CPKC Women’s Open Notes: Victoria Liu at home on the range: Captain Lewis has a lot on her mind; Australian Ruffels loving West Van digs; Szeryk sisters to play in same group
Vancouver's Victoria Liu Will Have Her Dad Miles On The Bag When She Tees It Up In This Week's CPKC Open At Shaughnessy G&CC - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer. British Columbia Golf
Victoria Liu was on the driving range early Wednesday afternoon at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club, which is not unusual. Shaughnessy has become a second home of sorts for the Vancouver resident, who is heading into her third year of collegiate golf at Princeton University.
But this was a little bit of a different range session.
To her left, Lexi Thomson was hitting balls, and a couple of spots to her right, Brooke Henderson was warming up.
It was a ‘this isn’t Kansas anymore’ type of moment for Liu, who on Thursday afternoon will tee it up in her first L:PGA Tour event at the CPKC Women’s Open.
Liu knows there will be nerves, but hopes the fact she is making her LPGA Tour debut on a course she is intimately familiar with will help calm some of those butterflies.
“I think I probably have the best course knowledge here,” Liu said. “I have played at least a couple hundred rounds here.”
Liu thinks that knowledge will be a particular advantage on the greens at Shaughnessy. “Overall, it is a pretty straightforward course,” she said. “You can see the fairways and greens from the tee box, but there are a lot of what I would call blind slopes on the greens.
"You can’t really read them, it’s only after you putt it that you know which way it breaks. I have got a lot of those memorized and I think I have a good feeling for the greens. I just hope I can hit it to where I want to hit it.”
Victoria Liu Has Had A Great Start To Her College Golf Career At Princeton - Image Courtesy Princeton U Athletics
Liu earned an exemption into the event by winning the Glencoe Invitational tourney in Calgary earlier this summer. So she’s had lots of time to think about her big week. “I think I am more excited than nervous,” said Liu, whose dad, Miles will caddie for her this week. “I know these are great players, the top players in the world. I am expecting too much from it, I just want to learn from the experience and enjoy it.”
Liu, a graduate of Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver, has had a solid start to her collegiate career. She won two tournaments her first year at Princeton and three this past season in her sophomore year. She was the Ivy League rookie of the year in 2022 and the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2023.
“I think maybe the biggest challenge for me this week will be controlling my emotions, not being scared of other players and knowing that I should be here.”
Liu tees off in the last group on Thursday at 2:27 p.m. on the 10th tee with Ana Belac of Slovenia and Ines Laklalech of Morocco.
FEELS LIKE HOME: Australian Gabriella Ruffels is beginning to feel right at home in the Vancouver area. Earlier this summer, Ruffels won a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier at Vancouver Golf Club and stayed with some friends of her family in West Vancouver. She’s back for a second stay this week. “It’s so pretty here,” she said.
“I have a host family that I stayed with last time. They live in West Vancouver, and I think it’s probably one of the nicest places I have ever been, just the mix of the city and the forest and views out here are just amazing.” Ruffels is playing at Shaughnessy on a sponsor’s exemption. She recently earned her LPGA Tour card for 2024 after winning three times this year on the Epson Tour.
CAPTAIN LEWIS: Stacy Lewis has more on her mind than her golf game this week. Lewis is the U.S. Solheim Cup team captain and is scheduled to announce her captain’s picks on Monday.
“There is a lot running through my brain right now,” Lewis said Wednesday. “It’s hard to focus on the golf course with all the other things going on. But I’m okay with that.
"It’s been so much fun so far, just to be able to be out here week-to-week to talk to the girls, and really know how they are playing, knowing where their head is at.” Lewis has played well in two previous events in the Vancouver area. She was T6 in 2012 at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam and three years later she was runner-up to Lydia Ko, also at VGC.
SISTER ACT: Maddie Szeryk and her younger sister Ellie are not only playing together for the first time in a LPGA Tour event, they will play in the same group the first two rounds at Shaughnessy.
Maddie is an LPGA regular, while Ellie is a senior at Southern Methodist University in Texas and a member of Golf Canada’s national team. She received a sponsor’s exemption into the event late last week.
Ellie Szeryk (L) And Sister Maddie Will Tee It Up Together In The CPKC Women's Open - BC Golf File Photo
“I started pacing around because I was like, 'oh, my gosh. It’s my first week of university,' so I was like, 'I have to email my professors and ask my coach if I can go and all these things.' “Then I tried to Face Time the family and no one would pick up. I’m like, 'I’ve got such big news. Someone, please.' Yeah, it was really cool. Really excited and really shocked because I wasn’t expecting to get an invite. . . I’d be a nervous wreck, but just having Maddie here, it’s definitely a big comfort and pretty cool.”