2007 Women's Amateur Public Links Championship Blog

Welcome to the 2007 Women's Amateur Public Links official blog. If you have a question or comment on the blog, please e-mail us at dshefter@usga.org.

Championship Performance

Mina Harigae played like a champion on Saturday. She made 10 birdies over 33 holes and shot the equivalent of seven under par, with the usual match-play concessions, in defeating Stephany Fleet, 4 and 3. That's what a championship match should feature. Great golf. Players winning holes with birdies instead of bogeys. You have to give Fleet credit for hanging tough at the end, making two consecutive birdies after Harigae went dormie 6 after the 30th hole. But in the end, it was a command performance by Harigae. When she looks back at this week, she'll point to that quarterfinal comeback against Stephanie Kono on Friday. Two down with two to play and she puts on her Tiger Woods rally cap and makes three consecutive birdies to win the match in 19 holes. Tiger once pulled off a similar comeback in 1993 to win the last of his three consecutive U.S. Junior titles. He was 2 down with two to play against Ryan Armour at Waverley C.C. in Portland and he birdied 17 and 18 to force extra holes and then beat Armour at the 19th.

Perhaps it was destiny for Harigae, who had come so close to making USGA finals in previous years. A semifinalist at the 2003 and '06 U.S. Girls' Juniors, Harigae never got over the hump. This week she did. And now she can call herself a national champion.

David Shefter (June 23, 3:22 p.m.)

Final Underway

The championship match got started under conditions you might see in San Francisco, not Lexington. A fairly dense fog enveloped Kearney Hill, but not enough to delay play as visibility was good enough to see shots leave clubs and land in the distance. Both players were extremely solid, but Harigae seemed to make every putt inside 10 feet. It started at No. 1 with an 8-footer to save par and halve the hole. She then birdied No. 2 from 12 feet with Stephany Fleet just inside three feet for birdie. The quality of golf was outstanding, the kind of stuff you expect to see in the last match of a championship but don't always get. Sometimes the competitors are so worn out from the long week that their games suddenly go awry under the pressure of the situation.

Not so on this Saturday, at least through 18 holes. Harigae shot the equivalent of 66 that included seven birdies. Fleet shot 71 with four birdies. She could have a few more. At No. 14, she was over the green in two on the par-5 hole, but her chip from the fringe rolled past the flagstick and off the green. She settled for a par and a halve. And at 18, facing a 5-down deficit, she had a makeable 10-footer for birdie and the ball trickled right at the very end.

Harigae definitely is in command at the moment, and if she keeps up the same form from the morning 18 in the second 18, the WAPL trophy will be hers to take home to northern California. It's interesting to note that Fleet is wearing sneakers again today. Her feet have been bothering her and she's more comfortable walking in sneakers over her golf shoes. But outside of a couple of shaky shots, she has held up marvelously in her first USGA championship final (this is her first USGA event) against a "veteran" like Harigae, who is competing in her 13th and is three years younger than Fleet.

David Shefter (June 23, 11:47 a.m.)

Ex-Junior Players Giving Back To Game

You can recognize them from a distance.  They don’t stand out in a crowd.  In fact, they’re probably the quiet ones – groomed to be quiet, groomed to be respectful – and even when they watch golf, they concentrate.

They’re ex-junior girl golfers. I’d know them anywhere. Theresa Saponaro Belmont and Donna Suave. They were taught to be quiet, respectful, orderly. In earlier days, they could only play with adults.

Belmont, the USGA’s director for the WAPL, and Suave, a longtime member of the WAPL Committee from New Mexico, are inside the ropes again in a different capacity.  They’re Rules officials.  They also handle the hundreds of small chores that keep a championship on track.

Suave and Belmont came at golf from different angles, different eras.  They look at today’s players a bit differently, perhaps, because of it.

When Belmont began playing, at 10, it was the 1980s.  Her father, Frank Saponaro, the Massachusetts Amateur Champion, took Theresa to a practice range but a neighbor in Potomac, Md., got her started.

“She was the junior chairman at a local course and all the kids in the neighborhood started playing golf,” Belmont said.

Theresa played in three-hole events, then nine-hole events.  When she graduated to 18 holes, her dad asked Henry Seymour of Northern Virginia to help her. Some 1,200 miles west in Alamagordo, N.M., Donna Suave, at 10, began to learn to play in the 1950s. “It was a good way to be with my dad,” Suave said. “There were no junior events.  Mostly I played with my dad and a senior man who volunteered to help kids.  I stuck with it because I was doing well and succeeding at it.”

Belmont won the Maryland Girls’ Junior and the sportsmanship award.  “The sportsmanship award was neat because they had a huge dinner, but other than that, I never won anything,” she says. Suave won the New Mexico Girls’ Junior in 1966.  She was runner-up in her state’s Women’s Amateur in 1968. In 1971 she lost to 14-year-old Nancy Lopez in the final.

Neither player, however, got the sort of recognition that young female golfers receive today. They received no clothes, no equipment and very little press coverage.  When Belmont’s father watched her in a college match, he said, “I didn’t know you could play that well.”

There was no girls’ golf team when Suave was in high school.  The coach allowed her to practice with the boys, “but they gave me such grief, I stopped,” Suave said, “and at the time it wasn’t acceptable to pursue the legal right to compete with boys.”

Suave joined the WAPL Committee in 1988.  Suave helps out where she can and she’s a trusted consultant of New Mexico juniors who want to pursue competitive careers. "When the WAPL came along, I had an opportunity to serve and consult with kids who are going in that direction,” she said.  “If I have the knowledge and the ability to help them, I will.  I can help them be on the national stage.”

Belmont would never trade her days in the sun for the role of today’s junior golfers. “There’s no way I could play today,” she says.  “No way.  All of the stuff they have to do just to go to college. The pressure is amazing.  But I know how they feel.  Like the player who was disqualified because she signed for a wrong score.  She was just bawling.  Well, I’ve been there.”

Belmont still remembers a penalty she received before she knew the Rules for making a practice swing in a bunker.  “I didn’t know any better, but I’ll never forget it,” she said.  “I can still picture that bunker.  It’s one of the reasons golf is so valuable. It gives you a lot of character.”

