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U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN PREVIEW


SUPREME WHERE THE


WOMEN REIGN


Northern California has played a prominent role in the story of women’s golf. Here’s a look at those who shaped the region. BY RON KROICHICK


s a young, golf-crazed girl in Pleasanton, Paula Creamer quickly learned about the women’s game’s rich


history in Northern California. She saw it in plain view on


the clubhouse wall at Castlewood Country Club. That’s where a photo showed Pat Hurst, proud alum of Castlewood’s junior program, when she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 1990. Then, at age 11 or 12, Creamer met Juli Inkster while playing in a junior tournament at Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz. Inkster was well on her way to becoming a Hall of Famer and the best player ever from Northern California—and, not incidentally, Creamer’s role model. Soon thereafter, at 13, Creamer’s


connection to her predecessors became even stronger. Her dad, Paul, helped arrange some informal, nine-


40 / NCGA.ORG / SPRING 2016


hole rounds at Castlewood in which Creamer played with Hurst and Dana Dormann, another local LPGA pro (and two-time winner on tour). Two professionals and a freshly minted teenager, strolling the fairways together. That made an impression, absolutely. “They just really took me under


their wing,” Creamer said. “I was sur- prised I even made contact at the 1st tee, but they made me very comfort- able. It’s neat to see professionals play golf when you’re 13 years old.” One generation, meet the next. This tradition offers a suitable


backdrop as the game’s premier event, the U.S. Women’s Open, comes to CordeValle in July. That, remarkably, will be only the second women’s Open held in Northern California—Sac- ramento’s Del Paso Country Club served as host in 1982—and the first played in the Bay Area. The history of great NorCal


Santa Cruz native Juli Inkster hoists the 2015 Solheim Cup trophy.


PHOTO: AP


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