HAWAIIAN TEEN GALDIANO YOUNGEST IN OPEN FIELD

MARIEL GALDIANO

 

It wasn't so long ago that Mariel Galdiano would wait patiently behind the rope to politely request an autograph from her favorite LPGA golfers at tour stops near her home in Hawaii.

Now, just a couple of weeks past her 13th birthday, the rope has been lifted. Mariel is having a hard time believing that she has the opportunity to be on the other side of that rope, and that the players she admired — well, still admires — will be her peers, and that girls might even ask for her autograph. She's been practicing her signature, just in case.

Mariel will be the youngest golfer in the 66th U.S. Women's Open, which tees off Thursday at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

She qualified by winning a sectional qualifying tournament in May when she was 12 years old and finishing seventh grade. She will be one of the youngest golfers in the history of the tournament (LPGA star Morgan Pressel and Alexis Thompson, now 16, both played in the tournament at age 12), and the youngest ever from Hawaii — breaking the mark of 13 years, 9 months set by Michelle Wie.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Mariel said shortly after arriving in Colorado on Friday. "Maybe it will when everyone is staring at me."

Mariel qualified for the U.S. Women's Open when she sank a birdie putt on the final hole of the 36-hole qualifier to win that tournament by one stroke. She entered the qualifying tournament for the experience and never expected to win, yet that birdie putt set her off on a wild summer adventure.

A week after her school year ended, Mariel packed her large red suitcase and flew to the U.S. mainland with her father, Roger. Over the course of eight weeks, they will crisscross the country as Mariel plays in five tournaments, from Oregon to Rhode Island.

All this only eight years after Roger Galdiano first bought his daughter a set of golf clubs, so a 5-year-old Mariel could accompany him on his daily trips to the course and driving range.

It wasn't long before Mariel advanced from what she described as "just hacking away" to participating in the junior golf program at Ko Olina, the club in Hawaii that hosted the LPGA's Fields Open from 2006-08.

Mariel was competitive on the junior circuit and won her share of tournaments against girls her own age.

Roger, a construction foreman, quit playing the game himself so he could focus on his daughter's burgeoning career. Mariel had a coach several years ago, but now Roger handles the coaching and caddying duties as he and his wife, Marivic, dream of Mariel earning a college scholarship to play golf.

"For us, it was either golf all the way or no golf," Roger Galdiano said.

Still, for Mariel, golf is just plain fun. While she enjoys shopping and watching movies with her friends, nothing beats an afternoon on the course.

She seems more excited to meet some of her favorite players — such as Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam, who will conduct a clinic at The Broadmoor on Wednesday — than she is nervous about actually playing in the biggest tournament in women's golf.

"I don't really expect to make the cut. This is about playing with pros and really just learning how they play," Mariel said. "And I can never forget to have fun. That's pretty much what this whole summer is about. Who knows when I'll ever qualify for this again?"

Pressel, now 23 and the owner of one major title, would likely agree with that mind-set.

"My advice to her would be to just have fun. When I played (in the U.S. Women's Open at age 12 in 2001), it really solidified my decision that this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life," Pressel told The Denver Post at a tournament in Illinois last month. "I remember Karrie Webb winning, and seeing Annika and all these great players that I looked up to forever. To play against them, on the same golf course, the same week, it was pretty special. I just hung out in the locker room. I thought it was the coolest place to be, because the players were all people I looked up to."

- Story courtesy of the Denver Post