May 28, 1999
GRACE PARK
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS - 5-6 - SO.- PHOENIX, ARIZ./HORIZON HS
1998-99: Ranked No. 1 in the final Golfweek/Sagarin Collegiate Rankings and the winner of the GolfStat Cup...claimed medalist honors in four of her six spring outings -- the NCAA Championships (1-under 212), the Pac-10 Championships (5-under 211), the PING/ASU Invitational (3-over 219) and the Arizona Invitational (10-under 206)...earned First Team All-America honors for the second straight year...tied for second at the West Regionals with a 1-under 215...finished under par in five of her eight appearances in 1998-99...named to the All-Pac-10 First Team for the second straight year...tied for 39th at the LPGA Nabisco Dinah Shore Mar. 28 (75-71-74-70--290), finishing as the event's top amateur...tied for 21st at the LPGA Standard Register PING (73-72-72-70--287) Mar. 21...fired a season-low 66 in the first round of the Arizona Invitational...competed in the World Amateur Team Championship Nov. 12-15 in Santiago, Chile...her final round of 66 helped bolster her native Korea to a fourth-place finish...was the lone amateur among an elite, 16-player field competing in the Samsung World Championship of Women's Golf (Oct. 23-26)...fired a final-round of 69 to finish tied for 6th at 2-under 286...made two appearances for ASU in the fall, winning the Japan TOPY Cup in a playoff and tying for 35th at the Bama Fall Preview...posted seven top-10 finishes and five tournament wins.
1997-98: Made an immediate impact on the collegiate links, winning her first tournament with a 6-under-par 210 at the Rolex Fall Preview in Madison, Wis....named the 1998 Rolex/Eleanor Dudley College Player of the Year, finishing the season as the top-ranked women's golfer...compiled a season scoring average of 73.12, the second-best stroke average in the nation...finished the season ranked No. 1 in the Mastercard Collegiate Golf rankings...placed third at the NCAA Championships at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., with a four-round score of 5-under par 283...earned First Team All-America honors, helping ASU to its second straight NCAA Championship and fifth in six years...was named the Far West Region Freshman of the Year...earned first team All-Pac-10 acclaim...her postseason surge was jump-started by claiming medalist honors at the NCAA West Regional, where she finished at 7-under par 212...posted nine top-10 finishes in 11 appearances, with wins at the Fall Preview and the NCAA West Regional...fired back-to-back rounds of 7-under 65 to begin the NCAA Championships, tying the tournament one-round record...her 65s were the lowest rounds by a women's collegiate golfer last season...bested the NCAA Tournament 36-hole record of 7-under par, sitting at 14-under par 130 following her first two rounds...shot sub-par scores in four of her final seven rounds of the season -- which included play at West Regionals and NCAAs.
Summer of 1998: Won the U.S. Women's Amateur, defeating U.S. Women's Open runner-up Jenny Chuasiriporn 7 and 6 in the 36-hole championship match...became the first player in 60 years (since Patty Berg in 1938) to sweep the major U.S. women's amateur events, as Park won the Western Amateur and the Trans National Championship...also competed in two LPGA events, tying for 19th at the LPGA Friendly's Classic with a 1-under par 287...tied for 46th at the LPGA Jamie Farr Kroger Classic with a 2-under par 282...defeated Sun Devil teammate Kellee Booth to win the Western Amateur, and claimed the Trans National title with a 3 and 2 victory over Chuasiriporn.
Personal: Majoring in communication...parents are Soo-Nam and Jin-Ae Park of Seoul, South Korea...has one sister, Lisa, and one brother, Young-Sik...born March 6, 1979, in Seoul...full name is Grace JiEun Park.
GRACE PARK'S COLLEGIATE CAREER
Year App. Top 10 Rds. Avg. Low 1998-99 8 7 22 72.18 66 1997-98 11 9 33 73.12 65 Totals 19 16 55 72.75 65
GRACE PARK COLLEGIATE ROUND-BY-ROUND (1997-99)
1998-99 Tournaments 1 2 3 Total Score Place Japan TOPY Cup - 73 69 142 -2 T1st* Bama Fall Preview 77 79 156 +14 T35th Stanford/PEPSI -DNP- Golf World/Palmetto Dunes -DNP- Regional Challenge 73 74 80 227 +14 T8th Arizona Invitational 66 69 71 206 -10 1st Spartan Invitational -DNP- PING/ASU Invitational 73 75 71 219 +3 1st Pac-10 Championships 72 70 69 211 -5 1st NCAA West Regional 74 70 71 215 -1 T2nd NCAA Championship 69 73 70 212 -1 1st 8 appearances, 22 rounds, 1588 strokes, 72.18 average Top 10 Finishes: 7 *- won in a playoff Season-Low Round: 66 (Arizona Invitational)1997-98 Tournaments 1 2 3 4 Total Score Place Rolex Fall Preview 70 71 69 -- 210 -6 1st Mercedes-Benz Champ. 82 79 73 -- 234 +18 T28 Stanford Intercollegiate 73 72 71 -- 216 -3 3rd GolfWorld/Palmetto Dunes 76 74 73 -- 223 +7 T4th SMU/OSU Challenge 72 72 76 -- 220 +7 T10 Pioneer Electronic Classic 76 75 - -- 151 +7 T11 Spartan Invitational 79 74 72 -- 225 +3 T2 PING/ASU Invitational 72 75 71 -- 218 +2 T4 Pac-10 Championships 75 70 76 -- 221 +5 T5 NCAA West Regional 68 71 73 -- 212 -7 1st NCAA Championships 65 65 77 76 283 -5 3rd 11 appearances, 33 rounds, 2,413 strokes, 73.12 average Top-10 Finishes: 9 Career-Low Round: 65 (twice, at 1998 NCAAs)
GRACE PARK'S 16 COLLEGIATE TOP-10 FINISHES
1st: 1998-99 NCAA Championship
1998-99 Pac-10 Championship
1998-99 PING/ASU Invitational
1998-99 Arizona Invitational
1998-99 Japan TOPY Cup (won in a playoff)
1997-98 Rolex Fall Preview
1997-98 NCAA West Regional
T2nd: 1998-99 NCAA West Regional
1997-98 San Jose State Spartan Invitational
3rd: 1997-98 NCAA Championships
1997-98 Stanford Intercollegiate
T4th: 1997-98 PING/ASU Invitational
1997-98 Golf World/Palmetto Dunes
T5th: 1997-98 Pac-10 Championships
T8th: 1998-99 SMU/OSU Regional Challenge
T10th: 1997-98 SMU/OSU Regional Challenge