Lots Of Lessons Learned For B.C. Amateurs At CPKC Women’s Open
BC's Lauren Kim Can Still Look Back On A Pretty Successful Summer Despite Missing The Cut In The CPKC Women's Open - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Lauren Kim is not going to let some struggles at Shaughnessy spoil what has been a super summer for the Surrey teen.
Like all of the other amateurs — and many of the pros — competing at the CPKC Women’s Open, Kim didn’t perform as well as she had hoped in the LPGA Tour event.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what happened,” the 18-year-old said after finishing 10-over through two rounds and missing the cut. “It was more just technical (swing) stuff than mental stuff. It just didn’t happen this week. I was a little disappointed, but finished off pretty strong, so I am okay with that.”
Kim fired two rounds of 77. After not making a birdie in her opening round, she had three of them on Friday which were offset by five bogeys and a triple. “It’s really tough,” she said of Shaughnessy.
“Especially when your short game isn’t on, either. It was weird for me because normally I hit a lot of greens. It just didn’t happen this week.”
Kim has had a busy summer. She won the Canadian Women’s Amateur and qualified to play in the U.S Women’s Open, the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Girls Junior. She is now off to the University of Texas to begin her freshman year.
“I am going to try and not let this spoil my summer,” she said “I think I can say I had a pretty successful summer. Winning the Canadian Amateur to get into here was a big feat. I am going to try and head ito college with some positive thoughts and get ready for my first tournament in a few weeks.”
The CPKC Women’s Open was the first LPGA Tour event for Vancouver’s Victoria Liu, a Shaughnessy member who is heading into her third year at Princeton University in New Jersey. She fired a four-over 76 and after opening with a 79 and finished at 11-over par.
“It has been a great experience and very different from amateur and collegiate golf,” Liu said. “The atmosphere is different. You can feel all the eyes on you, even though they may be talking to each other, but you can feel their existence. I like it.
“As my first pro tournament, it wasn’t my best start. I definitely could have played better. But I think this was a great learning experience and will help me a lot.” Liu reckons she has played a couple hundred rounds at Shaughnessy and has never seen it set up as tough as it was for this tournament.
“From a golf course perspective it was the rough that was especially hard for me. When I have played here in the past, if I missed the fairway by a little bit it was no big deal. Hitting your second shot onto the green was still doable. This week, if you hit it into the rough you were probably choosing the best spot to lay up.”
The four other British Columbians who played at the event also missed the cut. Burnaby’s Luna Lu, who Monday qualified her way into the event, shot a seven-over 79 Friday and finished at 12-over. Victoria’s Sonja Tang closed with a 79 and finished 16-over, while Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon and Surrey’s Angela Arora both shot 80 Friday and finished at 17-over.
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