Only a junior at Chapel Hill High School, women’s golf prodigy Gina Kim is already starting to pile up a list of accolades worthy of a pro athlete.
Gina Kim with Chapel Hill High head coach Jim Williams after winning the 2016 state championship. (Photo via Sara Kim)
After finishing second in a 69-person qualifying tournament on Wednesday, Kim’s latest accomplishment will see her literally become a pro athlete.
Her score of 72 (+1) earned her one of four exemptions into the LPGA’s Volunteers of America Texas Shootout, which will take place from April 24-30.
Previously, Kim has won two state championships in North Carolina, the AGCA Rolex Junior Championship in 2016 and been a member of Team USA in the Junior Ryder Cup.
On top of that, she’s been a member of the NC All-State team for the last five years–dating back to when she was in seventh grade.
With that said, she has shown all the tools needed to break into the professional ranks for a while now.
It’s more a matter of “when” she’d get to that point, rather than “if” she’d get to that point.
Kim is currently ranked No. 2 in America amongst Junior girls, and No. 125 in the world amongst amateur women of any age–which is an incredible feat for someone who still has another year left of high school after this one.
If her past success is any indication of the future, Kim will be playing her first LPGA Tournament in April–but certainly not her last.
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