Story No. 3 – Sadena Parks Comes from 7 Back to Win in Albany
I don’t think most of us on staff even considered Sadena Parks as a candidate to win that day in Albany. She was in a tie for 15th a full seven shots off the lead.
Let me track back for a second because maybe we should have given everyone a shot. The day before, Hye Min Kim set the course record with a 62.
The very next day, Sadena matched Kim’s new course record with a 62, which she culminated with a key birdie on 18, to win the SEFCU Championship at Capital Hills by one shot over Min Lee, who led heading into the final day.
We all knew how good she was. A week prior she finished 2nd at the Island Resort Championship and may have won that event if not for an errant tee shot on 18 that found the water. I think we all realized that Sadena can be scary good when she posted the 62.
Part of the story that week was that Sadena became just the second African-American ever to win on the Epson Tour. Although it wasn’t what meant most to her, she understood the significance.
“Kind of how Tiger Woods changed golf, I want to be the next African-American out there on the LPGA Tour. I want to be ranked number one on the LPGA Tour one day.”
The primary story was the emergence of her golf game.
“I’ve been waiting two years for this,” said the 24-year-old Parks. “I’m just really excited, I can’t wait to talk to my dad, my friends and I just want to take it all in.”
Parks won twice and finished fourth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. She has tremendous athleticism and great length off the tee. She finished eighth is driving distance at 257.979.
Parks walks with a bounce in her step – not an arrogant one, a confident stride. It’ll be fun to watch her compete against the best in the world in 2015.)
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