Suave remembers her early days in golf as providing a format for growing up. “I played as a youngster but I don’t know that I played junior golf,” Suave said. “I was playing in an adult world and you had to learn to be respected and be an adult and not be a brat.”

Suave is married.  She has three daughters, four grandchildren.  She has more to think about than the state of her golf swing.  Belmont too is married and has two daughters, plus the full-time career as a USGA official. 

The trappings surrounding the game are very different.  Golf is bigger, flashier now.  Surely it gets much more media coverage.  The game, however, remains the same – the player, the ball, the hole – and neither Suave nor Belmont will ever forget what their love for the game gave them when they were young. “I was so blessed because it was the one thing that gave me confidence and got me out of being so self-conscious,” Suave said.

“It was my distinction,” Belmont said, “although some people thought I was weird because I played golf.  But they had no idea what they were missing.  It was fun.”

Ex-junior Girl Golfers.  They’ll always be a part of the game.

Rhonda Glenn (June 23, 11:35 a.m.)

Interesting Final

Mina Harigae (Robert Walker/USGA)

You could not have two more drastically different players meeting in the 36-hole championship match on Saturday. You have Mina Harigae, competing in her 13th USGA championship, against USGA rookie Stephany Fleet.

You have Harigae who has been an American Junior Golf Association All-American against Fleet, who was first-team All-Mid-American Conference, but is hardly known outside of the state of Michigan. You have Harigae who flies to Las Vegas once a month to see Greg LaBelle at Butch Harmon's Golf School at Rio Secco G.C. And you have Fleet who has barely taken any formal lessons.

You have Harigae who has verbally committed to Duke University, which just won its third consecutive NCAA Division I title. And you have Fleet who plays for Eastern Michigan, which didn't even win its own conference in 2007 and failed to qualify for regionals.

But as the saying goes "... on any given day..."

"She could have the round of her life and I might have a mediocre day, so anything can happen," said Harigae.

Then again, the final is over 36 holes, which could be to Harigae's advantage. "I think it is a good thing because anything could happen in the morning 18 holes," said Harigae. "I think it's great" that the match is 36 holes.

One thing is for sure, it make for interesting storylines. No matter happens, somebody is going to walk away from Kearney Hill this week with a nice silver trophy and the bragging rights to say they are a national champion. Not too bad.

David Shefter (June 22, 4:45 p.m.)

More On Harigae

Harigae was asked if there was anything she has done differently this week over the previous times she reached the late rounds of a USGA event.

"I didn't choke," she said. "I didn't fall apart, especially against Stephanie Kono [in the quarterfinals]. I guess it takes experience. I've done it a few times. I think I just have to believe in myself more."

Harigae also is a 3.7 GPA student, but declined to reveal what she scored on her SAT to get accepted to Duke, where she'll attend in 2008-09. Harigae is a senior in high school.

David Shefter (June 22, 4:40 p.m.)

Racking'em Up

At the tender of 17, Mina Harigae is playing in her 13th USGA championship this week. When she goes to Pine Needles next week for the U.S. Women's Open, it will be No. 14 and USGA events 15 and 16 will be played later this summer at the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur. That's amazing for someone so young. But to put it in perspective, Carol Semple Thompson has competed in 103 events. So by summer's end, Harigae will only be 87 off Thompson's record mark.

David Shefter (June 22, 3:50 p.m.)

Fields Of Dreams

If someone yells the name Mike Fields at Kearney Hill this week, you might see two people turn their heads. First there is Mike Fields, the general chairman for the 2007 WAPL. Then there's Mike Fields, a sportswriter for the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper who has been diligently covering this championship. Ironically, both have the same middle initial as well -- C. No word yet on who is the better golfer.

David Shefter (June 22, 3:35 p.m.)

Fleet Street

Stephany Fleet definitely lives up to her surname. Translated, she plays very fast. Her father, Greg, is serving as her caddie, but he basically just totes the bag and gives his daughter her water. Stephany does all the reading of putts and she wastes little time pulling the trigger. "I just go out and play," said Fleet, who is now into the championship match following a second consecutive 5-and-4 victory, this time over Michele Shin. She beat Kayla Mortellaro in the quarterfinals by that same margin.

It's also refreshing to see a player who is not mechanical, doesn't rely on a swing coach or a sports psychologist. So many of today's golfers immediately call in their swing coach when they pull a shot or struggle on the greens. Fleet said she's constantly reminded of this by her college coach at Eastern Michigan. There are times when Fleet won't even take notes during practice rounds. She would rather just tee it up and go.

"I'm probably the least-technical player you'll ever meet," said Fleet, adding that sometimes her swing does look ugly, but as long as she can find a way to get the ball in the hole, she doesn't worry about aesthetics or style points. "There are times when I won't even look at the yardage I have."

By the way, this is Fleet's first USGA championship, although she attempted to qualify for the 2006 WAPL. By making it to the final, she'll get to add another USGA event to the résumé: the U.S. Women's Amateur at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind. WAPL finalists are exempt into the Women's Amateur and the champion receives a two-year exemption, plus an exemption out of local qualifying for the next three U.S. Women's Opens.

David Shefter (June 22, 2:50 p.m.)

Funny Quote

Before departing the premises on Thursday after her third-round defeat, Tiffany Joh was talking about how she played. And in typical Joh fashion, she turned disappointment into humor.

"I hacked like a computer science major." If Joh never makes it in pro golf, she has a spot in stand-up comedy. In fact Joh and 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Becky Lucidi, a fellow San Diegoan from Poway, would make for a funny on-stage duet. They are two of the funniest USGA champions I have ever been around. And 2004 Women's Amateur champion Jane Park isn't too far behind.

David Shefter (June 22, 1:14 p.m.)

Cooking Up A Champion?

Three of the four semifinalists have some connection to food or cooking. Stephany Fleet of DeWitt, Mich., can't get enough of The Food Channel and often cooks for her Eastern Michigan University teammates. So what's her specialty? "They seem to be a big fan of the chicken fajitas. They seem to request those an awful lot." Fleet was later asked if she's a better cook than mom. "No," she said without hesitation.

The parents of semifinalist Mina Harigae and Michelle Shin are Japanese restaurant owners. Harigae's folks run a sushi bar in Monterey, while Shin's father moved to Florida nine years ago to start a Japanese steakhouse (teppanyaki), which also has a sushi bar.

