Who says you can’t go home again? Certainly, Thomas Wolfe had it all wrong when he gave that title to the last of his novels. For Christina Kim and Mina Harigae, two Northern California natives who have carved out a career in women’s golf, the 76th U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco takes them back to their roots and everything about it feels just right.
Both of the LPGA veterans took the long road back home. Harigae, a native of Monterey, a bit down the Pacific Coast, advanced to The Olympic Club from a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier at Superstition Mountain G&CC in Arizona, while Kim, from nearby San Jose, had to juggle some television duties and earned her way in at Dedham Country & Polo Club in Massachusetts.
For both, the result was well worth the effort. In addition to playing in her 17th U.S. Women’s Open, Kim has the honor of hitting the first shot off No. 1 tee of the Lake Course at 7 a.m. in Thursday’s opening round, while Harigae kicks things off on the second nine by driving first on No. 9 a few minutes later. (The two-tee start at Olympic is on Nos. 1 and 9 due to logistics of the course layout.)
“I’m very excited about hitting the first shot,” Kim said Wednesday as she beat balls on the practice area at Olympic. “I didn’t even know I was going to do that until I got here and someone from the USGA told me.”
The three-time LPGA Tour winner had a career-best T-8 finish in the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont and since joining the Tour full-time in 2003 has averaged nearly 25 starts a year. Kim, 37, last won in 2014 and last played the U.S. Women’s Open in 2017, when she tied for 27th.
“The ball is moving forward,” Kim said with typical humor when asked about the state of her game. “I’m very happy with that. And I’m happy that I’m learning how to accept things in golf and in life.”
Woooo!!! I’m in!! So excited to the see the Bay Area fam at @TheOlympicClub this June for the 76th @uswomensopen !!! Thank you to the teams at @AZGOLFassoc and @superstitionmtn for putting on yesterday’s qualifier! pic.twitter.com/Cr3P7OppYy
— Mina Harigae (@minaharigae) May 14, 2021
Kim was working the Valspar Open in Florida for PGA Tour Live the week before qualifying. The qualifier in Massachusetts was the only one she could find that was on a Wednesday. That gave her Monday to travel, Tuesday to practice and Wednesday to compete.
“I figured if I was going to do it, I was going to give myself the best chance possible,” she said about deciding to try to qualify at Dedham. “I love Seth Raynor courses and that felt like a place where I could give myself a proper chance.”
And it certainly worked out well. With just two spots up for grabs, Noémie Paré of Canada and Kim tied for medalist honors at 137, Kim rallying with a 66 in her second round. “I just had a blast,” Kim said. “It was in the 50s and rainy and a bit breezy. But we were playing a Seth Raynor golf course.”
Kim’s first U.S. Women’s Open came as a 17-year-old in 2001 at Pine Needles, where she finished T-50. That same summer, she posted a 62 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior to capture medalist honors. She turned pro the next summer after graduating high school and picked up her first LPGA win in 2004.
Harigae, who played college golf at Duke, has been on the LPGA since 2010 and her best finish in the U.S. Women’s Open is T-28 in 2012. The 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion and member of the 2008 Curtis Cup Team for the United States, Harigae has been a local hero since winning four consecutive California Women’s Amateur Championships beginning in 2001, the first at the age of 12.
“Back to the Bay for my 11th U.S. Women’s Open!!!” she tweeted after qualifying. “The Olympic Club is going to be a true USGA U.S. Open test! Big trees, fast greens, and San Francisco weather.”
Harigae, who was one of six qualifiers at Superstition Mountain, where she shot 10-under-par 134, comes into San Francisco off a T-10 finish on May 23 in the Pure Silk Championship, her most recent LPGA event.
“I feel pretty good about my game,” she said. “I played well in my U.S. Open qualifier, so it was nice to just kind of take that into this week. I think rest is really important because the U.S. Open is quite the grind. It's nice that my game is rounding into form.”
Northern California has an extremely proud golf tradition, boasting such USGA champions as Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, Kay Cockerill and Juli Inkster. For Kim and Harigae, a return to the Bay Area is more than going home – it is a chance to become a part of USGA history.
By hitting the opening tee shots of the first USGA women’s championship at The Olympic Club, they already are.
Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.
