Canadian thrilled to earn ticket to Open

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This article was published 24/08/2010 (5849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There were four spots up for grabs Monday at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club, four 72s on the leaderboard at the end of the day and a straight line for those athletes to the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open golf championship.

Kirby Dreher of Fort St. John, B.C.; Maria Elvira from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Marina Choi of Los Angeles, Calif. and Amie Harje of Valencia, Calif., all shot a one-over 72 at the Monday Qualifier and will join the field for the LPGA event, which begins Thursday at St. Charles Country Club.

Dreher, the only Canadian in the group, was thrilled to get through after the group of 47 players battled heat and windy, overcast conditions.

The Open is Canada’s only LPGA event and will include 48 of the top 50 players on the LPGA Official Money List.

“It is amazing! I got to play in the U.S. Open this year and that’s probably the biggest tournament I’ll ever get to play but the Canadian Open is a little more special for me because I’m going to have some family here,” Dreher, 23, said. “I played in the Canadian Open in 2008 and it was the best experience of my life so I hope to repeat that.”

Dreher was the first of the four to finish her round and, holding the low score, had to wait more than an hour to find out if she had earned one of the four final exemptions.

“When I finished the round I was actually kind of disappointed, I made a bad double-bogey on 15 and I thought I might have thrown it away there. I actually ended up birdie-ing 18 so I figured I might be close, or at least on the bubble.”

The four athletes hugged each other in front of the leader board, Choi and Harje began to discuss getting accommodation in Winnipeg for the week but Elvira was simply overjoyed with earning her spot.

Dreher, Choi and Elvira all compete on the Duramed Futures Tour, the official LPGA developmental tour.

“This is a dream come true for me,” Elvira, 32, said. “I have not been home since mid-May, it has been a very bad season for me on the Duramed Futures Tour, so this is a big boost for me. I got to play in the LPGA event in Brazil in mid-May and now another LPGA event which is everything to me. I am extremely happy!”

Winnipeg native Stacey Bieber, who now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, shot a four-over 75 and was disappointed not to qualify for the LPGA event at her home club but said she enjoyed playing at home once again.

“I had just a couple mental mistakes. But it was so great to be back home again, I’d love to live here half the year, but not January!” said Bieber, 25, whose father Guy was her caddy for the day.

Bieber was one of 11 cast members of the Golf Channel’s 2010 Big Break Sandals Resorts show filmed earlier this year in the Bahamas. While she was the fourth player eliminated, she said she came away with valuable experience.

“It was an absolute blast, I met so many awesome girls, great to be part of the Golf Channel,” said Bieber, who put her career in finance and real estate on hold to pursue her dream of playing on the LPGA Tour. “I was more nervous there than I was in any other tournament. Just to be able to hit great shots with that amount of pressure, that can only make me a better player.”

Bieber said she plans to compete on the European Tour this fall and hopes to compete on the Duramed Futures Tour again next year.

Also Monday, Rhonda Orr of Winnipeg shot 87.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca