Monterey native Mina Harigae on the first tee Thursday. (Molly Gibbs — Monterey Herald)
PEBBLE BEACH – With the coastline still thick with fog, and a handful of bleary-eyed fans bordering the fairway, Kelly Xu teed up. To the slowly building gallery, the 19-year-old amateur offered a small wave. They cheered, briefly, going silent at the course marshal’s signal.
Xu swung back. She swung through.
Crack.
The first-ever U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links was underway.
The long-awaited local debut of the championship began Thursday morning, sending 156 of the world’s top female golfers across the Monterey Peninsula’s famed 6,505-yard, par-72 course.
Harigae and her caddy/husband, Travis Kreiter, could be seen chatting and discussing strategy as they traversed the course Thursday morning (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
Monterey native and 2008 Stevenson School grad, Harigae came runner-up in the 2022 U.S Women’s Open and took home over $1 million (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
She moved to 1-over after the seventh hole, thanks to back-to-back birdies (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
Harigae was two-over par after five holes at Thursday’s U.S. Women’s Open (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
Monterey native and 2008 Stevenson School grad, Harigae came runner-up in the 2022 U.S Women’s Open and took home over $1 million (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
Monterey native and 2008 Stevenson School grad, Harigae came runner-up in the 2022 U.S Women’s Open and took home over $1 million (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
Harigae was 2-over after 13 holes (Molly Gibbs – Monterey Herald).
An hour later, Monterey’s Mina Harigae was on course, weathering a rough start with bogeys on three of the first five holes. She came back and birdied the sixth and seventh. She finished her round at 2 over.
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