Story Links
Aug. 4, 2004
ERIE, Pa. – University of Virginia golfers Leah Wigger (Louisville, Ky.) and Lauren Mielbrecht (Gulf Stream, Fla.) will compete at the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur on August 9-15 at the par 72 Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa. A record 868 contestants are entered this year’s championship.
Wigger, who paced the Cavaliers during their inaugural season in 2003-04, shot a 73 to tie for fourth at the sectional qualifier in Greensboro, N.C. on July 8.
One of three freshmen to be named to the 12-member All-ACC Women’s Golf Team, Wigger was instrumental to Virginia’s success during its inaugural season in 2003-04. Named the team’s Golfer of the Year, Wigger paced UVa with a 76.80 stroke average. She tied for 11th at the ACC Championship to pace UVa with a 217 (+4), the lowest 54-hole total by any Cavalier all season. She fired two rounds of a season-low 71 at the conference tourney.
Playing as an amateur, Wigger won the 2003 Joanne Winter Arizona Silver Belle Championship at the Wigwam Resort Gold Course on Dec. 30.
Mielbrecht, who will enter her first year as a Cavalier this fall, fired a 76 to finish third at the sectional qualifier in Pittsburgh, Pa. on July 8. Mielbrecht is an American Junior Golf Association All-American, one of 10 girls in the nation to receive the honor. She won the 2002 Florida girls’ high school championship.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur, the third oldest of the USGA championships, was first played in 1895 at Meadowbrook Club in Hempstead, N.Y. The event is open to any female amateur who has a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 5.4 The Women’s Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Duke’s Virada Nirapathpongporn from Bangkok, Thailand, won the 2003 championship at the Philadelphia Country Club. She defeated Californian Jane Park, 16, in the scheduled 36-hole final match, 2 and 1. Nirapathpongporn has turned professional and will not defend her title.
The champion receives a gold medal and custody of the Robert Cox Cup for the ensuing year. The runner-up receives a silver medal; the other semifinalists receive bronze medals. The champion receives an exemption from sectional qualifying for U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships for the next 10 years, if otherwise eligible; an exemption from sectional qualifying for 10 years to the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, if otherwise eligible; an exemption from sectional qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championships, if otherwise eligible; and an exemption from sectional qualifying for the next two U.S. Women’s Open Championships, if still an amateur.
Results will be available on the USGA Internet site at USGA.org.