U.S. Women's Open Week Arrives For McCurdy

FAYETTEVILLE – The eyes of the golfing world will be on the 60th U.S. Women’s Open this week as University of Arkansas junior Amanda McCurdy will be one of the 156 players looking to win the biggest tournament in women’s golf. McCurdy’s runner-up finish at the 2004 U.S. Amateur in Eria, Pa., earned her an exemption to this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and she is one of 18 amateurs in the field this week at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver, Colo. The tee times and pairings have been announced by the USGA and McCurdy tees it up with a pair of LPGA members in Hilary Lunke (the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open champion) and Jill McGill on both Thursday (1:32pm local time on #10 tee) and Friday (8:17am on #1 tee). "I think it’s a good pairing for Amanda," said Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester. "Jill is a long hitter while Hilary is more of a short hitter with Amanda probably in between so it should be a good fit. Amanda is very excited and spent last week working on her short game which will be a key this week. She feels prepared and ready to go." The field will be cut to the low 60 following the conclusion of Friday’s round. The par-71 course will play to a length of 6,749 yards making it the longest course in U.S. Women’s Open history and the finishing three holes at Cherry Hills are considered some of the toughest closing holes in championship golf. The course setup by the USGA includes the greens being set to 11 feet on the Stimpmeter with the deepest rough at 3 1/2 inches and the intermediate rough at 1 1/4 inches, making hitting the fairway a must. By hosting this week’s Open, Cherry Hills becomes the third course in the U.S. to host a U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and a U.S. Senior Open. Ladybacks.com will be at Cherry Hills providing coverage of McCurdy’s journey through the tournament wlth both written and video reports starting on Wednesday. The U.S. Women’s Open will be televised and broadcast times (central time) are Thursday and Friday: 4-8pm on espn2, Saturday and Sunday: 2-5pm on NBC (check your local listings).