Mariel Galdiano, 13, left, and Betsy King, 55, right, have converged at the United States Women’s Open.
[ed. Sadly, it looks like neither lady will make the cut this weekend.]
by Karen Crouse
In 1998, Mariel Galdiano was born in Honolulu. That same year, Betsy King became the first golfer to surpass $6 million in career earnings on the L.P.G.A. Tour.
Galdiano, 13, and King, 55, are from eras as far removed as Venus is from Mars. Their worlds have converged at the United States Women’s Open, where Galdiano, a four-time Hawaii state junior champion, started the week on equal footing with King, a three-time tour player of the year.
They met on Wednesday on the practice range, after Galdiano made a guest appearance at a clinic run by Annika Sorenstam, the Hall of Fame golfer who won the Open the only other time it was held here, in 1995.
King said she laughed when Sorenstam asked Galdiano about her daily routine and heard Galdiano say, “I go to school and then my dad picks me up after school and takes me to the golf course.” King, who is using a putter that is 14 years older than Galdiano, said, “That’s when it hit me how young she is.”
It is the first Open for Galdiano and the 31st — and almost certainly last — one for King, the 1989 and 1990 champion. Galdiano, who had a morning tee time, played 13 holes in six over par before play was suspended because of inclement weather. King was among 72 players who did not tee off before the round was suspended.
Of the two, one was predictably so nervous in the days leading to Thursday that she had a recurring nightmare in which she was standing on the first tee but could not make a free swing because a towering pine stood in her way.
That would be King, whose personality developed a sandpaper edge from grinding during tournament weeks.
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