Cary's Katherine Perry didn't make the cut at the U.S. Women's Open — with rounds of 78 and 84, she was 11 strokes off — but she did have a lot of fun and even got her picture in another paper.
"I had so much fun up there," Perry said. "It was an amazing experience, the best of my life so far."
In Bethlehem, Pa., Perry played a few holes of a practice round with Morgan Pressel and was interviewed by the Allentown Morning Call for an article about the amenities players enjoy at the tournament.
She started well, with a 1-over 36 on the back nine after teeing off the 10th on Thursday. But after finishing with a 7-over-par 78 on Thursday, she needed to shoot an 73 on Friday to make the cut. She bogeyed the first two holes and took a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 11th to seal her fate.
"I had so much trouble chipping out of that rough," Perry said. "Those greens are lightning quick and it's so tough to get the ball close to the hole. And bunkers. I don't like bunkers."
The rising senior at Athens Drive has another USGA event on her calendar, next week's U.S. Girls' Junior Championship in New Jersey. The defending champion there is Alexis Thompson, who made waves in 2007 by qualifying for the Women's Open at Pine Needles as a 12-year-old.
No matter how she does there, her experience at the Women's Open only reinforced her desire to take her game to the next level. She's planning to make a decision on what college to attend next fall this week, but she has her eyes on a professional career as well.
"I've got to work hard," Perry said. "Being up there made me want to do this for a living. I've got to practice a lot more — a lot more."
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or 
