The day belonged to Min Seo Kwak, but the moment belonged to Lyberty Anderson.

Kwak, a 20-year-old South Korean, shot a blistering round of 7-under-par 65 Friday to seize sole possession of first place after the first day of the $100,000 Eagle Classic at Richmond Country Club.

But Kwak’s stunning precision was overshadowed — locally, at least — by Anderson, a 15-year-old amateur from Chesterfield County. Anderson delivered a two-birdie, two-bogey round of 72 in her first prolonged exposure to women’s professional golf.

“I was more excited than nervous,” said Anderson, who has won three consecutive Richmond Women’s Golf Association championships. “I felt so good out there. I felt confident over just about every shot — driver, irons, chipping, putting. I had a lot of putts lip out, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

She said she will enter today’s second round thinking, “You know what? Maybe I can hang with these girls.”

Anderson, who began her round on No. 10, was efficient from start to finish. Distance off the tee was not an issue. There, she was routinely competitive with, if not superior to, her playing partners. She slipped into black numbers just once after making bogey at No. 2, a 186-yard par 3. She recaptured that stroke by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt — “It was pretty much the only putt I made all day” — at the par-3 sixth hole.

“I hope I’m just as excited (today),” she said. “I hope I feel the same way and play the same way. I mean, let’s face it — I know I’m not going to go out and shoot 8 under. But another 72 would be great. That might be good enough to make the cut, which has been my goal all along.”

Brian Okumura, SportsQuest’s executive director of golf, will coach Anderson in the fall when she enrolls at the SportsQuest Golf Academy. He is serving as her caddie this weekend. Okumura said he was “very impressed” by his young pupil’s performance.
“This should move her forward in leaps and bounds in maturity and confidence,” he said. “She handled herself so well. Her composure was tremendous. She hit the ball beautifully all day.”

She wasn’t the only one. Kwak delivered a nine-birdie, two-bogey effort that included an incandescent finishing flourish. Kwak, too, started on No. 10. She finished with four consecutive birdies, the most memorable of which was a 30-footer from just off the fringe at No. 7.

Kwak’s brilliance produced a one-shot lead over Daniela Iacobelli, a talented maverick from Viera, Fla. Iacobelli quit her job as a head pro at a club in Melbourne, Fla., earlier this season when the appeal of tour life became too powerful to ignore. The decision suddenly seems inspired. She rang up seven birdies and one bogey in her best competitive round. Her putting, in particular, was lethal.

“I was drilling 20-footers all day today like it was my job,” she said. “It was ridiculous.”

Three players were clustered at 4-under par: Brittany Johnston, Natalie Sheary and Jill Briles-Hinton, the women’s golf coach at the University of Richmond. Briles-Hinton, a former LPGA player, entered the Eagle Classic as an alternate when Tiffany Joh withdrew. She responded with a solid round that was built upon local knowledge.

“I know the course fairly well,” she said. “(RCC) is very good to us. They let us practice here a lot. We try to play the Futures Tour tees” – which extend the course to its Eagle Classic length of 6,278 yards – “as often as we can.”
Do the Spiders enjoy the professional experience? Briles-Hinton laughed.

“I think they want to kill me,” she said

Vic Dorr Jr. is a staff writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch.

LPGA Futures Tour Eagle Classic
First Round Finishes
Richmond Country Club-par 72

1    Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, South Korea)                       31-34 - 65
 
2    Daniela Iacobelli (Viera, Fla.)                         32-34 - 66
 
3    Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio)                         33-35 - 68
     Natalie Sheary (West Hartford, Conn.)                   34-34 - 68
     Jill Briles-Hinton (Richmond, Va.)                      34-34 - 68
 
6    Lisa Ferrero (Lodi, Calif.)                             34-35 - 69
     Sydnee Michaels (Temecula, Calif.)                      34-35 - 69
     Cara Freeman (San Tan Valley, Ariz.)                    34-35 - 69
     Jane Rah (Torrance, Calif.)                             35-34 - 69
     Paz Echeverria (Santiago, Chile)                        33-36 - 69
 
11   Marina Choi (Los Angeles, Calif.)                       36-34 - 70
     Mo Martin (Altadena, Calif.)                            33-37 - 70
     Yu-Ling Hsieh (Chinese Taipei)                          34-36 - 70
     Veronica Felibert (Caracas, Venezuela)                  36-34 - 70
     Sophia Sheridan (Guadalajara, Mexico)                   35-35 - 70
     Kathleen Ekey (Sharon Township, Ohio)                   36-34 - 70
     Misun Cho (Cheongju, South Korea)                       34-36 - 70
     Cydney Clanton (Concord, N.C.)                          35-35 - 70
     Jenny Lee (Simi Valley, Calif.)                         34-36 - 70
     Elizabeth Dotson (White Bluff, Tenn.)                   34-36 - 70
 