David Shefter (June 22, 1:07 p.m.)

Doing The Dew

Understandably, Tonya Choate woke up Friday morning feeling a little sluggish. Her Thursday was pretty remarkable, beating two reigning USGA champions. So she got refreshed like she does most mornings. "I've got to get up and have my Mountain Dew," she said. "I'm going to be the spokesperson for them one day. I drink like three or four of them every day." The extra caffeine kept Choate awake, but not alive in this championship. Michele Shin, 16, of Cape Coral, Fla., eliminated her, 3 and 2, in the quarterfinals.

Choate's remaining summer schedule includes the Missouri Women's State Amateur and the North and South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C. She won't be able to qualify for the U.S. Women's Amateur because her area qualifier conflicts with the North and South. Had she made it to the WAPL final, she would have been exempt into the U.S. Women's Amateur. She could have switched her sectional site prior to the close of Women's Amateur entries, but it didn't work logistically.

"The next closest site is like 12 hours by car and with gas being $3, it was too expensive," said Choate. "I didn't play in it last year, so it's not going to determine anything."

David Shefter (June 22, 1:02 p.m.)

Day 5 Begins

The beautiful two days of sunshine we had the past two days at the WAPL have been replaced by overcast skies, cooler temperatures and brisker winds. There is a chance at an afternoon thundershower, but hopefully any nasty weather will stay away until the quarterfinals and semifinals are completed today. On the course, the hole location at No. 7 (par 5) is a real doozy. It is tucked in the back-right portion of the green and any ball that rolls by the hole and to the right will continue rolling right off the green. I saw Mina Harigae attempt a long putt from the front-left of the green and the ball carried right off the green. She then had to pitch the ball toward the hole and eventually lost the hole to Stephanie Kono.

Ryann O'Toole had a pitch shot from 30 yards short of the green and her ball also trickled past the flagstick and off the green. She, too, lost the hole with a double-bogey 7.

Best match on the course right now is Tonya Choate, the giant killer from Mount Vernon, Mo., and Michelle Shin of Cape Coral, Fla. Choate just won 10 to go 1 up. Mina Harigae has also trimmed a 3-down deficit to 1 down after winning 11.

David Shefter (June 22, 10:20 a.m.)

Quite A Story

Tonya Choate is weaving quite the tale at Kearney Hill Golf Links. She did what people in this thoroughbred-crazed area call the Daily Double on Thursday, beating two reigning USGA champions in Kimberly Kim (Women's Amateur) and Tiffany Joh (WAPL). It's too bad 2006 U.S. Girls' Junior champion Jenny Shin decided to withdraw a few weeks ago. Just think if Choate was facing her in the quarterfinals.

She'd be going for the trifecta.

The best quarterfinal match, at least on paper, looks to be Mina Harigae against Stephanie Kono. The two were teammates for the West at last summer's Canon Cup and faced each other in the quarterfinals at the '06 U.S. Girls' Junior, with medalist Harigae winning. She would be upended in the next round by Vicky Hurst.

David Shefter (June 21, 10:07 p.m.)

Ace Rewards

Tiffany Joh's hole-in-one in round two of match play on Thursday is given special treatment on the scoreboard at Kearney Hill Golf Links. (Robert Walker/USGA)

Living, Blooming Souvenirs

We USGA types log many miles of travel each year and it’s always nice to bring home souvenirs.  So what do we choose as reminders of the nice places we visit?  When I first started with the USGA some 10 years ago, I purchased a few small paintings at various sites.  This, of course, demanded a budget the size of the national debt, so those purchases stopped in year one!  Then I went to T-shirts with the championship logo, and I still pick up a few of those. 

The very best souvenirs I’ve collected have been gardening ideas.  Each of our championship clubs has gone all out to put on a great floral and greenery display for the contestants.

Flowers, shrubs, trees, grasses and vines are groomed, fertilized, watered and dead-headed to be at their very best for the hundreds of contestants, young and old, to enjoy.  The effort that must go into these gardens for one splendid week touches the heart.  Most often it’s the work of the course superintendent and green crew that brings on the blossoms, but sometimes it’s a committee of club volunteers or students of a nearby college who glorify the grounds.

One of the most beautiful golf courses was the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Hammock in Florida, where the 2003 WAPL was conducted. But the surrounding flora was natural or planted to seem natural, like the 2000 palmettos that were planted between the fairways and the ocean dunes.  Natural areas of water, cypress trees and the great blue herons and snowy egrets amazed the eyes, but it would be impractical if not impossible to recreate those surroundings in a suburban lot in Summerfield, Fla.

Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., offered one of the greatest horticultural bounties I’ve seen.  Many of Old Waverly’s plants were easily adaptable in Florida.  The magnolia trees with their great white lemony-smelling blossoms.  The graceful crape myrtles with branches of watermelon red or white flowers.  The big old holly bushes burst with red berries.  One particular favorite from the 1999 Women’s Open was a circular bed behind the clubhouse.  It was designed and maintained by college students, I’m told, and I was able to recreate it in my own backyard.  A circular hedge of carefully trimmed ilex surrounded the perennials in the center of the bed.  An old fountain, or was it a sundial, stood in the center.  Thanks also to Old Waverly, I have five crape myrtles just getting ready to burst into bloom in my backyard.

Ansley Club at Settindown Creek in Roswell, Ga., host site of the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur, offered a hundred delights, but I chose to copy the clubs use of the brilliant chartreuse sweet potato vines for ground cover.

Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., the site of last year’s Women’s Amateur, had beautiful surroundings, but the plants and trees of the Pacific Northwest wouldn’t translate well in Florida.  Pumpkin Ridge, however, offered a number of interesting floral designs in the clubhouse. Six-inch square, clear glass vases full of wildflowers made attractive centerpieces for small luncheon tables and were easy to duplicate.

When I was here at Kearney Hill Golf Links for Media Day not long ago, the club was putting the finishing touches on its gardens in time to be ready for the championship.  It’s really paid off.  Rocking chairs line the porches and balconies and they overlook a new flower bed composed of a big granite boulder surrounded by red flowers.  Birds twit around hanging baskets of flowers under the eaves.  And Kearney Hill has made wonderful use of the new grasses which are mounded at the front entrance.  Grasses are one of the newer additions to landscaping.  Easily cared for, they grow in great graceful green clumps.

