Katherine Perry, Cary native and rising senior at Athens Drive, finished play at this year’s Women’s U.S. Open on July 10 in Bethlehem, Pa. Perry missed the cut, finishing 7-over par after Day One and 20-over on the tournament, but enjoyed an experience few 17-year-olds can boast. She talked with Sports Editor J. Mike Blake about her time spent there.

Q: What did you think of your experience at the Women’s U.S. Open [in Bethlehem, Pa.]? A: It was just great being up there, being around all my idols. I had a good time, played pretty well. Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot.

Q: Who were some of those idols that you talked to or got to be around? A: I met Julie Inkster and got a picture with her and talked with her a little bit. I met a couple of girls in the fitness trailer like Megan Francella, who went to Carolina a while back.

Q: How’d you go about approaching Julie Inkster? A: She was in the group ahead of me during [Wednesday’s] practice round and we had a storm delay and somebody, I forgot who it was, knew [Inkster] said ‘I want you to meet somebody.’ So she came over and we talked for a little bit and then my coach came out and said ‘you’re her idol, can we get a picture of you two?’

Q: Is there anything you wish you could've done better out there? A: I could’ve hit a few more greens than I did. That’s probably what I struggled with the most. I put myself in sticky situations and had trouble getting up-and-down.

Q: Did it ever get too frustrating or were you trying to have some fun with it? A:I went into it like that, but once you get out there, you want to do the best possible. It gets frustrating when you struggle, of course. I finally hit the point in the second round where I thought ‘I might as well have fun with this because this is a good experience.’

Q: It looked like you might’ve made a conscious effort to end strong, closing out the second round with four pars and one bogie over the last five holes. It was a pretty good stretch for you. A: Yeah, that’s really when I said ‘let’s just have fun with this.’ I looked at [caddy] Kevin Hamski and said, ‘got nothing to lose now.’

Q: Do you think it helped you be able to relax? A: I think so, I think maybe I came in with the wrong mindset of ‘this is what I have to do’ and just got too frustrated when things went wrong and I just should’ve relaxed and had a good time with it instead.

Q: How helpful was it to have your whole family up there staying with you, following you around and everything? A:They made it a lot less stressful. It was just like another tournament back home, more relaxing. It was really great having them there.

Q: Do you think the experience is going to help you improve as a golfer now that you’ve been on one of the largest stages in the U.S. for golf? A: I definitely think it’s going to help a lot. It really makes me want to do that. I think it helps with nerves, having all those people around. It just makes me want to get better and better to play at that level one day.

Q: Did any “Team Perry” members make the trip? A: They did, and we matched. The first day I wore pink and they wore pink shirts, it was funny. It was great to have them up there.

Q: What was it like playing in front of the most people you've ever played in front of? A: It was really cool ... it wasn’t as stressful as I thought it’d be. It was really cool, I was on one hole, I forgot what hole it was, but you could hear over several fairways the roaring — you knew somebody did something good, hit a shot or sink a put.

Q: What was it like walking off the 18th green on the second day? A: I made a putt on that one for par. Everyone’s clapping for you, saying ‘good job.’ It was just cool — surreal. The weird thing was, there were some people saying ‘go Apex!’ or ‘go Cary!’ and ‘go Carolina!’ and all that good stuff. Just random people in the crowd. It was really strange but cool.

Q: What’s the rest of the summer going to be like for you? A: I’m leaving Friday or Saturday to go up to New Jersey for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur and then coming back to North Carolina again and doing some tournaments from there.