21   Garrett Phillips (St. Simons Island, Ga.)               36-35 - 71
     Laura Kueny (Whitehall, Mich.)                          36-35 - 71
     Hannah Burke (Welnyn Garden City, UK)                   36-35 - 71
     Jasi Acharya (Columbus, Mont.)                          35-36 - 71
     Hanna Kang (Seoul, South Korea)                         36-35 - 71
     Jenny Gleason (Clearwater, Fla.)                        34-37 - 71
     Saehee Son (Seoul, South Korea)                         34-37 - 71
     Jodi Ewart (North Yorkshire, England)                   34-37 - 71
     Sara Brown (Tucson, Ariz.)                              38-33 - 71
     Macarena Silva (Santiago, Chile)                        33-38 - 71
     Chelsea Curtis (New Seabury, Mass.)                     36-35 - 71
     Tiffany Tavee (Tempe, Ariz.)                            34-37 - 71
     Ashli Bunch (Morristown, Tenn.)                         36-35 - 71
     Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.)                   34-37 - 71
     Hannah Yun (Bradenton, Fla.)                            35-36 - 71
     Sue Kim (Langley, B.C.)                                 35-36 - 71
     Stephanie Na (Adelaide, Australia)                      36-35 - 71
     Jean Chua (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)                      34-37 - 71
     Elise Swartout (Ann Arbor, Mich.)                       34-37 - 71
     Maria Laura Elvira (Buenos Aires, Argentina)            37-34 - 71
 
41   Melissa Eaton-Jackson (Port Shepstone, South Africa)    36-36 - 72
     Stephanie Connelly (Pasadena, Md.)                      35-37 - 72
     Jutta Degerman (Kaunianinen, Finland)                   35-37 - 72
     Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Channel Islands, UK)             35-37 - 72
     Tracy Stanford (Midland, Texas)                         37-35 - 72
     Caroline Westrup (Ahus, Sweden)                         37-35 - 72
     Kendall Dye (Edmond, Okla.)                             36-36 - 72
     Susan Nam (Edmonton, Alberta)                           36-36 - 72
     Lizette Salas (Azusa, Calif.)                           37-35 - 72
     Lyberty Anderson (a) (Chesterfield, Va.)                36-36 - 72
     Dawn Shockley (Estes Park, Colo.)                       35-37 - 72
     Erica Moston (Belmont, Calif.)                          37-35 - 72
     Izzy Beisiegel (St. Hilaire, Quebec)                    37-35 - 72
     Lori Atsedes (Ithaca, N.Y.)                             37-35 - 72
     Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.)                          37-35 - 72
     Rachael Schmidt (Elk River, Minn.)                      35-37 - 72
     Sandra Changkija (Orlando, Fla.)                        36-36 - 72
     Eileen Vargas (Ibague, Colombia)                        37-35 - 72
     Nicole Smith (Riverside, Calif.)                        34-38 - 72
     Jenny Suh (Fairfax, Va.)                                36-36 - 72
     Vanessa Vela (Bogota, Colombia)                         35-37 - 72
 
62   Gerina Piller (Roswell, N.M.)                           33-40 - 73
     Britney Choy (Wahiawa, Hawaii)                          36-37 - 73
     Ayaka Kaneko (Honolulu, Hawaii)                         37-36 - 73
     Inhong Lim (Seoul, South Korea)                         37-36 - 73
     Victoria Park (Irvine, Calif.)                          37-36 - 73
     Meredith Duncan (Shreveport, La.)                       37-36 - 73
     Sara Maude Juneau (Fossambault, Quebec)                 39-34 - 73
     Ashley Prange (Noblesville, Ind.)                       38-35 - 73
     Adrienne White (Red Deer, Alberta)                      38-35 - 73
     Benedikte Grotvedt (Nesbru, Norway)                     37-36 - 73
     Jamie Hullett (Mesquite, Texas)                         35-38 - 73
     Courtney Mahon (Lee's Summit, Mo.)                      35-38 - 73
     Victoria Elizabeth (Dayton, Ohio)                       36-37 - 73
     Candace Schepperle (Birmingham, Ala.)                   35-38 - 73
     Whitney Wade (Glasgow, Ky.)                             36-37 - 73
 