Kearney Hill’s clubhouse is full of floral arrangements: white hydrangeas with white roses are particularly beautiful.  This again reminds me of Old Waverly.  When we were there for the Women’s Mid-Amateur last fall, the clubhouse recreated the natural floral arrangements brought in from the autumn fields in days of old.  Sheaths of cornstalks towered over gourds and pumpkins. Grapevine garlands graced the tables.  How fortunate we are to enjoy the beauty of these great clubs, and perhaps take a thought or two home.

Rhonda Glenn (June 21, 5:41 p.m.)

Bloody Game

The medical staff at Kearney Hill had to be called to the 14th tee late Thursday afternoon to attend to 15-year-old Ha-Na Jang of Korea. Jang had a bloody nose, apparently from the dry air. She told the paramedics that this wasn't the first time this week her nose got bloody. The paramedics took care of the emergency quickly and she was on her way. Ryann O'Toole of San Clemente, Calif., owned a 3-up lead through 13, but trust us, blood had nothing to do with the status of the match.

Last week, if you recall, Justin Rose sustained a bloody nose in the second round of the U.S. Open from what he thought was an allergic reaction. These things can happen when it is very dry outside and we have virtually no humidity today.

David Shefter (June 21, 4:18 p.m.)

More On Choate

Tonya Choate doesn't play big-time college golf, but she had a big-time victory on Thursday, beating 15-year-old Kimberly Kim of Hilo, Hawaii, the reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion and the runner-up at the 2006 WAPL. Choate, despite her relative anonymity, did finish fifth at the 2007 NCAA Division II Championship. She owned the 54-hole lead, only to shoot a 78 in the final round. In 2006, she won eight of the 12 tournaments she competed in, including six in a row. He competitive fire was illustrated in a junior tournament when she shot 94 the first round and came back with a 74 to win.

She's also sharp in the classroom, making the Dean's list last year. She was a Division II All-American in 2006 and 2007, and was an honorable-mention selection in 2005.

In the round of 16, Choate faces another reigning USGA champion in Tiffany Joh, who beat Kim at last year's WAPL in Pueblo, Colo. "Every competitor is tough to beat here," said Joh, an All-American performer at UCLA. "If Tonya beat Kim, I know that she is a very tough competitor."

David Shefter (June 21, 2 p.m.)

About Kearney Hill

Pete Dye and his son, P.B. Dye, designed this week's WAPL venue as a links-style course, therefore, Kearney Hill Golf Links.  A late-spring drought has hit much of the country, causing water shortages and punishing golf courses.  Southern golf courses particularly have suffered.  Even in the greenness of Kentucky, drought rendered Kearney Hill looking a bit patchy until rain earlier this week.  But nearly one-half inch of rainfall has revived the course into everything the Dyes intended. Sit in one of the dozen or so comfortable rockers on the clubhouse balcony and a gorgeous links-style course is spread out before you, stretching off into the gentle hills like a great, flowing green and brown quilt.  Fairways, tees and greens are emerald in the sunshine, while the rough areas are wheat-brown, just as intended.  It could be Kentucky's version of Prairie Dunes.  In Scotland, it most resembles Muirfield, minus the sea.  Like all of the nice people here, the golf course at Kearney Hill has risen to the occasion for a national championship.

Rhonda Glenn (June 21, 1:27 p.m.)

The Drinks Are On Her

If anyone sees Tiffany Joh today, remind her to pony up. After recording her first-ever hole-in-one during her second-round match against Aimee Neff at the second hole on Thursday, Joh is now responsible for buying drinks. When informed of this age-old tradition, Joh, always ready to crack a one-liner, said: "Non-alcoholic, of course."

That's an appropriate statement this week. Virtually all of the remaining players in the field are under the legal drinking age, including the 20-year-old Joh.

David Shefter (June 21, 1:15 p.m.)

Snake Tale

The late Dick Taylor, longtime editor of Golf World, once told me that in tournament golf, “There’s always a dog.”  Yep, a dog is one of several things that always seem to happen at a championship.  (Dog trots through bunker, delaying play.  Dog walks on green, delaying play.  Dog trots onto teeing area for pats and sips of water, etc.)  Another constant guest is a snake.

This week’s snake story involves a 4-footer in the rough to the left of the 13th fairway.  Player sees snake, alerts Rules official.  Rules official radios Donna Mummert, USGA Manager of Rules of Golf, Amateur Status.   Mummert, poised and ready, as always, investigates.  “I think I’ll call in Lexington’s finest,” she says on the radio.  Lexington’s finest meant Joe Nugent, Anthony Johns and Chris Burke, firefighters for the City of Lexington serving as Emergency Medical Technicians at the championship, went into action.  Trapping the head of the snake with a bunker rake, they picked it up by the neck, carried it into a wooded area and released it.  No injuries.  Snake seemed happy, at last report.

The reptile was a brown garden snake, but no one was taking any chances.  Our heroes downplayed the incident.  “Actually, it was a four-foot rattler,” Nugent said.  “Yeah, and it had a cow hanging out of one side of its mouth and a dog in the other side,” Johns laughed, “but we handled it."

Mummert remained calm.  “My first snake?” she said. “Maybe on the golf course, as a Rules official, this might be a first.” No truth to the rumor that Mummert's new title at Golf House will be Snake Charmer.

Rhonda Glenn (June 21, 1:10 p.m.)

America the Beautiful

Among the USGA women’s championships, the WAPL traditionally offers some of the best local color for contestants.  Events organized by the local committee are unofficial.  There’s no discussion of Rules or out-of-bounds stakes.  The parties give contestants time to have fun and enjoy local cuisine and entertainment.  All of them are memorable.

Entertainment at the 1992 WAPL in Sacramento lives on in memory.  USGA officials recall the late Heather Farr joyously cruising down a river in a kayak.  Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., in 1999 gets the award for “Best Musical Score.” The sweet tones of gospel singers drifted up from an early-afternoon wedding beneath the trees near the clubhouse. A Mariachi band serenaded the players before the presentation.  Finally, bagpipers brought the spirit of old Scotland to the gorgeous New Mexico desert as the medals were awarded.

