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Amy Anderson's run here at the 61st U.S. Girls' Junior is quite a story -- both here in Bedminster, N.J., and back in Oxbow, N.D., a small community near Fargo. On the local television news on Wednesday, Anderson's first-round win led off the sports segment of the broadcast.
No word yet how the Sioux Falls, S.D., media is handling the run by Kimberly Kaufman of Clark, S.D.
These two 17 year olds are an anomaly here at the Girls' Junior, where players show up with monogramed bags from various AJGA events or glitzy golf academies. These two golfers don't travel the summer junior golf circuit and rarely venture out of state.
Kaufman, who is headed to Texas Tech in the fall, only tries to qualify for USGA events. Last year she qualified for the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links and U.S. Women's Amateur. This year she qualified for the Girls' Junior and the WAPL, but missed the Women's Amateur. Two more wins, however, will get her an exemption into next month's Women's Am in St. Louis.
Anderson isn't quite sure she would accept the exemption if she advances to the final. She and her parents made the 28-hour drive to New Jersey from North Dakota, stopping in Indiana last week for a small regional tournament. Next week she'll play the PGA Junior Championship in Ohio. Making the Women's Amateur would mean a detour to St. Louis before heading home and preparing for college. She'll attend North Dakota State in the fall.
"It's really nice," said Anderson of her run to the quarterfinals after earning stroke-play medalist honors. "I always thought I was capable of it, but to come out and do it is a totally different thing. I'm ecstatic. Being medalist was the biggest thing. This is way too much fun."
Kaufman echoed those sentiments.
"I am really excited about tomorrow," she said of her quarterfinal match against Luz Alejandra Cangrejo of Colombia. "The more matches you win, the easier it gets. My first match was probably my most difficult. I went 19 holes [against Kaira Martin]."
Kaufman knows family and friends are judiciously following her progression via the Internet. She's already received a ton of text messages.
Imagine what will happen if Kaufman and Anderson meet in Friday's semimfinals.
The entire states of North and South Dakota may shut down.
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