WAPL Ride Over For USGA's Youngest-Ever Qualifier

Hawaii's Allisen Corpuz, 10, Cards Rounds Of 81-88 To Miss Match-Play Cut By 9 Shots

By David Shefter, USGA

Erin, Wis. – Not long after signing her scorecard and chatting with a few reporters, Allisen Corpuz walked down the steep slope behind the 18th green and approached her father. Marcos and Allisen then embraced in a long hug, knowing this historic journey had come to a conclusion.

Rounds of 81 and 88 put Corpuz nine strokes off the match-play cut, but in the grand scheme, that did not matter. For the past two days at Erin Hills, the Kapolei, Hawaii, fifth-grader had entered the record books as the youngest qualifier to compete in a USGA championship. Whatever happened afterwards was simply gravy.

At 10 years, 3 months and 9 days, Corpuz shattered the previous mark of fellow Hawaiian Michelle Wie, who achieved the feat eight years ago in this same event, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. While Wie, the 2003 WAPL champion and 2004 runner-up, did advance to match play in 2000 – she lost to Cindy Lee in the first round (3 and 2) – Corpuz, who attends the same Punahou School in Honolulu, fell a little short.

But there was no outward display of disappointment and no second-guessing about shots. She handled the disappointment as if she had been competing in the WAPL for 10 years. In fact, she nearly matched her fellow college-aged competitors Molly Schemm of the University of Wisconsin (166) and Mallory Fraiche of the University of Arkansas (167)

“The common denominator of the very successful junior golfers is they have poise and a maturity beyond their years,” said swing coach Kevin Ralbovsky, who served as her caddie this week. “Allisen is very composed on the golf course. She doesn’t get flustered or rattled. So her demeanor is conducive to good golf.”

Ralbovsky should know. He has tutored some of Hawaii’s best players sans Wie. Former student Tadd Fujikawa, in 2006, became the youngest qualifier in U.S. Open history at 15. Stephanie Kono, another Punahou graduate who made the WAPL cut, was a U.S. Girls’ Junior semifinalist last year and is headed to UCLA in the fall. Amanda Wilson currently plays for nationally ranked Arizona and Mari Chun is a former WAPL stroke-play medalist who competes for Stanford. And thanks to the Hawaii Junior Golf Association spearheaded by former USGA Executive Committee member Mary Bea Porter-King more and more young Hawaiians are fast-developing into elite golfers who can compete on the highest stages of junior and amateur golf.

Corpuz could be next. A little more than six years ago, Corpuz asked her father for a simple birthday present. She wanted to play golf and join her father and then-6-year-old brother on the links. Since that simple request, Corpuz has risen quite quickly in the junior ranks. Four years ago, she captured the 6-and-under division at the Junior Worlds in San Diego by seven shots. More recently, she’s won back-to-back U.S. Kids World Cup titles in her age division (2006 and ’07).

Three weeks ago, the 5-foot, 111-pound Corpuz carded an 80 during her 2008 WAPL qualifier in Kauai. It was good enough to be first alternate behind Cyd Okino, who first qualified for the WAPL at 11. But on June 9, Okino won a U.S. Women’s Open sectional qualifier in Hawaii, which gave her an exemption into the WAPL, along with the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur. That opened the door for Corpuz to grab Okino’s qualifying spot since the USGA automatically holds a few WAPL spots open for those who qualify for the Women’s Open.

It was a good-news, bad-news situation for Corpuz. The good news is she was making history. The bad news was she had to miss her Junior World qualifier. Fortunately, her father, Marcos, found another qualifier in the Los Angeles area that takes place next Tuesday, giving Corpuz time to fly back to the West Coast and compete.

“I think it’s really cool,” said Allisen of qualifying for the WAPL at such a young age.

Erin Hills, at 6,158 yards, certainly was one of the longest courses she had ever played in competition. Coupled with firmer and faster greens and all the natural obstacles of the championship course, it presented a tall challenge for a girl so short on experience.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Marcos Corpuz, who anxiously watched his daughter. “She started playing competitive golf when she was six. “And she is getting a lot of good experience.”

Especially when a good majority of the contestants this week were at least twice her age and can out-drive her by as much as 75-80 yards. But Allisen, who like to read books about fantasy and adventure, certainly will have quite a tale to tell her classmates this fall. A USGA official even asked to have her donate a signed ball that will permanently wind up at the Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History in Far Hills, N.J.

“She’s got a very good work ethic,” said Ralbovsky, who runs the KMR Golf School on Oahu. “She loves to practice. She likes to work on her golf swing. She practices in a group environment so it’s a lot of fun for her.”

Earlier this year at the LPGA Fields Open in Hawaii, Corpuz got to meet her idol, Morgan Pressel, who established records of her own as a young teen. In 2001, she became, at the time, the youngest golfer to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, a feat that was broken last year by Alexis Thompson. Corpuz got a chance to have her picture taken with the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and youngest winner of a professional women’s major, the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

“She was real nice,” said Corpuz, who will attempt to qualify for the U.S. Girls’ Junior in a few weeks in Maui.

After four days at Erin Hills – two practice rounds and two competitive rounds – Corpuz got a handle of what she needs to improve upon for the next time she qualifies for a major competition.

“My short game,” she said with a sheepish grin. “I was OK, but the greens were really fast.”

Added Ralbovsky: “Just playing on a championship-caliber course will prepare you. Each time you get that chance you get much more comfortable. Having this [championship] under her belt is going to help. Next year she will be that much more seasoned and it wouldn’t surprise me if she makes the [match-play] cut next year.”

David Shefter is a USGA New Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.