Annie Park Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Final automatic qualifying spots filled for 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup team

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 00:55:59 +0000

Harry How/Getty Images
Angel Yin of Team USA plays off the crowd as she makes her way to the 12th green during the final day singles matches of the 2017 Solheim Cup at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club.

By Keely Levins
Three automatic qualifying spots for the U.S. Solheim Cup team remained at the start of the CP Women’s Open, the final Solheim Cup qualifying event for the American women. In the end, Brittany Altomare qualified via the Solheim Cup points list, and Angel Yin and Annie Park made the squad off of World Ranking. Yin played in the 2017 Solheim Cup, but Park and Altomare will be rookies on captain Juli Inkster’s team that travels to Gleneagles in Scotland next month.

Altomare has had a strong season, finishing in the top 15 five times on the LPGA Tour in 2019. Park won her first LPGA title in 2018, the ShopRite Classic, and has had three top-10 finishes in 2019. Yin, one of the longest hitters on tour, will once again be the youngest player on Team USA at age 20.

While Altomare and Yin looked like they’d likely secured spots on the team as the tournament played out outside Toronto, the last position was more uncertain. Before the CP Women’s Open, Austin Ernst was ahead of Park. But after Ernst missed the cut in Canada, Park moved ahead of her on the World Ranking list by advancing to the weekend.

Seven golfers had already locked up places on the 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup team prior to the CP Women’s Open: Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Lizette Salas, Marina Alex and Megan Khang.

Two spots on the U.S. team remain to be filled. Inkster will announce her captain’s picks on Monday. There are several veteran players for Inkster to choose from, notably Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Gerina Piller. Arguments could be made for all of them.

“I am really happy with my 10 players right now,” Inkster said on Sunday. “The problem is I have more players who deserve to be on the team than I have spots available.”

The European Team has already been finalised. Captain Catriona Matthew will bring the following players to Gleneagles in Scotland:

Celine Boutier (rookie)
Carlota Ciganda
Georgia Hall
Caroline Hedwall
Charley Hull
Bronte Law (rookie)
Caroline Masson
Azahara Munoz
Anna Nordqvist
Suzann Pettersen
Jodi Ewart Shadoff
Anne Van Dam (rookie)

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No, this tour caddie didn’t shoot 194 in a U.S. Am qualifier. He shot 202—then was DQed

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 05:15:48 +0000

Chris Keane/Getty Images

By Joel Beall
It had to be an error, a scoreboard malfunction. That was the consensus as word spread through social media that a player shot a 194—that would be 123-over par—at a U.S. Amateur qualifier. After all, there is a 2.4 handicap index limit to enter the USGA event. Vanity indexes are routinely exposed at such competitions, but never to this degree.

Actually, the score was wrong. It was even worse than that.

On Monday afternoon, Korn Ferry Tour player Justin Hueber tweeted out the card in question from Mayacoo Lakes C.C. in West Palm Beach, which is hosting one of Florida’s U.S. Am qualifiers. Though Hueber blurred out the player’s name, it was relatively easy to deduce it was the score of Trey Bilardello.

A name recognisable only to the most avid fan, Bilardello is a professional caddie, spending most of the 2019 season with PGA Tour player Matt Every, looping for him as recently as last week’s John Deere Classic. Bilardello has also worked for Jim Herman and LPGA Tour players Annie Park and Moriya Jutanugarn.

The son of former Major League Baseball catcher Dann Bilardello, Trey is also a competitive player, participating in various mini-tour and PGA Tour Monday qualifiers over the past decade. However, Bilardello maintains amateur status. As of the latest GHIN revision, his handicap figure was 2.2.

That index is on the higher end of the competitive amateur spectrum, yet a number indicating a golfer who can usually break 80, or at the very least 90, in a U.S. Am qualifier. An opinion backed up by his past play; earlier this year he shot an 81 at a pre-qualifier—that is, a qualifier to get into the Monday qualifier—at the Honda Classic, with scores in the mid-70s posted on the Minor League Golf Tour.

So when Bilardello’s name was associated with an astronomical score, something didn’t add up.