In 2000, The Legacy in Aberdeen, N.C., treated contestants to a July 4 fireworks display.  The legendary Peggy Kirk Bell greeted contestants at a dinner served in a tent beneath The Legacy’s towering pines.  The Players' Dinner was at the famous Carolina Inn in Pinehurst.  This elegant hotel has hosted most of the world’s greatest golfers at one time or another.  Pinehurst is famous for annually staging the men’s and women’s North & South Amateur Championships, and old black and white framed photographs of the contestants from days of yore offered a nostalgic nod to the past as we strolled the hallways.

The Sunriver (Ore.) Resort in 2002 offered bike rides and superb fishing amongst the beauty of the wooded mountain ridges.  In 2003, the Nicklaus-designed Ocean Hammock Golf Club, one of my favorite Florida courses, runs along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.  If you were lucky enough to stay in the small, elegant hotel near the 18th green, watching the sun rise above the ocean was inspiring.  Colonial Williamsburg pulled out all the stops in 2004.  Not only could contestants enjoy walking tours of the town’s historic sites, a fife-and-drum corps gave the evening party the flavor of Virginia’s Revolutionary era.

This year, Mike Fields, general chairman at this 2007 championship at Kearney Hill Golf Links, organized the evening before stroke-play qualifying.  Horse-lovers are in their element here. Lexington is world-renowned for the magnificent thoroughbreds that cavort in its pastures.  For some of us, horse country is the most beautiful country of all.  When players entered the Kentucky Horse Park Sunday, waiters dressed in jockey silks circulated, offering glasses of lemonade.  A parade of horse breeds was staged for the players. 

Near the entrance, they could look to the right and see an inspiring bronze statue of Secretariat, in my mind, the greatest race horse of all.  The lifelike rendering has the famous spirited horse prancing and tossing his mane as he entered the winner’s circle after his 31-length victory at the 1973 Belmont, jockey Ron Turcotte astride his broad back.

To the left and down a path through the trees is the grave of the great race horse Man ‘O War.  A bronze statue of this great horse stands on a small island surrounded by fountains gushing into a pond.  Two of the stallion’s sons are buried near him.  I visited his grave on Friday and people wandered down the lane quietly, standing at the rail in respectful silence to read the bronze plaque about Man ‘O War’s great triumphs.

The perfect note was struck by Gail Rogers, a member of the USGA Women’s Committee and the USGA’s chairman of this championship.  At the Players' Dinner on Saturday night, she closed her address to the players with this:

“As we each arrived in Lexington this week, we were immediately immersed in the rich history of thoroughbreds and horse racing.  This is a community that understands competition and the hearts of champions.  Our test will come on the golf course, rather than on the race track.  As the days unfold, you will each be tested, meeting and hopefully exceeding your personal goals.  At the conclusion, one of you will win the national title, the gold medal and the Robert F. Dwyer Trophy.  But remember, each of you has the heart of a champion or you would not be here.”

Rhonda Glenn (June 21, 10:05 a.m.)

Beautiful Day For Golf

Just got back from walking the outward nine of Kearney Hill and it is one gorgeous day to play golf. The sun is out, there is no wind or humidity and temperatures are ideal for this first day of summer. I must say the course is very scenic. First of all, there isn't any real estate except for the clubhouse, so you feel like you are out in the country. It is a links-style course with fescue and other native grasses, and architects Pete and son P.B. Dye did put in some mounding to add to the aesthetics. And the elevation changes add to the challenge.

David Shefter (June 21, 9:25 a.m.)

Ace For Joh

Defending champion Tiffany Joh of San Diego, Calif., got her second-round match against Aimee Neff of Carmel, Ind., off with a bang by registering a hole-in-one on the 149-yard second hole with a 7-iron. It was the first-ever ace for Joh, who did have a double eagle in the ANZ Australian Ladies Masters in 2005 when she shot a career-best 63. It was also only the second hole-in-one in WAPL history; the first came in 1998 by Andrea Meeker in the second round of stroke-play qualifying on the Bay Course at Kapalua Golf Club in Maui, Hawaii. The ace won Joh the hole and squared the match.

David Shefter (June 21, 9:20 a.m.)

Long-Distance Request

With competitors coming to our national championships from all points in the U.S. -- and even overseas -- request for photos are enormous. Most media outlets can't afford to send reporters and photographers to the national championships. The USGA accomodates them by telling players to contact their local reporters by phone when interview requests come in. But what do they do about photos? The USGA also plays a role here as well. A USGA photographer is assigned to every championship. These digital images are then placed in what we call a Lightbox on Media Bank, the USGA's digital image archive. The USGA then gives out a user name and password to those outlets who request it.

On Wednesday night, the Honolulu Advertiser was looking for shots of Stephanie Kono and Kimberly Kim. We e-mailed the paper the Lightbox and once the images were captioned and downloaded, the paper was able to retrieve them for use in the next day's editions.

David Shefter (June 21, 7:45 a.m.)

Done For The Day

What a far cry from Tuesday night. I didn't leave the Media Room until after 10 p.m. Because play went until almost 9 p.m., we had to wait before sending out stories. Our TPP scoring person, Cindy Cooper, also was dealing with computer issues, so it took a little longer to get all that information out. But it's nearly 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and we are done. All matches are in the books. All the stories have been sent. Just waiting to get photos for the first-day gallery. It's nice to be done at dinner time and not after last call.

We should have some excellent second-round matches in the morning on Thursday. Mina Harigae against Selanee Henderson at 7:48 a.m. should be a dandy. Harigae was the co-medalist last year and lost in the quarterfinals to Kimberly Kim, 9 and 7. She also was the medalist at the Girls' Junior and lost in the semifinals to Vicky Hurst. On the other side of the bracket the Amanda Blumenherst/Sara Brown match should also be a fun one. Brown, a semifinalist in this event a year ago, has a very bubbly personality and plays for Michigan State. Blumenherst is one of the best collegians in the country and has already won two NCAA Player of the Year honors in her first two years at Duke and was on the 2006 USA Curtis Cup team.

Remember, the next two days we have two rounds of match play. By this time tomorrow, we'll have only eight competitors remaining. That's the hard thing about these match-play competitions. By the end of the week, you have only a handful of players left. You get to know them and then they are, poof!, gone. Headed to the airport for the next event.

Anyhow, we had a perfect weather day for golf on Wednesday and it should be more of the same on Thursday. That means sunshine, low humidity and comfortable breezes.

