Hitting the opening tee shot off the first tee in the 2020 KPMG Women’s Championship on Thursday was LPGA teaching professional Ellen Ceresko, a two-time Pennsylvania Amateur champion (2012-13) who played collegiately at Penn State. She had never played Aronimink Golf Club until a week before the tournament, so that in itself was a treat. But to hit the opening shot at a major championship? She’ll never forget it.
“To start off the KPMG major? That was awesome,” Ceresko said. “I definitely had the jitters going. It was a great experience, really cool, and I was happy to do it.”
Ceresko, who splits her year teaching at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, N.Y., and Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., said she’d have had quite a gallery had fans been allowed. Her parents still live in Scranton, she has more family along the East Coast, and friends from Philadelphia and Naples likely would have been in attendance, too. She shot 82, not her best day, but still, it was educational to see first-hand the challenge that the LPGA’s top players face at a major.
“I use a lot of my intuition when I’m teaching, and being out here, and just seeing and grinding it out, is something that will help, absolutely,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a major championship or the club championship, there’s always going to be those jitters, and it’s OK.”
The highlight of Ceresko’s week? That’s easy. On Tuesday she got to play with two LPGA Hall of Famers. She played with Laura Davies (and American Danielle Kang, ranked World No. 3) on the front nine. Inbee Park, whose 20 LPGA victories include seven majors, then joined Ceresko and Kang to play the back nine.
“It was amazing, one of my favorite days,” she said. “I get to play a top 100 golf course every day this week, and it’s awesome.”
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