According to Darin Green, director of rules & competitions for the Florida State Golf Association, the 194 was incorrect . . . on the low end. Bilardello’s actual score was 202, with pars on his first two holes and one on the final.

“There’s a glitch in our online scoring system,” Green told Golf Digest. The issue prevented individual hole scores greater than 19 from being submitted.

How did a 2.2 handicap hand in a 202? Green would not comment on what happened, only stating, “The 202 was the score given to us and signed.” But on Tuesday afternoon, the FSGA reversed its decision, disqualifying Bilardello after the event had ended.

“The Florida State Golf Association, after consulting with the United States Golf Association, has disqualified Trey Bilardello under Rule 1.2 for serious misconduct and failing to play in the spirit of the game,” Beth Major, USGA senior director of championship communications, told Golf Digest.

Multiple sources told Golf Digest that Bilardello, starting on his third hole, began deliberately missing shots, particularly around the green. What triggered this reaction, or the motive behind it, remains unclear. But Bilardello’s group was the first off Mayacoo Lakes’ second nine, and his pace held up the rest of the field. The USGA confirmed Bilardello’s actions, stating they were “making a mockery of the game.”

“His disqualification was deemed appropriate as a result of the individual’s failure to show consideration for other players—deliberately playing away from the hole to run up his score,” Major said.

Attempts to reach Kristian Fortis, an incoming freshman at La Salle University who played with Bilardello, were unsuccessful. Players playing in the group behind also did not respond to texts and calls about the situation.

This is not the first time Bilardello’s character has come into question.

Bilardello’s Minor League Golf Tour profile shows consecutive “DID NOT FINISH” appearances in early June. Sources told Golf Digest that Bilardello was suspended from the MLGT following those events for detrimental conduct at the Summer Abacoa Open in Jupiter, Fla. Scott Turner, the director of tournament operations for MLGT, confirmed Bilardello is suspended for an incident. Following the Summer Abacoa Open, the circuit released the following statement regarding “behaviour unbecoming a professional”:

“There have been two instances in the past 30 days where a player has damaged golf course property during one of our events. Both resulting in a financial responsibility for the tour and a major strain on the relationship of those two venues. There is and will continue to be a zero-tolerance policy for behaviour unbecoming a professional. Any player behaving inappropriately will face possible suspension from the MLGT. There is no place for this in professional golf. The majority of the venues that host our events do it as a favour to support tournament golf and help provide an avenue for players to develop their game to hopefully reach the next level. The MLGT and the participants in each event are guests of the host venue and will treat the course and the staff with the utmost respect.”

An online search also reveals that Bilardello was arrested in 2014 in Royal Palm Beach, Fla. on a charge of first-degree domestic battery by strangulation. Additionally, there is a 2007 Santa Cruz Live article detailing Bilardello’s bid for a “Caddie for a Day” contest for Ken Duke, where a commentator accuses Trey of cheating the ballot to win. Bilardello responded, explaining that others were circumventing the rules and his actions were merely a response to proxy voting.

A Florida number listed as Bilardello’s is no longer in service, and Golf Digest was unable to connect with him via social channels. An email to Every’s representatives about Bilardello has not been returned. Turner said that while Bilardello’s suspension is indefinite, there are avenues for him to return.

(Golf Digest’s Stephen Hennessey contributed to the reporting of this story.)

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The clubs Annie Park used to win the ShopRite Classic

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 04:58:47 +0000

GALLOWAY, NJ – JUNE 10: Annie Park celebrates her eagle on the ninth green during the third and final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer on the Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club on June 10, 2018, in Galloway, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

By E. Michael Johnson
Annie Park has not had an easy go of it in her early LPGA Tour career, but the 2013 NCAA champion combined a solid week of ball-striking with other-worldly putting (particularly in the final round) to win the LPGA’s ShopRite Classic.

Park hit 44 of 54 greens in regulation for an 81.48 percent clip with her Ping iBlade irons. That allowed her to make just two bogeys for the week, including an impressive bogey-free stretch that started after the 16th hole in the first round, all the way through the final hole. But it was Park’s putting that carried her to her first LPGA Tour win.