I also ran into Tiffany Joh after her match. She has been reading the Blog. And she read the bit about us talking about her Blog. Does everyone have a Blog now? If you aren't blogging or text-messaging, you just aren't part of the 21st century.

David Shefter (June 20, 5:30 p.m.)

Ready To Play

Amanda Blumenhurst obsviously had no pre-match jitters. As she walked down the cart path to the first tee for her match against Carly Werwie, she did so at a very leisurely pace. Every few paces she would stop and observe the 50 American flags that are aligned in an arc, basically connecting the back of the 18th tee and the first tee. Given that a firm and constant breeze had the flags flying straight out, Blumenhurst, 20, of Scottsdale, Ariz., could identify all of the states. She currently trails Werlie, 2 down, after three holes.

Stuart Hall (June 20, 1:10 p.m.)

Medalist Eliminated

Stroke-play medalist Tiffany Lua was defeated by Stephanie Kono, 3 and 1. Kono survived a four-hole playoff in the morning just to make the field. The two were teammates on last year's West Team for the Canon Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event run by the American Junior Golf Association. One tidbit on Kono is that she attends the Punahou School in Honolulu, the same institution where Michelle Wie just graduated from. Kono just isn't as known worldwide. Maybe after this week, she'll have some more name recognition and could be the second player from that high school to win the WAPL in four years.

There's still plenty of local flavor remaining, though. Ashlee Rose from nearby Nicholasville won her match, 2 and 1. She has verbally committed to attend the University of Kentucky in 2008.

David Shefter (June 20, 1:45 p.m.)

Going The Distance

Just had our first match go the full 18 holes. Pamela Ontiveros of Mexico and Oral Roberts University, who qualified as an individual for this year's NCAA Division I Women's Championship, edged Tzu-Chi Lin of Chinese Taipei, 1 up. Chinese Taipei has produced a pair of past WAPL champions: LPGA Tour player Candie Kung (2001) and Ya-Ni Tseng (2004), who beat Michelle Wie in a 36-hole final, 1 up. Ontiveros moves on to play Elizabeth Dotson of White Bluff, Tenn., who will be a senior at the University of Kentucky.

David Shefter (June 20, 12:40 p.m.)

Medalist In Trouble

You hear it so often at match-play events: Nobody ever wants to be the medalist. It just places an additional bull's-eye on the competitor. And when your opponent is a high-quality player, the pressure just doubles. Such is the case today with medalist Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif., playing Stephanie Kono of Honolulu, Hawaii. Both are highly accomplished junior players; this is the seventh USGA event for Lua and the 11th for Kono. Lua qualified for next week's Women's Open; Kono played in that event last year. Kono also got to play four holes of pressure-filled golf this morning just to get into the field. She grabbed the last spot with a birdie on the fourth extra hole.

Through 10 holes today, Kono owns a 3-up lead over Lua. The last medalist to lose in the first round at the WAPL was Jessica Reese in 2002, who fell to Sunny Oh, 9 and 7.

One match has already been completed with Felicia Espericueta ousting Amber Littman, 4 and 3. Annie Park, the 12-year-old who was the youngest to make match play, is 5 down to China-born Shanshan Feng after 10 holes.

David Shefter (June 20, 11:45 a.m.)

Hawaiian Punch

Mary Bea Porter-King, a former USGA Executive Committee member from Lihue, Hawaii, must be smiling this morning as seven of the nine Hawaiian players who qualified for the 2007 WAPL have advanced to match play. Porter-King is heavily involved with the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, which has produced many of today's up-and-coming players as well as 2003 WAPL champion Michelle Wie. Several players here listed Porter-King on their bio forms regarding the junior program that got them started in the game. Besides 2006 WAPL runner-up Kimberly Kim, who was second in stroke play, Hawaii is represented by Stephanie Kono, the last match-play qualifier, Britney Choy (also was in 8-for-5 playoff), Kristina Merkle of Honolulu, Xyra Suyetsugu of Honolulu, Mika Ueoka of Lihue and Mari Chun of Pearl City. Chun was the stroke-play co-medalist at the WAPL in 2005.

David Shefter (June 20, 9:40 a.m.)

Open Tune Up

Eight players who have made it into match play here have qualified or were exempt into next week's U.S. Women's Open. That includes reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion Kimberly Kim and NCAA Division I Player of the Year Amanda Blumenherst. The others are stroke-play medalist Tiffany Lua, Selanee Henderson, Mina Harigae, Marci Turner, Shanshan Feng and Ha-Na Jang. Harigae was medalist at two USGA events last year: the WAPL (co-medalist) and U.S. Girls' Junior.

David Shefter (June 20, 9:31 a.m.)

Those Mighty Blue Devils

And then there were two. Three members of Duke University's NCAA Division I-winning team arrived in Lexington this week, but after two days of stroke-play qualifying, only two could be advancing to match play -- rising junior Amanda Blumenherst and rising sophomore Yu Young Lee. Blumenherst, of Scottsdale, Ariz., carded a 3-under-par 69 after totaling a 75 on Monday to tie for 11th at even-par 144. Lee, of Orlando, Fla., posted rounds of 77 and 76 for a 9-over 153, which tied for 60th and places her in Wednesday morning's 8-for-5 playoff for the final spots. A third Blue Devil, Rebecca Kim of Tigard, Ore., shot 77-80--157, four shots over the cut line.

You have to feel for 13-year-old Daffodil Sanchez of Mesa, Ariz. She bogeyed three of her last four holes to miss the cut by one stroke. But she is young and young players generally get over disappointments quicker than adults. With only a bright future ahead of her, Sanchez should be back in a USGA championship soon.

Stuart Hall (June 19, 9:45 p.m.)

Old Kentucky Home

Four players with Kentucky ties have made the match-play cut, led by Marci Turner of Tompkinsville who will be a senior at the University of Tennessee in the fall. For all you southpaws out there, Turner is a left-hander. No female lefty has ever won a USGA championship.

Ashlee Rose of Nicholasville, Ky. also will be in match play, along with Krista Burton of Jamestown, Ky., who won the NAIA title this year playing for Lindsey Wilson College. And Elizabeth Dotson of White Bluff, Tenn., will be a senior at the University of Kentucky. Dotson was a quarterfinalist in 2005.

