Vicky Hurst (born June 19, 1990) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

currently playing on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. She turned professional as a 17-year-old in 2008, while still in high school. Playing on the

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

that year, she won five times and set a Tour record for single season earnings with $93,107.

Childhood and family life

Hurst was born to a golfing family. While pregnant with Vicky, her mother Koko, a native

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n, was completing a round of golf at

Andrews AFB Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

when her water broke on the 16th hole. Although winning the round, Koko left to give birth to Vicky at the base's medical center. Her father, Joe, who met Koko while he was stationed in Korea in the 1980s, was a retired

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He died suddenly of a massive stroke in April 2006 while Vicky, age 15, was practicing for the LPGA

Ginn Open The Ginn Open was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. It was played from 2006 to 2008 at Ginn Reunion Resort in Reunion, Florida. With a purse exceeding $2 million, the tournament winner automatically qualified for the seas ...

to which she had received a sponsor exemption. Hurst withdrew from the tournament and said she would dedicate the rest of her career to her father's memory. Hurst was raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, where she attended

Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida is an Episcopal coeducational college-preparatory school for grades preschool – 12th. It was founded in 1957. The school operates under the guidance of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the E ...

and graduated in June 2008, part-way through her Futures Tour rookie year. She has an older sister, Kelly, also an accomplished golfer, was a member of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

golf team, though she never played.

Amateur career

Hurst had a standout amateur career. In 2005, she won the Florida Women's State Golf Association Junior Girls' Championship, was named the FWSGA Junior Player of the Year and finished second at the Florida high school girls golf championship. In 2006, she was runner-up at the

U.S. Girls' Junior The United States Girls' Junior Championship is one of the thirteen United States, U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur girls who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and ...

and tied for second at the FWSGA Junior Girls' Championship. Also in 2006, she played in the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

, less than two weeks after turning 16. She was named Florida Junior Player of the Year in 2006-07 and qualified again for the U.S. Women's Open in 2007. In 2007, she won three American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events, and earned spots on the 2007 U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Team and Canon Cup, representing the East Team. She ended 2007 as the top-ranked amateur in the Polo Golf Rankings and was named the 2007 AJGA Player of the Year.

Professional career

In the fall of 2007 at the start of her senior year in high school, Hurst faced a choice between pursuing a college golf career, for which she was heavily recruited by coaches, and turning professional. She participated in, and won, the

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

in November. In December she announced that she would skip college and join the Futures Tour in 2008, while completing high school at the same time. She also received sponsor exemptions to three LPGA Tour events in 2008, missing the cut in two of the events and finishing tied for 21st in the third. In 2008, she competed full-time on the Futures Tour, winning five times and setting a Tour record for single season earnings with $93,107. She was named Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year and automatically qualified for full playing status on the LPGA Tour for the 2009 season. Her first tournament as an LPGA member was the 2009 season-opening

SBS Open at Turtle Bay The SBS Open at Turtle Bay was a golf tournament for professional female golfers, played on the LPGA Tour that took place between 2005 and 2009 on the Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), als ...

at which she finished tied for 15th and led the field in driving distance. Hurst finished her rookie year leading the LPGA Tour in driving distance with an average distance of 272.5 yards. Hurst's endorsement contracts include

Callaway Golf Callaway, legally Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., is an American global sports equipment manufacturing company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, more specifically clubs and balls, also including accessories such as b ...

and

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European head ...

Professional wins (8)

Symetra Tour wins (8)

¹ unofficial victory and earnings
Futures Tour majors are shown in bold.

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013. CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2009 British Open – 2011 Kraft Nabisco) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

LPGA Tour career summary

* official through the 2022 season
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

Futures Tour career summary

^ Does not include victory and $21,000 won at Duramed Invitational, an unofficial event after the season on October 19.

Team appearances

Amateur * Junior Ryder Cup (representing the United States): 2006 *

Junior Solheim Cup The Junior Solheim Cup is a version of the Solheim Cup for girls aged 12 to 18. It was inaugurated in 2002. It is currently officially called the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The Junior Solheim Cup follows a similar format to The Solheim Cup and featu ...

(representing the United States): 2007 Professional *

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian- American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force b ...

(representing the United States):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * *
Vicky Hurst
at Seoul Sisters website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Vicky American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Maryland Golfers from Florida American sportspeople of Korean descent Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy alumni People from Prince George's County, Maryland People from Melbourne, Florida 1990 births Living people 21st-century American women