May 26, 2009

WAILUA, Hawaii - Santa Clara's Miki Ueoka fired a five-under par 67 to lead the sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Sectional Qualifier on Sunday at the Wailua Golf Course in Wailua, Hawaii. The top three spots advance to the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at Red Tail Golf Club in Devans, Mass., on June 22-27.

Taking second at the qualifiers was Christina Merkle with an even 72. She and Ueoka did a role-reversal on Sunday, as Merkle led the group with a 69 on Saturday and Ueoka finished that round at even par. The third spot went to Reiko Fujii, who finished in a three-way tie and went on to win the hole-by-hole playoff on the second hole.

The Women's Amateur Public Links is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Earlier this month, Ueoka became the first-ever SCU women's golfer to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. She earned three individual titles in 2008-09, while helping the Broncos to two team titles. Ueoka earned her second West Coast Conference honor as she received first-team All-WCC accolades after tying for second at the WCC Championships in April. She earned her first collegiate title at the Boise State Bronco Invitational (Oct. 13-14) and earned her second title at the Fresno State Golf Classic (Feb. 23-24), after posting the lowest round ever by an SCU women's golfer (68). Her final title of the year came at the Sacramento State Invitational (Mar. 23-24). It was her second straight win and, for her efforts, Ueoka was named the WCC's Player of the Month in February and March. Off the links, Ueoka owns a 3.49 cumulative grade-point average as a bio-chemistry major and was recently named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VIII third team, as announced by CoSIDA.