Audrey Ryu holes out from 18th fairway to earn Dana Open exemption
Audrey Ryu didn’t leave anything to chance Playing in the second-to-last group of the AJGA Dana Incorporated
Junior Open at Sylvania Country Club on Thursday, Ryu knew she was in contention. She spent most of the day avoiding
the leaderboard because she wanted to stay in the moment and not think ahead An easy way to avoid the drama is to create
own fireworks, and that’s exactly what the senior from central Ohio did, holing out on the fly for eagle from the
fairway on the par-4 18th hole “It’s way up hill, so I didn’t see it bounce,” said Ryu, who hit a 7-iron from about
140 yards. “I was like, that’s either in the hole or way over the green. My dad told me he thought it was over the green.”
Before hitting her shot, Ryu looked to one of her playing partners and said, “Let’s hole out from here.” She clubbed
up from a 9-iron because of the wind, which made for difficult playing conditions Ryu’s victory earns her an exemption into the Dana Open
presented by Marathon at Highland Meadows on Labor Day weekend “I’m very excited, to say the least,” she said. “I love playing with LPGA and college
players in other events because you get to see what it’s like at the next level. Now that I can be there, it’s a really good opportunity.”
Stephen Liu won the boys tournament in a playoff over Ryan Pamer. It’s Lui’s third AJGA win In four years, the Dana Incorporated Junior
Open has raised nearly $400,000 for the Special Olympics of Lucas County, the First Tee of Lake Erie, and the AJGA’s ACE Grant program.