U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2024

Corina Kelepouris

Fox Chapel Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. They talk about fantastic finishes. You had one.

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Yeah, it was surprising, sort of out of nowhere. The front nine was okay but I had a couple three-putts and just wasn't hitting it bad, though, but also hit it close on 1 and hit it close on 2 but missed it, then three-putted 3, then went along and then jarred it on 5.

Q. Can you talk about 5, what club you had, yardage?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Yeah, I hit a 3-hybrid off the tee. I think we had 34 flag and it was a little into the wind and I thought, this is 8-iron, get it on there, and as soon as I hit it, I thought, go in. But you always say that, right? It just was one of those ones that looked like it just went straight down the pin, and it just destroyed the cup, and it was in there.

Q. Did they have to fix the --

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Yeah, yeah, I have a picture of it.

Q. They didn't have to move it?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: No, the lip of it was just completely caved in. It was fun. It was cool.

Q. Is that the first par-4 eagle for you in competition?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: It's the first one I can remember. I haven't competed that much in the last 20 years, so it's the first one I can remember.

Q. Talk about the birdie-birdie finish, too.

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Yeah, on 7 I drove it kind of on the edge of the bunker but the lie was okay but I didn't hit it very good, and I kind of chunk-toed it, but it was pin high and about 20 feet, and had a good read, just rolled it in and it went in.

Then hit it in the left rough, the worst drive of the day on the last hole, and just had to muscle something over the bunker because there was that cross bunker. I had 80 yards and hit a good one, and the girl, luckily she was just about a foot behind me but on the exact line, and I saw hers move quite a bit right, so I got a freebie read, so she should probably get a half shot less.

Q. How long was that putt?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: That one was only about nine feet, so I hit that one good in there.

Q. Let's go back, you referenced you haven't played that much in 20 years. Can you fill me in a little bit?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Sure, I played pro from '98, and I played 10 years on the minor league pro circuit. It was called the Futures Tour back then.

Then I took 10 years off. I didn't play any golf. Then when I moved back to the desert, down to Palm Springs -- I live in LaQuinta, California, I got back into it.

A friend of mine, Nancy Harvey, played in the very first one of these. We went down to Pine Needles and watched her play. I remember stepping on that venue thinking, wow, this is legit, like this is a cool event. So that inspired me to get going.

Then my caddie, Terry, he works at the club that I was a member at, and we played a ton of golf together, and it was just something that I had in the back of my mind to work for. I turned 50 last year, and I didn't play very well in the qualifier. Maybe it was too much buildup or something.

But I started to play a few competitive rounds just to get some reps in, and in 2022 I played in the Cal State Open and was nervous in the drive over there because I hadn't played competitive golf in so long, and I shot 68 the first round, and I didn't sleep and didn't eat that day, and I thought, what am I doing to myself, and I ended up winning by five. So I still kind of can't believe I did that.

Just tried to play in as much stuff as you can. When you're 50 and you're professional, there's not that much you can play in. So I just tried to do the best I can, and playing with the guys I think really helps. I don't like losing even $5 to them, so it forces you to practice and play.

So I went this year and won -- got my spot in a playoff, and now here I am. So I had a nice round.

Q. Canadians seem to play other sports growing up. Were you one of those folks?

CORINA KELEPOURIS: Well, I was, but not formal because I'm just old enough that we didn't have girls' hockey in my town. But I think I'm a little bit of a hockey player at heart. I played my neighbor; he had a pond, so I skated with him. We skated every day in the summer.

Yeah, just grew up watching the '80s Oilers, so I was always a big hockey fan. Then actually I married a hockey coach. He was a coach in the NHL for 20-some years. He just got inducted into the Hall of Fame. We got unmarried but we're still very close. He lives a mile away from me.

When I stopped playing golf, I completely followed his career, and I feel like I got that competitive bug, so nurtured through him, watching his teams. I was super into it.

Then I just started playing golf, and so I'm a hockey fan all the way.