Vicky Hurst (born June 19, 1990) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

currently playing on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

. She turned professional as a 17-year-old in 2008, while still in high school. Playing on the

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

that year, she won five times and set a Tour record for single season earnings with $93,107.

Childhood and family life

Hurst was born to a golfing family. While pregnant with Vicky, her mother Koko, a native

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

n, was completing a round of golf at Andrews AFB near

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

when her water broke on the 16th hole. Although winning the round, Koko left to give birth to Vicky at the base's medical center. Her father, Joe, who met Koko while he was stationed in Korea in the 1980s, was a retired

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. He died suddenly of a massive stroke in April 2006 while Vicky, age 15, was practicing for the LPGA Ginn Open to which she had received a sponsor exemption. Hurst withdrew from the tournament and said she would dedicate the rest of her career to her father's memory. Hurst was raised in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where she attended

Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida, is an Episcopal coeducational college-preparatory school for grades preschool – 12th. It was founded in 1957. The school operates under the guidance of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, the ...

and graduated in June 2008, part-way through her Futures Tour rookie year. She has an older sister, Kelly, also an accomplished golfer, was a member of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

golf team, though she never played.

Amateur career

Hurst had a standout amateur career. In 2005, she won the Florida Women's State Golf Association Junior Girls' Championship, was named the FWSGA Junior Player of the Year and finished second at the Florida high school girls golf championship. In 2006, she was runner-up at the U.S. Girls' Junior and tied for second at the FWSGA Junior Girls' Championship. Also in 2006, she played in the U.S. Women's Open, less than two weeks after turning 16. She was named Florida Junior Player of the Year in 2006-07 and qualified again for the U.S. Women's Open in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In 2007, she won three American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events, and earned spots on the 2007 U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Team and Canon Cup, representing the East Team. She ended 2007 as the top-ranked amateur in the Polo Golf Rankings and was named the 2007 AJGA Player of the Year.

Professional career

In the fall of 2007 at the start of her senior year in high school, Hurst faced a choice between pursuing a college golf career, for which she was heavily recruited by coaches, and turning professional. She participated in, and won, the

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

in November. In December she announced that she would skip college and join the Futures Tour in 2008, while completing high school at the same time. She also received sponsor exemptions to three LPGA Tour events in 2008, missing the cut in two of the events and finishing tied for 21st in the third. In 2008, she competed full-time on the Futures Tour, winning five times and setting a Tour record for single season earnings with $93,107. She was named Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year and automatically qualified for full playing status on the LPGA Tour for the 2009 season. Her first tournament as an LPGA member was the 2009 season-opening SBS Open at Turtle Bay at which she finished tied for 15th and led the field in driving distance. Hurst finished her rookie year leading the LPGA Tour in driving distance with an average distance of 272.5 yards. Hurst's endorsement contracts include

Callaway Golf Callaway, legally Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., is an American global sports equipment manufacturing company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, more specifically golf club, clubs and golf ball, balls, also including a ...

and

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sportswear company that manufactures footwear and clothing, apparel headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. History 20th century Under Armour was founded on September 25, 1996, by Kevin Plank, a ...

Professional wins (8)

Symetra Tour wins (8)

¹ unofficial victory and earnings
Futures Tour majors are shown in bold.

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013. CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2009 British Open – 2011 Kraft Nabisco) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

LPGA Tour career summary

* official through the 2023 season * Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

Futures Tour career summary

^ Does not include victory and $21,000 won at Duramed Invitational, an unofficial event after the season on October 19.

Team appearances

Amateur * Junior Ryder Cup (representing the United States): 2006 * Junior Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2007 Professional *

Solheim Cup The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian- American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving forc ...

(representing the United States):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Solheim Cup record

References

External links

* * * *
Vicky Hurst
at Seoul Sisters website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Vicky American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Solheim Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Maryland Golfers from Florida American sportspeople of Korean descent Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy alumni Sportspeople from Prince George's County, Maryland Sportspeople from Melbourne, Florida 1990 births Living people 21st-century American sportswomen