Before Michelle Wie became the youngest player (12) to qualify for an LPGA event, there was Natalie Gulbis.
Gulbis, who was born and raised in Sacramento, started golfing at just 4 years old and won her first tournament by age 10.
Four years later – at just 14 – she qualified for the Longs Drugs Challenge, an LPGA event held at the then Twelve Bridges Club just a few miles outside of Sacramento.
She continued her golf career as a member of the boys team at Granite Bay High School before heading out to Arizona to begin her collegiate golf career. She won several tournaments as a collegiate golfer and made the cut at the US Women’s Open as an amateur.
Gulbis decided to turn pro after just one year of collegiate golf and would go on to spend the next 18 years of her career as a mainstay on the LPGA tour before retiring in 2020.
Over her career, she racked up 37 top 10 finishes, including seven in the top 3 and four top 10 finishes in her first year on tour.