On Sunday, Park dropped a 60-foot bomb for eagle on the ninth hole and followed it with another lengthy birdie putt on 13, before a 30-plus footer for another birdie fell on 14.

The putter Park uses is a Ping Vault Bergen Platinum long putter at 45 inches that she holds away from her chest in compliance with the rule against anchoring. The head weighs 500 grams and has 2 degrees of loft.

According to Ping, Park has always been streaky with the putter going from very short blades to conventional mallets and recently over the start of this year, moving to the long putter. Seeing the line when over the ball has been a challenge for Park and this style of putting stance and stroke allows her to see more of her intended target line compared to the shorter conventional length putters.

“It’s actually helped me out a lot,” said Park. “I’ve always struggled with putting. I like it, but it’s also kind of hard because it’s longer and heavier. It took a while for me to get used to the putter, but I really like it.”

Especially on Sunday.

What Annie Park had in the bag at the ShopRite Classic:

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Driver: Ping G, 9 degrees

3-wood: Ping G400 Stretch, 13 degrees

Hybrid: Ping G400, 19 degrees

Irons (4-PW): Ping iBlade

Wedges: Ping Glide 2.0 SS (50, 56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Ping Vault Bergen Platinum

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Annie Park overcomes a season of struggles to win ShopRite LPGA Classic

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 06:19:33 +0000

(Ben Solomon)

By Keely Levins
Annie Park, the No. 236 player in the world, was not a favourite at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. In fact, the 23-year-old is lucky she even got to play. She’s a member of the LPGA Tour but does not have full status, meaning she gets few starts and can’t pick which events she’ll tee it up. But after posting scores of 69-65-63 to secure the $262,500 winner’s check from the 2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic—her first LPGA victory—that’s not going to be a problem moving forward.

Park made six birdies and an eagle over her first 14 holes on Sunday to get to 16 under and then made four pars over the last four holes to beat Japan’s Sakura Yokomine by one stroke.

After a successful junior career playing in Long Island where she grew up, just a few hours from Atlantic City, N.J.’s Stockton Seaview Golf Club where the ShopRite is played, Park had an even better college career. As a freshman at USC Park won the 2013 NCAA individual championship and led the Trojans to the team title. She left USC after three seasons to turn pro and played well enough on the Symetra Tour to earn status on the LPGA Tour for 2016.

Park’s LPGA career started off well. Her rookie year she finished in the top 10 twice. Her best performance was T-6 at the … wait for it … ShopRite LPGA Classic. But then, in 2017, she started to struggle with back problems, and her results plummeted. Having finished 126th on the money list in 2017, left her with her partial status in 2018. The ShopRite LPGA Classic was just her fifth LPGA start of the season.

“I can’t really describe it in words,” said Park of what it means to win after seeing her career sputter. “I’ve been through a lot of struggles, and thank my family for being here. There are so many people that supported me. Without them, I can’t be here where I am today, so I thank them so much.”

The former U.S. Curtis Cup player is the fourth first-time winner on the LPGA in 2018. Park credits the victory in part to a Monday qualifier that led to a T-18 at the LPGA Mediheal Championship in April and a new putting technique. After two rounds at Lake Merced for the Mediheal, Park was one shot off the lead, which gave her a boost of confidence. Instead of putting with a conventional putter, she now putts with a long putter, with the handle held away from her chest so it doesn’t break the rules of the anchor ban.

“Coming in, I felt great about my swing,” Park said. “I was hitting it well. Obviously, with the new putting routine, it really helped me out. I was just trying to play my best out there, and whatever happens, I just need to accept what happens. I just thought about my own game. Just try to think about the present moments in each shot.”

Park wasn’t the only player to make a charge on Sunday at the ShopRite. Yokomine was 10 under par on her Sunday round through 17 holes and faced an eagle chip on the par-5 18th hole that could have let her join Annika Sorenstam as only the second LPGA player to shoot a 59 on tour. The chip went 10 feet past the hole, and Yokomine missed the birdie comeback putt, leaving her with a 61 that gave Park the window to pull out her victory.

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