David Shefter (June 19, 9:05 p.m.)

A Race Against The Sun

It's getting dark here and there's only a few groups left on the course. It's now a race against a spinning Earth to see if everyone will finish. The last groups have only a couple of holes left. Time to play speed golf. Any playoff for the final match-play spots will have to take place on Wednesday. But there's only one round of match play tomorrow. Looks like the cut will come at 9-over 153, which will take out Anna Schultz. Too bad. I would have loved to see this 51-year-old, two-time USGA runner-up take on one of these young kids. Oh well. At least Anna can look forward to the Women's Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Senior Women's Amateur this summer.

Marina Martinez of Modesto, Calif., made a huge comeback today, shooting a 68 after a 79 on Monday. Martinez shared best-round honors with Christine Song of Fullerton, Calif.

David Shefter (June 19, 8:35 p.m.)

The World Of Kimberly Kim

You just never know what kind of emotions Kimberly Kim is feeling. The 15-year-old walked out of the scoring tent Tuesday after shooting a second straight 3-under 69 and looked dejected. Most of us would feel elated. I've never broken par over 18 holes (I've done it for nine holes). Kim appeared mad at not earning medalist honors. She wound up missing by a stroke. Then after a few more questions, she didn't seem all that bothered by having that bull's eye. When told the USGA doesn't give out trophies after stroke play, Kim responded: "They do give out medals."

Yes. The medal is nice. But Kim earned two last year, one gold at the Women's Amateur and a runner-up silver medal at the Women's Amateur Public Links. So she shouldn't be all that upset about losing out on medalist honors to fellow teen Tiffany Lua of Rowland Heights, Calif. Pressed a bit more, Kim then said she wasn't bothered by finishing second in stroke play.

Kim is a tough competitor and she will be a tough out for whoever faces her in match play. She may be only 15 and talk like a teenager, but she has the heart of a veteran champion, and she won't be afraid to rip it out of her opponents. It will take some special golf to beat her And if anybody knows the vagaries of match play, it's Kim.

David Shefter (June 19, 8:27 p.m.)

Back To Golf

We're getting ready to resume play again after another weather delay. This one lasted just over an hour. With two hours of daylight left, it will be interesting to see if stroke-play qualifying can conclude today. If not, we'll be back tomorrow morning to finish off before beginning match play.

David Shefter (June 19, 6:30 p.m.)

Rheba Mabie

Eight years ago, at 21, she was on top of the world.  Every honor had seemingly come her way. American Junior Golf Association Rolex All-American at 18. Valedictorian of her high school class.  Scholarships from the nation’s best universities pouring in (she chose the University of Wisconsin).

She could pursue a medical degree and be close to her younger brother who had mental and physical disabilities. Mabie became the No. 1 player on her college team.

But diisaster struck in 1999.  At 21, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Rheba hardly paused. After having some two dozen jobs of all types, she attended the clowning arts program of Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Clowns in Central Minnesota. She became a professional clown, “Tutu Cute,” in 2000.

Mabie made others smile and forget their troubles for awhile. She graduated from Wisconsin in 2002, and last summer she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, her first competition since 1999.  Last fall she advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Old Waverly.  She even picked up points in the women’s amateur rankings of Golfweek  magazine.

For eight years, Mabie has been a national patient advocate for Multiple Sclerosis. And she teaches tap dancing. She plans to go back to school to complete her teaching certification; maybe in physics, chemistry, biology, general science. She also qualified to play at this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. Hugh Cooper, her caddie at last year’s Women’s Mid-Am, came all the way from West Point, Miss., to caddie for her. Folks tend to admire people like Rheba.

Unfortunately, Rheba Mabie didn’t make the match-play cut. If the past is any indication, a mere thing like a missed cut won’t slow her down. Sometimes, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s if you play the game.

Rhonda Glenn (June 19, 4:15 p.m.)

Rain, Rain

We just had a nice thundershower roll through the area. This part of Kentucky desperately needs the rain. But it's also a Catch-22 this week because we certainly don't want to see lengthy weather delays. It rained hard for about 10-15 minutes, but the sun is out again and it appears we're going to have a chance to continue playing this afternoon. After today, the field is cut to 64 players, so getting stroke-play qualifying done today is the goal.

David Shefter (June 19, 3:20 p.m.)

WAPL By The Numbers

In case you're wondering, the average age of the WAPL field is 20.04. There are four players 50 and over in the field and seven 14 years and younger. There are only 10 mid-amateurs (25 and over) competing, four of whom are 30 and younger. The largest age group is 20 (24 players). Forty-eight players are 17 and younger. We have 89 golfers competing in their first WAPL and a number of them are making their first-ever appearance in a USGA championship.

David Shefter (June 19, 11:30 a.m.)

Cup O' Joh

Defending champion Tiffany Joh is never short for words. This week, the UCLA All-American is doing a daily diary on golf.about.com.

Joh does her best to explain the format for this week's championship, calling it "A Guide to Amateur Match Play for Dummies." She equates it to an "elaborate thumb wrestling competition." She goes on to say, "I'm sure that description didn't help very much, but here's a quick run-down..."

In talking about the 64-player field for match play, she equates it to the NCAA basketball tournament, but the Bruin still holds a grudge over Florida and its former star Joakim Noah, whose Gators took out the Bruins again this year in the Final Four, this time in the semifinals. Her description of reigning U.S. Women's Amateur champion Kimberly Kim, 15, of Hawaii is "Queen of the Green" because of her hot streak in match play. Not only did Kim win the Women's Amateur last summer, but she advanced to the final of the WAPL before she ran into the even-hotter Joh, who posted a 6-and-5 victory that included a hole-out for an eagle-2 at the par-4 11th hole at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo.

Joh even has her own parking space at Kearney Hill for being the defending champion. The Kearney Hill folks placed a sign that says "Reserved for Tiffany Joh." Not bad.

David Shefter (June 19, 11:25 a.m.)

