UK WGolf: Anna Hack Debuts at U.S. Women’s Open at 8-Over Par

Kentucky women’s golfer Anna Hack made her U.S. Women’s Open debut on Thursday in the first round at CordeValle. Playing alongside the world’s best women’s golfers, Hack fired an opening round 80 (8-over par) on the difficult 6,783-yard layout in San Martin, Calif.
Hack held her own for much of the day in her first career appearance in the national championship. After opening with back-to-back bogeys, she steadied herself with eight straight pars and was 2-over par through 10 holes.
The back nine got a bit tougher for Hack with bogeys on holes 11 and 13, but she battled back for a birdie on the par 4 14th hole.
The sophomore-to-be was headed for a middle-of-the-pack finish among the world’s best golfers but recorded two bogeys and a triple bogey on three of her last four holes to finish at 8-over par overall. She’s in a tie for 142nd, ahead of a handful of professionals and amateurs.
The Paducah, Ky., native qualified in May for the world’s premier golf championship during a sectional qualifier at Westwood Country Club in St. Louis. She is one of 25 amateurs in the 156-player field.
Hack’s appearance in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open marks the second straight appearance for a Kentucky Wildcat in the national championship, which is open to female amateurs and female professionals across the country and globe. Former UK women’s golfer Mallory Blackwelder (2007-09) competed in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open.
Play resumes Friday at 10 a.m. ET and concludes Sunday night. Hack, who will need to make up some ground to avoid missing the cut – golfers outside the of the top 60 (plus ties) are cut from the field after the first two rounds – will tee off Friday at 10:05 a.m. ET alongside her first-day pairings, Miriam Nagl and amateur Yu Sang Hou.
Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the U.S. Women’s Open live again on Friday from 3-8 p.m. ET. Fox will take over on the weekend with live coverage from 3-7 p.m. ET. USGA.org will also have coverage online, including live scoring updates.
Hack, a Paducah, Ky., native, qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in May by beating professional Ember Shculdt on the third playoff hole to clinch one of two spots from the St. Louis sectional. Thanks to five birdies in the second round, including three in the final five holes, Hack shot a second-round 69, the lowest score of the qualifier to set up the playoff.
She had to make a birdie on the second playoff hole to stay alive and then eliminated Shculdt with a par on the third playoff hole to clinch the second qualifying spot. Overall, Hack shot 4-over par in the 36-hole qualifier for second place.
The sectional qualifier in St. Louis was one of 25 U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournaments (21 in the U.S., four internationally) for the 71st U.S. Women’s Open field. All sectional qualifiers were 36-hole, stroke play tournaments. The number of spots available at each sectional varied based on number of entries.
Hack’s latest achievement continues her rapid rise within the program. Just a freshman at the time this past year, Hack was arguably UK’s best golfer down the stretch of the season, posting two top-25 finishes in two of her last three tournaments.
Fifteen of her final 17 rounds were in the 70s, and she posted a 76.3 stroke average in the spring, the second-best mark on the team. She notched a career-best 14th-place finish at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic and ended the season with a career-low 54-hole score of 223 at the Southeastern Conference Championship, tying for 23rd.
As always, fans can follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com, for the latest Kentucky women’s golf information.
Eric Lindsey
Associate Director of Media Relations