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It wasn’t
supposed to be easy. Nicole Hage and Elizabeth Janangelo knew
this.
They knew
the greens at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.,
were going to be fast, the fairways tight and the “gunch”
– as Johnny Miller repeatedly called the high native
grass – unmanageable. Oh, the gunch.
Nicole
Hage
Coral Springs, Fla. |
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They knew
they came to the Open as the cream of the AJGA crop. Nicole
already placed in the top 10 five times in national junior
events in 2002, including her third-place finish at the Hargray
Junior Classic at the end of June. Elizabeth, the Polo Golf
Girls Junior Player of the Year, won five AJGA events in 2001
and has three top-10 finishes in national events this year
in four starts.
They knew they had to set goals – rational ones. Nicole
wanted to make the cut and be competitive, like any other
tournament. Elizabeth, who had dealt with the pressures of
an Open by qualifying in 2000, just wanted to make pars.
But despite all they knew, they had to realize there was still
much to learn.
Elizabeth
Janangelo
West Hartford, Conn. |
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“Everyone
said this was going to be a learning experience,” Elizabeth
says after her second round. “So at this point, I must
be a genius.”
“I had nothing to lose and everything to gain,”
Nicole sighs. “All I could do was enjoy the moment and
do the best I could.”
Nicole’s 82-86–168 and Elizabeth’s 74-82–156
was not enough to make the cut set at 148.
They knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“As good as the players and crowds are at AJGA events,”
Nicole says, “nothing could have prepared me for this.”
“My arms felt like Jell-O,” Elizabeth says to describe
her first round. “I did as best I could. I guess there’s
just some kid still left in me.”
And that is what everyone has to realize about both of them.
Nicole and Elizabeth are going to return to junior golf this
summer and continue their prominence – and it won’t
stop there. Nicole, a 16-year-old, still has two full seasons
left with the AJGA, with her top-10 finishes some day turning
into outright victories. Elizabeth, an 18-year-old, heads
to Duke University to play for the 2002 National Champions
come August.
So, as Nicole and Elizabeth cleaned up on U.S. Open souvenirs
at Prairie Dunes while the leaders teed off for their third
round, they could look around and know that in time they would
be back. And, of course, they knew this.
“I proved to myself that with hard work and practice
I could be one of those names,” Elizabeth says at the
airport on her way back to Connecticut for some well-deserved
rest. “Tough things like this only make you want to work
harder to be the best. This I know.”
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