Notebook: Odyssey Continues For Stefanie Kenoyer At 2009 WAPL

By David Shefter, USGA

Devens, Mass. – You could say Stefanie Kenoyer has enjoyed quite an odyssey in her brief 20 years on the planet.

From summers sailing in the Bahamas on her family’s 38-foot boat, to going to Costa Rica as part of a church-related mission, to tutoring special-education students, to playing golf overseas in the Ladies British Open Amateur, to qualifying for her first U.S. Women’s Open, the Furman University sophomore has experienced plenty.

Stefanie Kenoyer continued her 2009 WAPL odyssey with a 2-and-1 first-round victory over Kayla Mortellaro on Wednesday. (Robert Walker/USGA)

The latest chapter came Wednesday when the Lighthouse Point, Fla., resident posted a 2-and-1 first-round victory over Kayla Mortellaro at the 2009 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Red Tail Golf Club.

“I haven’t been home since the local qualifying for the [U.S. Women’s] Open, which was June 1,” said Kenoyer.

Such long excursions are hardly unusual for the Furman University junior. From the time she was crawling, Kenoyer spent summers sailing with her family in and around the Bahamas.

These were priceless moments, filled with such adventures as spear fishing for grouper and hog snapper, and free diving in the shallow reefs. Once the fish were caught, dad would clean and filet them to be cooked.

Nights were spent chatting and playing cards and board games.

“We had no TV, no air conditions,” said Kenoyer, who has two older sisters, age 27 and 29. “It was an incredible way to grow up. We were living with a limited amount of water. We could only bring 100 gallons on at a time, so showering was really quick. You’d almost soap up in the salt water and then rinse off. It was just really neat to spend time with the family.”

Her father, Steven, was a commercial airline pilot so he would fly in and out, while her mother was a teacher and had summers off. Occasionally, they would head back to Florida to take her sister to tennis tournaments.

But by the time Stefanie turned 13, the boating excursions tailed off. Kenoyer’s sisters were off to college and she was getting too big to sleep in the cramped quarters.

One summer, Kenoyer did accompany her mom on a special church mission to Costa Rica to help rebuild and re-sand homes. Her mom was fluent in Spanish, which helped with communications. Kenoyer’s love for philanthropy has carried over to college, as her Furman teammates have performed a variety of charitable activities, including projects for the Humane Society and Habitat 4 Humanity

.

“We were actually nailing in the walls of the house,” said Kenoyer. “It was interesting to see the house take shape as we were doing it.”

This past spring, Kenoyer decided to take an education class as an elective. Part of that included tutoring special-education students at a local Greenville, S.C., middle school. She went into the process unsure of what to expect and wound up loving it so much she plans to volunteer again in the fall.

“We helped them with their homework,” she said. “I made up flash cards for some of the kids struggling with multiplication tables. It was just stuff to keep them interested. I went in thinking it’s just another requirement for a class, but I just had so much fun with it.”

On the golf course, Kenoyer has won the Southern Conference title her first two seasons at Furman, and was named the conference’s player of the year this past season. Over the past month, she flew to Scotland and played St. Andrews, then participated in the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship in Wales, where she was the lone American to advance to match play. After a first-round loss, she flew to Chicago for a 36-hole Women’s Open sectional qualifier, and was one of two amateurs (Cindy Lacrosse was the other) to qualify.

From there, she came to Massachusetts for the WAPL. Now she’s hoping to advance beyond the second round for the first time. She lost in the round of 32 at the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur.

“I’ve definitely learned that you can’t worry about anyone else but yourself,” said Kenoyer. “You just have to play the golf course and let things happen from there because you can’t control what your opponent is doing.”

Then again, it’s been a pretty good week for Greenville, S.C. Native son Lucas Glover just won the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black on Monday. And by Saturday, a Greenville student could wind up with the WAPL trophy.

“Maybe two unlikely winners in back-to-back weeks,” said Kenoyer.

Talk about another great adventure.

Role Reversal

Two years ago, Tiffany Lua was the WAPL stroke-play medalist when she faced Stephanie Kono in the first round at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky. Kono, who had endured a four-hole playoff that morning just to make the field, eliminated Lua en route to the quarterfinals, where she lost to eventual winner Mina Harigae in 19 holes.

On Thursday, Lua and Kono will meet again at the WAPL, only this time Kono is the medalist. The two UCLA Bruins – Kono will be a sophomore and Lua a freshman this fall – set up the match with first-round victories; Kono ousted Emily Powers, 4 and 3, and Lua defeated Caroline Powers (not related ), 2 and 1.

“It will probably be a good match,” said Lua, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open on June 15, then tied for third at last week’s Rolex Girls Championship at Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) Golf Club. “I’ll probably learn a lot from it just like I did a few years ago. She’s a good person.”

Kono is no stranger to playing teammates. Two years ago at the U.S. Girls’ Junior, she beat Maria Jose Uribe in the quarterfinals. Kono had just verbally committed to UCLA and Uribe was about to enter as a freshman. At last year’s WAPL, Kono came up a win short of facing future teammate Tiffany Joh in the final. Joh knocked off Lua in the semifinals.

This year, Lua almost failed to qualify for match play, but rallied with a 3-under 33 on her final nine holes to finish at 148, four shots inside the cut.

“First of all, I haven’t played in the rain for quite awhile because usually when it rains, it thunderstorms [and they call play],” said the Rowland Heights, Calif., resident. “This is also my third tournament in a row. I didn’t have any birdies the first round [of stroke play], which never helps. I got a few to drop on the back nine [on Tuesday] and made it thankfully.”

Aces High

Simone Hoey had just watched her opponent, Candace Schepperle, stuff a tee shot to 2 feet on the par-3 fifth hole when an idea popped into her head.

“I was thinking, ‘Hmm to win this hole I have to get it in,’ ”said the 19-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

That’s exactly what Hoey did, holing out an 8-iron shot from 144 yards to win the hole with an ace. It was the first hole-in-one in Hoey’s career and the timing couldn’t have been better. The shot gave her a 1-up lead, which she never relinquished in posting a 3-and-2 win over the Auburn University standout.

“It was huge to me,” said Hoey, whose older sister, Kay, caddied for her after she was eliminated in the 11-for-6 playoff late Tuesday for the final match-play spots. “It was awesome [having her on my bag]. I am glad she was there. She kept me calm, which was good.”

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