Making the Cut and Heading towards the Top 10

“Golf Queen” Se-ri Pak (CJ) triumphed over the first ever battle of the sexes in Korean professional golf history and finished the tournament placing in the top 10.

The four-round 2003 Dong-tang Life Insurance SBS Professional Golf Best of the Best Tournament was held on the West Course of the Lakeside Country Club (Par 72; 7052 Yards) in Yong-in Shi Kyung-ki Do from October 26. After accomplishing her first goal of making the cut, Pak went further by offering to her fans a spectacular offensive fourth round in which she ended with a 1-under par score, hitting four birdies and three bogies. Pak finished the tournament in 10th place with a total 2-under par and 286 total strokes.

Pak started the first hole (par 5) with a nice birdie and also accomplished a birdie putt from the edge of the green on hole 3 (par 3) after she was unsuccessful in getting the ball on the green with her first hit.

Pak made her first bogie on the 6th hole (par 3) but immediately hit a birdie on the 7th hole (par 4) and another one on the 10th (par 4) and reached a top score of 4-under par. However, it seemed as if Pak lost her confidence because she hit two consecutive bogies and had satisfied herself with four par saves from the 15th hole till the 18th hole of the round.

Pak stated, “I will gratefully accept another battle of the sexes if I am invited again. I am planning to attend four other tours, including the CJ Nine Bridge Classic and other U.S. LPGA Tour Championships. With the confidence I acquired from this tournament, I am sure I will be able to win at least two of these upcoming four tournaments.”

First place went to Chang Ik-jae, who beat Cho Hyun-jun on the 18th hole by successfully hitting in a three-meter birdie put. Chang beat Cho by one stroke, with a final score of 13-under par and 275 strokes. This is Chang’s second consecutive win since last week’s KTRD tournament. The first place prize was 60 million won. Co-fourth place finisher Shin Yong-jin (LG Fashion), who hit 6-under par and 282 strokes, was crowned for the first time since his debut in 16 years as the largest cash prize winner with 207.78 million won.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com