CPKC WOMEN'S OPEN

July 26, 2024

Jennifer Kupcho

Earl Grey Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, welcome Jennifer to the media center here at the CPKC Women's Open. Really good start to the round. I think you just dominated the front nine. Can you take us through that hot start. Three birdies to start, right?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, I was hitting the ball really well. I was hitting the ball really well all day and the putts were just falling. I was kind of on a hot streak. Yeah, just felt really comfortable. I do feel like the front nine is definitely more scorable. That's where I scored yesterday as well. So I kind of knew that going into it that I needed to get off to a hot start.

Q. How did the conditions change throughout the day? Maybe greens dried out a little, got a little windier.

JENNIFER KUPCHO: Yeah, exactly what you said. Yeah, definitely got windier and greens got a lot drier for sure.

Q. How do you sort of digest a round and I know it just finished, but how do you digest a round that gets off to such a great start and has a finish that obviously you would probably like another crack at?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I mean, right now I'm pretty upset. I think in hindsight I still hit 15 greens. Like I was hitting the ball really good.

Three-putted 10 and 11 and 4-putted 16. I didn't play bad. Just had a couple shaky putts down the stretch and that's going to happen.

Q. Is it possible to describe what makes the back nine play so much tougher than the front half here?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I think it's -- I don't know if it's necessarily for everybody. I mean, I haven't looked at the stats. But I think for me, the front nine sets up a lot shorter. Like the I would say the shape of the holes, I hit a fade, so I feel like I can hit a lot of fairways and get it down a lot further on the front nine so I have really short wedges in.

And the back nine just makes me uncomfortable.

Q. You talked yesterday about the importance of sort of staying positive and I know that was in sort of different light. How do you make sure that the finish today doesn't get you out of that positive mindset?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I mean, like I just said, I hit 15 greens so it's hard to get entirely down on myself. I have all afternoon to go hit a few putts and get my confidence back up on that.

It's not the end of the world. It's Friday. So two more days to go. See if I can go low.

Q. Given what you saw on the golf course Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, are you surprised that the lead through two rounds is only 5-under, or is that in line with your expectations for how the golf course is setup?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I feel like it's -- that's where it was supposed to be or where it was going to be. I don't know. I feel like year after year sometimes, especially in these, I mean, you kind of can get off to a hot start and the lead can be, say, ten after two rounds.

It kind of goes down after the weekend. Last year 8 won. Obviously different golf course, but they set it up very similar here in Canada: firm, fast, long.

And it just gets firmer as the weekend goes. It's going to get harder.

Q. On that note, is that a challenge that you relish? Do you like that style? Do you prefer tournaments that become shoot outs?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I mean, I don't really care. Either way I think it suits my game a little bit more because I hit it a lot further. So I'm having wedges, where other girls are possibly have been 8-irons in that are going to bounce a lot more.

Q. And talked about the length and the firmness. Is there anything in particular in the greens that you find particularly difficult?

JENNIFER KUPCHO: I would say some of the greens are a bit interesting.

You'll see like a huge slope off one side of the greens but the whole rest of the green is going the other way and ends up breaking where the rest of the green is going.

So kind of like messes with your eyes a little bit. You think it's going to go one way and it goes the other.