By Ken Klavon, USGA

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. – In 2001 at Pine Needles, Morgan Pressel was a starry-eyed 13-year-old trying to get a grip of the situation.

A month earlier, at age 12, she became the youngest player to ever qualify for the Women’s Open. A media darling, she cracked jokes and offered innocent comments that warmed the hearts of many. The entourage of people who wanted a piece of her time was overwhelming.

John Elway, left, and Jill McGill demonstrate different kinds of golf shots during the clinic Tuesday. (John Mummert/USGA)

Now, about to play in her third Open, she’s becoming a grizzled veteran at 17.

"What, am I not cute anymore? Am I not funny? What do you mean by that," she ribbed on the range Tuesday.

Pressel shot a pair of 77s in 2001 to miss the cut. Two years later she placed 52^nd after being in fourth entering the second round.

And what does she remember from 2001?

"I just remember everyone attacking me, almost like it is with Michelle (Wie)," she said. "I don’t have that now fortunately. It was a different scene then."

Pressel has managed to keep her head on straight, despite battling tragedy. In 2003 she lost her 43-year-old mother Debbie to breast cancer. Like a beacon in the night, her grandfather Herb Krickstein, continues to be there for her when she plays golf. Krickstein is the father of former tennis pro Aaron Krickstein, who was a top-10 player from 1983-1994.

With a bunch of success in a number of AJGA events and a win at the North-South Women’s Championship last year (the youngest ever to do it), Pressel has no immediate plans to turn pro. She’ll be attending Duke University in the fall of 2006.

Elway’s Show

As former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway entered the range Tuesday, all eyes focused on him. It’s easy with how hulking the 44-year-old still remains. Slightly knocked-kneed and gimpy from surgeries and football-related hits, he took part in a golf clinic for youths with Jill McGill.

The two demonstrated various shots, like draws and fades, then showed off a little with the driver. Elway nearly put his drives onto University Boulevard, more than 300 yards away.

There was also a little bantering.

"I don’t have the same expectations swinging a golf club as when I threw a football," said Elway.

To which McGill replied: "That’s OK. I don’t have the same expectations when I throw football.

Elway said the transition from a 16-year career in the NFL to golf hasn’t been easy, even though he’s appeared in a number of celebrity golf events.

"The difference from going to football to golf is that in football you can try to make something happen, when it’s third and 10," he said. "The harder I try in golf, the worse it gets."

Sign Of The Times

‘My Name Is Annika Too,’ the sign read. Eight-year-old Annika Kallestad of nearby Parker, Colo., waited patiently with her parents by the driving range entrance Tuesday, hoping that the more famous Annika would notice.

Sorenstam’s sister, Charlotta, did, according to mother Martha Kallestad. The Kallestads decided on Annika because it was a great grandmother’s name. But also because Sorenstam happened to be winning the week Kallestad was born.

Balancing Act

Perhaps in an effort to be more fan friendly, Carin Koch strolled along the gates that separate the fans from the players holding a box of jelly beans. As she made her way along, signing autographs with one hand, she balanced the packaged sweets in her other. She offered them to any fan who wanted some.

Cherry Hill Tidbits

* The funding for the new club came from 100 men who would invest $1,000 each.  The new members came mostly from the members of the Denver Country Club.

*William S. Flynn was paid approximately $4,500 in architect’s fees and expenses to design the Cherry Hills golf course in 1922.

*The first ball was struck by one of the founding members, Alex Foster, at 1 p.m. on Sept. 8, 1923.

*The course was named for a cherry orchard that was on a small rise or knoll on the club grounds.  Cherry Hill was one of four potential names submitted by the members of the selection committee.

*On Aug. 10, 1926, canary and green were proclaimed as the official colors of Cherry Hills.

Ken Klavon is the Web Editor for the USGA. E-mail him with comments or questions at kklavon@usga.org. Alex Miceli contributed.