MEIJER LPGA CLASSIC

June 18, 2021

Katherine Kirk

Blythefield Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Great second round here at Meyer, great two days.

KATHERINE KIRK: Thank you.

Q. How has the course been different this year?

KATHERINE KIRK: Obviously the changes, yeah, tee boxes, expanded the greens, a little bit better drainage and better bunkers. I love the changes. I think it's playing awesome and more fair for the members, too.

They did a great job there. The greens are I think smoother in the morning, so that's why you see more scores or better scores in the morning.

But, yeah, just glad to be here and see so many people out. Yeah, obviously I think they're excited to get out too and watch golf, and it's been a good two days so far.

Q. I heard you have some great connections here in Michigan. How has that been? Have you seen any of them?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, my trainer and her brother and parents are coming out on Sunday, so it will be good to catch up with them. I used to have an apartment over near Lansing and my old golf coach used to be the director of instruction at Michigan State, and then my trainer is still here in Lansing.

Yeah, definitely got a Michigan connection and love coming back here, especially in the summer. It's awesome. I don't know if I could handle the winters, but year.

Q. How about the Meijer event? Is it one of your favorites you think?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, I think -- I mean, the sense of community here is unlike probably most places we go to. I think it's just that kind of Grand Rapids size town we always do best in.

Both Meijer and then the members here at Blythefield embraced the event. And, yeah, it's cool to see so many girls staying in private housing and the pro-ams have always been fun here, and then usually we do the Grand Taste.

So it's just a fun week from start to finish. Downtown Grand Rapids is a fun place to go hang out and explore. Yeah, just a fun tournament to be at, and I think all the girls appreciate Meijer and what they do, the Simply Give program.

Q. And going off that, this year they're doing a little bit different thing where the winner will get $25,000 to donate to their local community.

KATHERINE KIRK: Uh-huh.

Q. How much would that mean to you if you were to be able to do something with an automatic win and help your community?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, huge. I mean, Tom and I give to the Kansas Food Bank already, and I was kind of thinking I might do that if I did win.

But got a long way to go. I think it's a neat concept and neat to raise awareness. There are so many good causes and a lot of people struggled over the last 18 months. Folks like us who are in the position to give back, we should be giving back.

Yeah, hopefully, yeah, a lot of people realize the good that comes from golf tournaments and that there is a charity aspect, and it's important to support those charities.

Q. Last question, I promise. Olympics is coming up. It'll still happening we think. How much would that mean to you to be able to represent Australia again in the Olympics?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, right now I'm maybe three or four on the list so I think I practically have to win this week and next week to have a chance.

Either way, it's cool to see golf in the Olympics and the game just growing so much globally, places that never thought about golf until maybe 2016 when golf of reintroduced.

So I think it's great for the sport. Did I think it needed to be put in there? No, but just the awareness that is going to come in it being in there and televised will hopefully inspire boys and girls around the world to take it up and pursue their dreams.

More kids playing sport is never a bad thing.