Peters-Kwon miss the cut at the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship

TARZANA, Calif. — They might be rising stars on the Washington state high school golf scene. Both are headed to NCAA Division-I programs in a Power 5 Conference, but there is still work to do for Kenedee Peters of Ephrata and her partner Brittany Kwon from Bremerton.

The two Washington prep stars did not make the cut at the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship at El Caballero Country Club, April 27 through Wednesday. Peters and Kwon put together rounds of 76-76-152 to finish the stroke play portion of the tournament at plus-8, playing against the best collegiate and amateurs in the nation.

Peters is a two-time 2A state medalist and is headed to Washington State next year. She teamed with Kwon, a two-time 3A state medalist from Central Kitsap, who is going to the University of Washington.

They’ll be Pac-12 competitors soon enough, but on this day in California, Peters and Kwon joined forces and found the competition stiff. Even-par 144 was the number for the cut and Annick Haczkiewicz and Sydney Smith from Las Vegas took the lead into match play with 66-68-134 (-10).

“I didn’t play as well as I wanted to at that level. I’ve played big tournaments like that before and as I get older, I expect myself to be more comfortable. So it wasn’t how I wanted to perform, but it was still a great experience playing with the best college athletes and women in the country,” said Peters in a telephone interview from LAX. “In our practice round, we played with two women in their 50s that had been to the U.S. Open before. The youngest player there was 11 years old and the oldest was 61, so there was a wide variety of players.”

The El Caballero Country Club was set up for the championship and the most challenging aspect was on the green, Peters said.

“This course was a lot different than courses I’ve played in the past,” said Peters, who played at the IMG Academy Junior World Golf Championships in San Diego as a freshman. “I don’t think I’ve putted on greens like this in my entire life. These were the most slippery greens I’ve ever played on. You never wanted to be above the hole, ever. They were big, they were sloppy and I don’t know if I ever felt comfortable standing over a putt the whole time.”

Tee-to-green, both Peters and Kwon were fine, but the putting surface challenged even the best prep players Washington state has to offer.

“I felt really solid both practice rounds,” Peters said. “I hit the ball where I wanted to in the actual tournament, which on that course is pretty big. You have to be really precise to where you’re driving the ball in perspective to where the hole is. You have to be very, very precise and I wasn’t.

“It was a lot of fun. Brittany didn’t have her best game either. Usually, she has one of the best short games around. We really didn’t connect (as a team), but that’s golf and we’ll learn from it.”

Sixty four teams started the tournament and the top 32 advanced to match-play portion on Monday. Peters and Kwon qualified for the U.S. Four-Ball by winning the four-ball qualifier at OGA golf course in Woodburn, Ore., where they won in a playoff with a 6-under-par 66.