More On Lua

Tiffany Lua the golfer is quite a story. She is playing in her seventh USGA championship and she's barely old enough to drive. As a 14 year old, she advanced to the second round of the U.S. Women's Amateur. But Lua is much more than a standout golfer. On her bio sheet, she said she has been on the principal's list/honor roll since the fourth grade. A reporter on Monday asked if Lua was in college. Actually, she still has two more years of high school left at Los Altos High in Hacienda Heights, Calif. She has been the MVP of her high school team the last two years and is a two-time Rolex All-American on the American Junior Golf Association circuit. Her lucky charm is a pink pig stuffed animal that she puts in her golf bag. Her favorite dessert is creme brulee. Interesting girl.

David Shefter (June 18, 11 p.m.)

First-Day WAPL Notes

We have two sets of sisters playing in the WAPL this week: Abigale and Candace Schepperle, both of whom attend Auburn University, and Kelsey and Daphne Vines. Daphne attends Brigham Young University, while her younger sister is still in high school. Kate Ackerson also has an older sister who is a golfer, but Jennifer recently joined a private club and wasn't eligible to play this year's WAPL. She plans to turn pro later this year. Inah Park has an older sister with a name already inscribed on a USGA championship trophy. In-Bee Park won the 2002 U.S. Girls' Junior and was the runner-up in 2003 and 2005. She now is a member of the LPGA Tour. Korean-born Julie Yang, 11, of Phoenix, Ariz., posted a respectable 78 on Monday.

David Shefter (June 18, 10:45 p.m.)

The USGA adopted a new pace of play policy for its amateur championships last year. Found under the Note to Rule 6-7 in the Rules of Golf, the USGA has four check points by which a player must arrive within the allotted time, and no more than 14 minutes after the group in front of them. The first offense comes with a warning, the second offense brings a one-stroke penalty, a third offense is two strokes, and missing all four gets you a disqualified.

As some groups found out on day one of the Women’s Amateur Public Links Monday, three check points doesn’t earn you a hall-pass for the final check point. Missing the final time makes you liable for a one-stroke penalty if it is apparent that no effort was made to complete the round within the allotted time. It can be the difference between making match play and going home early. Whether it was searching for a lost ball or even enduring a long ruling, all factors are considered by the Committee in the scoring tent on the final hole.

Monday wasn’t bad with only 16 groups missing their times. Three groups failed to reach a second check point in time, resulting in five players incurring a one-stroke penalty. With check points being located after the fourth, ninth, 13th, and 18th holes, the clock stops when the flagstick is placed in the hole. While the occasional group was running to make a time, the groups that were always prepared to play had no problems.

Hopefully all goes as smoothly Tuesday as it did on Monday. Rain is in the forecast so keep your fingers crossed that everyone finishes on time.

Matt Sawicki (June 18, 8:15 p.m.)

Quick Thoughts

Just got done going through all the media bio sheets that we have the players fill. Boy do we have a lot of teenagers competing this week. Included in that group is 11-year-old Julie Yang, a native of Korea who now lives in Phoenix. What's neat is there are three 50-plus-year-olds competing. Besides Taffy Brower, who I mentioned in my initial blog, we have two-time USGA runner-up Anna Schultz from Texas and 54-year-old Kim Everett from Anchorage, Alaska. Bio sheets are very important to us because if a player advances and does well, we want to know more information about them. We'd like to know if they have played in other USGA competitions, what their best finishes in other events has been and if they have any interesting hobbies or interests. Are they a student or do they have a full-time job? Where were they born? Who is your caddie for the week? Any superstitions? Any hole-in-ones or double eagles? That kind of stuff. At the three Opens, we do a big Players' Guide that gets bounded and distributed to the media. But so many players here are not known quantities, so we need those bio forms filled out, and hopefully ledgable. One girl typed hers out on a computer. That's something I'd probably do since my handwriting is pretty awful.

More stuff later...

David Shefter (June 18, 5:10 p.m.)

Well, I finally made it to Lexington, Ky., today for the second leg of my three-week USGA championship odyssey. The U.S. Open is now in the books, so it's time to focus on the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at Kearney Hill Golf Links. This is a nice respite from the daily grind and pressure of the U.S. Open. No corporate tents here. We're not dealing with 45,000 spectators or gallery ropes. Just lots of tremendous female public-course players vying for a national championship. You almost need an event like this after the Open. The only difference here is we don't have thousands of media members or a court reporter transcribing every interview. It's a much more down-home feel, which is nice. If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of the USGA's amateur championships, and there are 10 of them, do so. You get to see a lot more golf and you get to do it while walking the fairways.

By the way, we are going to blog all week from the site. We'll have interesting notes, stories and commentary from the championship. Please feel free to send us an e-mail if you have a question or a comment on what we're doing. We love to hear from golf fans all across the country and the world. Remember, these championships have become very international. Just look at the last four U.S. Open champions. All hail from countries in the Southern Hemisphere. And the WAPL has produced foreign-born winners as well. Two have come from Chinese Taipei and another from Korea. Michelle Wie, in 2003, beat a girl from Thailand (Virada Nirapathpongporn) who two months later claimed the U.S. Women's Amateur title.

We have plenty of young, up-and-coming talent here. An 11-year-old has qualfied along with a bevy of high school and college players. Amanda Blumenherst, a member of the victorious 2006 USA Curtis Cup team and the two-time NCAA Division I Player of the Year (Duke University), is competing.

So is 62-year-old Taffy Brower of Boynton Beach, Fla., who got into the event as a first alternate. Brower is a USGA veteran. This will be her 39th USGA championship, but her first WAPL. She helped Florida win the 1999 Women's State Team Championship in Williamsburg, Va. How cool would it be to see Brower face an 11- or 12-year-old in the first round of match play. You can't see that in any other sport. Well, maybe in bowling, but golf is a game for all ages. Brower has 14 grandchildren.

Defending champion Tiffany Joh is back and she's a real treat to be around. Joh is a walking quote machine. The UCLA All-American has a wonderful, California-cool personality. And she's very humble, which is great to see in young talent. Joh and her mom got a little lost their first night in Lexington and stopped to ask a policeman for directions. He advised them to stay off Kentucky Route 4 during peak hours because it can bottleneck. When they got on the road, they noticed about 20 cars and both laughed. They are used to southern California gridlock, so this traffic was nothing.

"I don't think I've ever been in a place where people are so hospitable," said Joh. "It's definitely different from fast-paced L.A. (Los Angeles)."

Anyhow, we'll have more blogs as the week goes on.

David Shefter (June 18, 4:05 p.m.)