77   Jackie Barenborg (Vero Beach, Fla.)                     36-38 - 74
     Jessica Shepley (Oakville, Ontario)                     39-35 - 74
     Molly Aronsson (Shelburne, Vt.)                         37-37 - 74
     Katie Kempter (Albuquerque, N.M.)                       36-38 - 74
     Sofie Andersson (Angelholm, Sweden)                     37-37 - 74
     Mallory Fraiche (New Orleans, La.)                      36-38 - 74
     Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash.)                           38-36 - 74
     Nicole Jeray (Berwyn, Ill.)                             38-36 - 74
     Rachel Connor (Manchester, England)                     40-34 - 74
     Valentine Derrey (Paris, France)                        35-39 - 74
     Laura Bavaird (Grosse Ile, Mich.)                       33-41 - 74
     Juliana Murcia Ortiz (Bogota, Colombia)                 38-36 - 74
     Kelly Froelich (Raizeux, France)                        36-38 - 74
     Rebecca Kim (Tigard, Ore.)                              36-38 - 74
     Miriam Nagl (Berlin, Germany)                           37-37 - 74
 
92   Lauren Hunt (Little River, S.C.)                        37-38 - 75
     Christina Jones (Jensen Beach, Fla.)                    37-38 - 75
     Marcela Leon (Monterrey, Mexico)                        34-41 - 75
     Seul Ki Park (Northbrook, Ill.)                         38-37 - 75
     Kirby Dreher (Fort St. John, B.C.)                      36-39 - 75
     Ashley Medders (Alma, Ga.)                              38-37 - 75
     Kim Augusta (Rumford, R.I.)                             38-37 - 75
     Carling Coffing (Middletown, Ohio)                      40-35 - 75
     Kelly Jacques (Longmont, Colo.)                         39-36 - 75
     Jennifer Hong (Granger, Ind.)                           39-36 - 75
     Stefanie Kenoyer (Lighthouse Point, Fla.)               39-36 - 75
     Amy Eneroth (Spokane, Wash.)                            37-38 - 75
     Gloriana Soto (San Jose, Costa Rica)                    35-40 - 75
     Stephanie Kim (Bayside, N.Y.)                           38-37 - 75
     Jenna Pearson (Wheaton, Ill.)                           36-39 - 75
     Dolores White (Lakeland, Fla.)                          38-37 - 75
     Tanya Dergal (Durango, Mexico)                          37-38 - 75
 
109  Alison Whitaker (Melbourne, Australia)                  37-39 - 76
     Danielle Mills (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)                  39-37 - 76
     Briana Vega (Andover, Mass.)                            36-40 - 76
     Leah Wigger (Louisville, Ky.)                           38-38 - 76
     Lili Alvarez (Durango, Mexico)                          37-39 - 76
     Kylene Pulley (Kokomo, Ind.)                            42-34 - 76
     Alexandria Buelow (a) (Palm City, Fla.)                 37-39 - 76
     Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia)                         38-38 - 76
 
117  Ashley Smith (Calgary, Alberta)                         37-40 - 77
     Heather Angell (Winston-Salem, N.C.)                    40-37 - 77
     Shasta Averyhardt (Flint, Mich.)                        38-39 - 77
     Madeleine Holmblad (Stockholm, Sweden)                  37-40 - 77
     Kristin Ingram (Pasadena, Calif.)                       36-41 - 77
     Cathryn Bristow (Auckland, New Zealand)                 36-41 - 77
     Sofi Toccafondi (Del Viso, Argentina)                   39-38 - 77
     Pamela Ontiveros (Gomez Palacio, Mexico)                38-39 - 77
     Angela Buzminski (Oshawa, Ontario)                      39-38 - 77
     Megan McChrystal (Stuart, Fla.)                         38-39 - 77
 
127  Laura Crawford (Lancaster, S.C.)                        41-37 - 78
     Jessi Gebhardt (Chandler, Ariz.)                        37-41 - 78
     Erika Malik (Hinsdale, Ill.)                            36-42 - 78
     Stacey Miller (Bloomington, Ill.)                       39-39 - 78
     Aimee Neff (Carmel, Ind.)                               40-38 - 78
     Alexandra Casi (East Palestine, Ohio)                   35-43 - 78
     Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.)                   38-40 - 78
 
134  Laura Nochta-Martin (Cortland, Ohio)                    40-39 - 79
     Karlin Beck (Pike Road, Ala.)                           41-38 - 79
     Lene Krog (Lier, Norway)                                39-40 - 79
     Janine Fellows (Houston, Texas)                         40-39 - 79
     Mesha Levister (Louisburg, N.C.)                        40-39 - 79
     Lyndsay McBride (Elkhart, Ind.)                         38-41 - 79
     Xyra Suyetsugu (Honolulu, Hawaii)                       38-41 - 79
 
141  Sarah Brown (Lopatcong, N.J.)                           39-41 - 80
 
142  Noon Huachai (Bangkok, Thailand)                        35-46 - 81
     Nikki Hadd (Crestview, Fla.)                            38-43 - 81
 
144  Ashley Knoll (The Woodlands, Texas)                     39-44 - 83