With no time to catch their breath, Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi continue a hard march down their new paths.
The darlings of collegiate/amateur golf made their debuts as professionals at the U.S. Women’s Open last week, on the heels of the NCAA Championships, and now they’re looking to settle into the rhythms of LPGA tour life.
They’re both teeing it up in Friday’s start to the ShopRite Classic, their first starts as pros in a regular LPGA event.
“It’s just been like a whirlwind,” Kupcho said Thursday at Seaview Hotel and Golf Club outside Atlantic City, N.J. “So many things going on. Really, it’s unbelievable all the things you have to do, all the travel plans and talking to people.”
Yes, there’s curiosity over how quickly these young stars can turn their momentum into LPGA success, whether they can build on the excitement they generated at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April and the NCAA Championships in May. But there’s pressure making their debut on the tails of all that.
They did, after all, appear together on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after charming the world with their duel at Augusta National.
Even the most established LPGA stars don’t enjoy breaking out of golf’s niche that spectacularly.
Kupcho, the Wake Forest graduate, probably did more for her Q-Ratings winning at Augusta National than any winner of an LPGA major will this year.
Fassi, the Arkansas graduate, may have lost her duel to Kupcho at the ANWA, but she built on the popularity she gained there by winning the NCAA individual championship and then claiming her second Annika Award as the outstanding female collegiate golfer.
There’s excitement seeing if these two can add some spice to a big LPGA summer, but as Kupcho explained, there’s the reality of adjusting to new routines while competing week-in and week-out against the best players in the world. There’s a transition to make, a learning curve to navigate.
“I am just going to go out there and play my best,” Kupcho said. “Try not to think about a whole bunch of stuff, just go play my game.”
Fassi says she is finding an upside to the whirlwind.
“It’s been kind of easy, if you will, because I haven’t really had time to think about anything,” she said. “It’s just been so fast, just going from one tournament to the other. It just hasn’t hit me yet.
Full-field scores from the ShopRite LPGA Classic
“I’m taking next week off, and I guess that’s kind of when I’ll have some time to settle in and actually realize that I’m on tour now, and that I’m playing in the big leagues, doing what I love most.”
Fassi said she and Kupcho would like to play as partners in the new Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational team event next month. A run at a title there would add to the excitement they’ve built together.
“We’re trying to get ourselves into that one,” Fassi said.
Kupcho tied for 62nd at the U.S. Women’s Open. She took home a check for $11,303. She has this week and next week’s Meijer Classic to secure her place in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She could be playing four events in a row to start her pro career.
“There definitely has been some college tournaments where we turn around and go the next week,” Kupcho said. “I’ve done that before. It will be interesting later on, farther down the road, when I’m going to my fourth tournament in a row.”
Fassi tied for 12th at the U.S. Women’s Open, taking home $103,065 as her first professional winnings.
“My golf game is where I like it to be, and I’m just very excited for the week to start,” Fassi said.
Those who love the collegiate game should be rooting for Kupcho and Fassi. They took a stand for their schools as seniors. After winning LPGA membership at Q-Series late last fall, they took calculated risks deferring their tour membership, so they could finish out their collegiate careers. It bodes well for future collegians who choose to do the same if Kupcho and Fassi can make the most of their shortened rookie seasons.
The ShopRite Classic has other collegiate storylines this week.
Virginia Elena Carta, fresh off helping Duke win the NCAA team championship, is playing on a sponsor’s exemption. She was the NCAA individual champion as a freshman. She’s graduated from Duke with a degree in environmental sciences and policy, but will be retaining her amateur status to pursue a master’s degree in environmental policy at Cambridge this fall and next spring. She was also a Rhodes Scholar finalist.
Gina Kim, a Duke teammate, who contended at the U.S. Women’s Open last week, is going to caddie for Carta at ShopRite.
Carta plans to play the U.S. Women’s Amateur this summer and also go to LPGA Q-Series as an amateur.
“I’m going to turn pro next summer,” she said. “So, as soon as I’m done with Cambridge, I’m going to turn pro.”
If you are a college fan, the ShopRite Classic offers an intriguing addendum to a rich spring.