Ames’ Chookaew sets pace with 69 at 101st Iowa Women’s Amateur
Pimkwan Chookaew made her Iowa Women’s Amateur golf debut a memorable one on Monday.
The Thailand native and senior-to-be at Iowa State shot a bogey-free 3-under-69 at the Wakonda Club to take a two-shot lead over 2019 champion Paige Hoffman (pictured above) of West Des Moines. One of her Cyclones teammates, Nichakorn Pinprayoon, is alone in third, three shots behind, heading into Tuesday’s second round.
“It’s really nice to do that,” said Chookaew of her bogey-free day, which included birdies at the 5th, 13th and 14th holes.“There was nothing really crazy today. I played easy golf.”
Chookaew (right) said she drove the ball well.
“That made me feel confident,” she said.
Asked what part of the game is traditionally her strength, she said it was her putting.
“A lot of people tell me my approach game is really good, but I think my putting is very good,” Chookaew said.
That approach game and putting were spot on Monday. Chookaew hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. And her ball ended up on the fringe of the only green she missed.
“I enjoyed the course,” Pimkwan said. “It’s really nice here.”
She also carried her own bag over Wakonda’s century-old hills.
“It was quite something,” Chookaew said.
When her college golf career at Northwest Missouri State ended this spring, Hoiffman jumped into the working world.
Though her career is golf-minded – she’s the Director of Development for the Iowa Golf Association – work takes priority over her golf game these days.
“I really wouldn’t say I came into this week with a competitive mindset,” Hoffman said. “It was kind of like, “Let’s go out there, have fun and enjoy it. I don’t get to play as much as I used to. That being said, I was able to attain that mindset for real. I wasn’t just saying it. I actually felt that way.”
Hoffman won this championship in 2019 at Otter Creek in Ankeny, finishing 3 under par with rounds of 71-71-68.
“I really haven’t had a great (Women’s Amateur) since then,” she said. “This is the best I’ve played since winning.”
Paige finished sixth in this championship in 2021 and 2022. A tie for 29th last year at Sunnyside in Waterloo was the only time she dropped out of the Top 20 since her victory. But her lowest round in that five-year stretch was a 74 in the second round in 2022.
Hoffman said “it seems like forever” since her 2019 victory, but the experience of getting to the finish line will do nothing but help her if she’s in the thick of the title chase come Wednesday.
“When you get in those pressure situations, you know you’ve been in them before and you can overcome them,” Paige said.
Pinprayoon had an up-and-down day but ended where she started, at even par. She rallied from a double-bogey at the par-3 2nd hole with three consecutive birdies starting at No. 6. She fell back with three straight bogeys starting at No. 9. But she birdied three of the last four holes, sandwiched around a bogey at the 16th, to get back to even par.
Another shot back after 73s were Keeley Marx, Anna Jensen and Chloe Bolte. Marx, another Cyclone golfer, was the Iowa Women’s Amateur runner-up in 2024. Jensen, the reigning IGA Woman Player of the Year and a two-time IGA Match Play champion, plays for Northern Iowa. Bolte, who joined Sharon Fladoos and Jessie Sindlinger as the only players to win four individual state high school titles in June, will play her college golf at Missouri State. Pettitt plays at South Dakota State.
Tish Boothe of Des Moines and Julie Buerman of Cedar Rapids both shot 75 and are tied for the lead in the Open Division. Geri Huser of Altoona, the reigning IGA Senior Woman Player of the Year, is a shot back.
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