Gebhardt; making her major debut.
But while she is bound to do a few double-takes as the superstars line up alongside her on the practice range, Gebhardt firmly believes this is the sort of company she should be keeping more often. Currently a member of the LPGA Futures Tour, Gebhardt has twice made it to the final stage of the LPGA Tour Qualifying School and has racked up enough top-ten finishes in her two-and-a-half years as a professional (21 on the Cactus Tour, two on the LPGA Futures and one in Canada) to believe she is ready for the next stage. "That's where I want to be," she says. "It's my goal to play on the LPGA Tour. I want to be No.1 in the world."
That's a lofty goal for sure, and the path to the top is strewn with obstacles many genuinely brilliant players couldn't overcome. But no one ever got there by accident. Only by totally committing themselves to their game, and voicing their ambition confidently can anyone hope to achieve the world's top spot. Commitment, ambition, confidence - that's Jessi Gebhardt.
One person who wouldn't be surprised if she were to make it all the way to the top is Risë Alexander, the womens golf coach at Oregon State University where Gebhardt played on a golf scholarship recording three top-tens and earning a Pac-10 Honorable Mention in her junior year. "Jessi works very hard on her game," Alexander said at the Vancouver qualifier. "She definitely has the mental toughness to play at the highest level."
Gebhardt took up golf at age 14, learning the rudiments of the swing under Chris Bensel at Lake Padden. Within a year she was on the BHS girl's team which won the State Championship three years in a row. AT OSU, she was an Academic All-American four straight years with a GPA of 3.8. She left with a degree in marketing, but decided to pursue golf, turning professional in January 2009. So yes, she's both extremely talented and very smart!
It's no surprise then that Gebhardt has made a number of shrewd decisions with regard her career. No, she didn't need to be terribly bright to know that moving to Arizona with its 300+ days of sunshine a year would be beneficial to her golf, but entrusting her swing to Greg LaBelle at the Butch Harmon School of Golf, and her mental strength to Vision 54 (Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott) was pretty savvy. Likewise asking 38-year LPGA Tour veteran Joe Connolly (Coffee Joe) to replace her regular caddie, and boyfriend, Martin White (also from Bellingham) who is having hip surgery this week, could prove a particularly sound move.
The East Course will be set up to typically demanding USGA standards, measuring 7,303 yards (making it the longest course in US Womens Open history) with greens rolling at somewhere between 13 and 14 on the stimpmeter. It will be the longest, toughest course Gebhardt has ever faced...by far...but she is definitely up for the challenge. "I consider myself a pretty good putter and think I'll enjoy putting on those greens," she says. "But I'm certainly not used to that speed, so as soon as I arrive I'll start work on my putting and short-game preparation."
Gebhardt's form so far this year has been somewhat spotty, but she did record four straight top-15 finishes on the Cactus Tour earlier in the year, and has made the cut in each of her last four Futures Tour starts. As for this week, even with her family cheering her on, she'll happily admit that making the cut will be a major accomplishment. But maybe this week isn't about this week at all. Maybe it's about savoring and learning from the experience so she's able to think about contending next year, and the year after that, and the year...
Could it be, in fact, that Jessi Gebhardt's future begins this week?
Jessi goes off the 10th tee on Thursday at 12.52pm. On Friday, she's off at 7.22am from the 1st. She plays the first two rounds with Korea's Mihyun Kim and amateur Emily Collins from Coleyville, TX.
Check out Jessi's blog here.
For the official 2011 US Women's Open, click here.
For scoring, click here.
