Futures Tour player Angela Park spoke with AAGolf on June 30 after her opening round 69 in the Horseshoe Casino Futures Golf Classic. The 17-year-old of Torrance, Calif., who was born in Brazil, is in her first year on the largest international development tour. She finished the three-day classic at Lost Marsh Golf Course in Hammond, Ind., tied for fourth, putting her in eighth place on the tour money list.

Park, a semifinalist in the 2005 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, talked about her play in the classic and some of her goals in golf:

AAGolf: Can you tell me about your first round here at Lost Marsh?

Park: Today was just a regular day. I putted really well. I was struggling with my putter the last couple of tournaments, and I think that’s why I wasn’t hitting low on a couple of the other tournaments. But today was good, and I hit the greens that I needed to hit, and I got up and down where I had to get up and down—so it was a fairly all-around-good round.

AAGolf: Do you think the practice rounds helped a lot?

Park: Yeah, I think the Pro Am yesterday gave me a lot of confidence, because my group, they participated really well. So that gave me a comfort zone on the golf course, and I’d think, ‘Oh, this is the hole we birdied yesterday.’ So I had a lot of good memories on the course from then, and I feel really comfortable.

AAGolf: Is the course itself pretty easy to get used to?

Park: I don’t think so. I think it’s a little bit hard because there are a lot of risky shots out there and there are a lot of holes where you have to hit a certain part, say the left side of the fairway. But I did get well adjusted to this course. But I’m not sure about other people. It might be different because the wind could change all the time. It could be with the wind, then against the wind. You never know.

AAGolf: Since you live in California, you’ve probably seen a lot of Asian American players. How do you feel about the growing number of Asian players in the United States?

Park: I think it’s great. I think a lot of people don’t like it, or they’re a little against it, saying, ‘Why aren’t they playing in Asia, and why are they coming here?’ But I was semi-raised here. I mean, I’ve lived half my life here, and I think it’s a great effect in golf, especially in women’s golf. It makes people want to watch it more, and it makes people more interested.

AAGolf: Is there anyone playing in the LPGA right now who you look to as a role model?

Park: Every player in the LPGA—that is where I want to be. So every time I turn on the television, no matter who it is—Korean, Japanese, you name it—I still look up to them. It doesn’t matter if it’s Annika or the 70th-money-list-ranked player; I still look up to her because that’s where I want to be.  And it’s like, wow, I want to be where she is.