Grace Kim turns Pro
Grace Kim will make her professional debut in just over a week when she enters pre-qualifying for the LPGA Tour's Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Grace Kim File: Getty Images
The two-time NSW Amateur and current Aussie Amateur champion signed off on her stellar amateur career with a best-ever World Amateur Golf Ranking of 29th.
Besides her back-to-back wins in the NSW Amateur ('20 & '21), Kim collected the 2021 Australian Amateur Championship in Kooyonga in Adelaide this past March.
A four-time recipient of the Karrie Webb Scholarship, Kim's list of accomplishments also includes wins in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aries and the 2018 Annika Invitational in New Zealand. The same year she was selected to represent Australia in the Queen Sirikit Cup.
In April, Kim became Australia's second-ever competitor in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
With COVID-19 continuing to cause considerable disruption to international travel, Kim chose to remain in the US for the remainder of this year, competing as an amateur on the Women's All-Pro Tour (WAPT), collecting two wins, and qualifying for the US Women's Amateur along the way.
After making the matchplay rounds of the US Women's Amateur in August, Kim breezed through the first stage of LPGA Qualifying School, finishing in a tie for 10th place a week later.
"I feel the time is now right to turn professional," Kim smiled. "I've had a wonderful amateur career and would like to thank all those involved for the support I've received."
Beyond next week's qualifying, Kim is planning her assault on Stage II of the LPGA tour school, which begins on October 18th at the Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Florida.
"I'm hopeful of gaining some starts on the Symetra Tour between now and then; otherwise, I will play as many qualifiers as I can.
"My goal is to make the LPGA Tour, to win and go on to become a Major Champion.
"I want to follow the path of my idols, Karrie Webb, Hannah Green, Minjee Lee and Tiger Woods. This is my first step," Kim added.