All-MAC selection — she has earned plenty of accolades for her academic achievements. Wedding was the valedictorian at Wilmington (Ohio) High School where she maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and at Kent State, she owns a 3.953 GPA with honors classes and has twice been named an NCAA Academic All-American.

The marketing major understands that if there’s not a professional future in golf, she can succeed in a career that doesn’t include how many birdies and pars she can post.

“It’s just something that you have to do,” Wedding said of her dedication to the books. “But you have to have a balance (between school and golf). It’s just managing your time wisely.

“Right now my game isn’t there (to think of playing professionally). It’s been getting better. But I am pretty realistic. I know it’s tough out there. Even the best college players struggle to even make it. I am interested in using my brain for something.”

This week, however, her cerebral knowledge is being put to the test by Ocean Hammock Golf Club. And who knows, maybe Wedding, barring any unforeseen distractions, might have her breakout week

“My goal is always to win,” she said. “It might be far-fetched, but it might not be because I have played with the girls who have won and I know how good they are. It’s just a matter of me doing it consistently.”

David Shefter is a staff writer for the USGA. He can be reach at dshefter@usga.org .