Golf Gina Kim Bio, WITB, LPGA Career

In 2019, at just 19 years old, Gina Kim made headlines both in the U.S. and Korea by firing a 66 at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Though she ultimately finished tied for 12th, her poised play and steady short game marked her as a can’t-miss prospect for the pro tour. But after turning professional, she lost her confidence and fell into a long slump.

She dropped all the way to the Epson Tour in 2025 — only to rediscover her form and claim her first career LPGA Tour win at the 2026 Dow Championship, a two-person team event, marking a genuine comeback.

A Korean-American Golfer

Gina Kim was born on May 4, 2000, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Korean-American parents who both had golf backgrounds. She picked up the sport around age 7. Her parents, who once dreamed of becoming golfers themselves before giving it up, now serve as professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She began standing out from around age 14, rising to No. 1 in North Carolina’s under-18 girls’ rankings by mid-2014. She was a standout junior player, racking up 27 top-10 finishes on the AJGA circuit and winning the North Carolina 3A state high school championship twice.

In 2016, she captured her first AJGA Invitational title at the AJGA Rolex Junior Girls Championship. After graduating from Chapel Hill High School, she joined the Duke University women’s golf team in August 2018, won the Landfall Tradition individual title that same year, and then burst onto the national stage as the low amateur at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.

Chasing the First Amateur Win at the U.S. Women’s Open in 52 Years

At the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open, Kim opened with a 5-under 66 in the first round — tying the record for the lowest single-round score by an amateur in the tournament’s history. It sparked huge excitement back in Korea as the country’s biggest amateur breakthrough in 52 years. She lost strokes over the following rounds and finished 1-under, tied for 12th, but that result remains her career-best major finish to this day, especially given how she struggled after turning pro.

After sitting out the 2020 season due to COVID-19, she returned in spring 2021, winning the ACC Championship individual title, earning Golfweek Player of the Week and ACC Player of the Month honors, and winning the North and South Women’s Amateur Championship — pushing her amateur world ranking up to No. 8.

First in the LPGA Q-Series, But Then…

In January 2022, ahead of her final semester at Duke, Kim decided to turn professional, graduating from college that May. She topped the LPGA Q-Series field, earning her 2022 LPGA Tour card and raising expectations once again. Early that year, she won her first professional title at the Inova Mission Inn Resort & Club Championship on the Epson Tour.

But the pro tour didn’t go as planned. In 2022, she played 13 events without a single top-10 finish and made just four cuts. In 2023, a tie for third at the Portland Classic marked her best LPGA finish, but she finished No. 89 in the CME Ranking. After a rough 2024 season — making just 6 cuts in 18 events — she lost her LPGA Tour card.

Revival on the Epson Tour

Devastated by the drop to the Epson Tour in 2025, she buckled down and trained hard. She played 18 events, making 16 cuts and posting seven top-10 finishes. She reeled off three straight wins — at the IOA Golf Classic, the Copper Rock Championship, and the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship — finishing third on the Epson Tour money list and earning her 2026 LPGA Tour card back.

During her time on the Epson Tour, her mother, professor Sangsook Kim, even carried her golf bag as her caddie, offering the emotional stability that helped Kim recapture her amateur-era form. But back on the LPGA Tour, she struggled again early in 2026, missing the cut in 6 of her first 9 events and falling into crisis mode.

A Miracle First Win at the Dow Championship

On June 15, 2026, at Midland Country Club in Michigan, Kim teamed up with rookie Yana Wilson at the Dow Championship. Almost no one expected them to contend, but they steadily chipped away at the field, entering the final round in solo second, one shot behind the leading pair of Hyo-Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi after 54 holes — and then staged an unbelievable comeback.

Following a birdie on the 3rd hole, the pair each made eagle on the 5th to grab the outright lead, saved par through tense moments on the 15th and 16th, and sealed the win with a Wilson birdie on the 17th, finishing at 8-under 62. It was her first win in her 64th LPGA Tour start — and it secured her tour status without any more worries about her card.

Her driving distance of 250–260 yards ranks toward the lower end of the LPGA Tour, but she has always been known — since her college days — for composed course management and smart strategic play. If she can iron out the round-to-round inconsistency in her putting, she has the talent to post even better results. Off the course, she unwinds by playing Call of Duty, reportedly approaching the video game with the same strategic mindset she brings to golf.

Gina Kim’s Family

Golf runs in the family — her grandfather, her father Ho-Sun Kim, and her mother Sangsook Kim are all golf enthusiasts. The whole family played together from a young age. Her older sister didn’t take to the sport, which visibly disappointed the family — and seeing that reaction is part of what drove Gina to keep playing, eventually becoming a professional golfer.

Kim was once a highly touted prospect in the U.S. after her breakout at the 2019 U.S. Open, but that performance turned out to be her career high, and she later hit the wall of the professional game and dropped to the second-tier tour, tasting real frustration. With the confidence gained from her 2026 Dow Championship team win, she’s a player worth watching going forward.

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  Golf Gina Kim Bio, WITB, LPGA Career
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