From hitting out of the weeds on the golf course to picking them on a farm, it’s been a busy summer in the sun for Alessandra Liu.

At the conclusion of her junior year at the College of William & Mary, Liu, 22, of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., took a summer job at Old School Farm in Honesdale, Pa., about 30 minutes east of Scranton.

Liu eats local, organic food as often as possible, and wanted to work on a farm to learn more about the lifestyle.

"I really think people should eat more locally and I wanted a better appreciation of local food,” she said. “I think if people would eat less processed food and more fresh food, it would be very beneficial to their health."

Liu lived in a renovated barn on the property and worked nine hours a day Monday through Friday, primarily doing weeding, planting and seeding work before enjoying the spoils of her work at dinner time.

"I really liked the fresh food. There were chickens there, so we were getting fresh eggs all the time,” she said. “I would pick asparagus and eat it that night. It was a really good experience."

Once she returned home, Liu played a lot of golf and, at her mom’s urging, attempted to qualify for this week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Portland Golf Club – with one caveat. Liu agreed to try to qualify if her mother, Gerry, would stop drinking soda for a year should Alessandra be successful.

To her surprise, Alessandra survived a 5-for-4 playoff on July 20 at Mendham (N.J.) Golf & Tennis Club to earn one of six available spots. And so far her mother has held up her end of the bargain.

Liu concluded stroke play at 5-over-par 149 and must wait to see if that is good enough to qualify for match play. Fortunately, Portland offers plenty of healthy eating options while she waits.

Joey Flyntz is an associate writer for the USGA. Email him at jflyntz@usga.org.