Not long ago, Amy Lee couldn’t wait for summer to end. Now she’s counting the days until it begins. The 18-year-old Langley resident suddenly has a pair of very nice bookends to her summer.
Her season will end when the two-time B.C. Women’s Amateur champion heads to the University of Texas to begin her collegiate golf career. She’s been anticipating that day since committing to Texas more than a year ago.
But now she’s excited about one other very important date on her summer schedule — the U.S. Women’s Open.
Lee earned a spot in what is arguably the biggest event in women’s golf by winning a recent qualifier at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam.
The 81st playing of the U.S. Women’s Open goes June 4-7 at famed Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. So before summer even officially starts, Lee will be off to play in the biggest tournament of her golfing life. And yeah, she’s a little excited about that.
“This is definitely one of my big dreams coming true,” Lee said after winning the Vancouver Golf Club qualifier. “At the start of every year I always have a list of what I want to accomplish, what my goals are, and this definitely checks one of them off. I’m really happy.”
There was only one spot available at that qualifier and Lee fought hard to earn it. She beat the field by four shots, but it wasn’t as easy as it may appear. Vancouver Golf Club was playing tough. Its greens have plenty of slope and were running fast. And the rough, while likely not as long as what Lee will face at Riviera, was thick. It made up-and-downs difficult, which Lee discovered during a bumpy stretch midway through her second round.
Lee trailed by one shot after the opening 18 holes and looked to be in trouble when she made three straight bogeys on her 10th, 11th and 12th holes of her second round. Lee doesn’t show much emotion on the course, but acknowledged being rattled by those three bogeys. She was determined not to let them derail her dream. “I had no caddy with me, so I had to try and talk myself out of it,” she said.
“After those three straight bogeys I just told myself, I already made them, what’s done is done. So I tried not to get mad. I think they actually gave me more motivation to make some more birdies.”
And that’s exactly what she did. Lee stuck her approach shot on her 14th hole to within four feet and made the putt for birdie. She rolled in a 15-foot putt for birdie on her 15th hole and then made three straight pars to complete her round.
Lee had no idea where she stood until she finished her round. Her 36-hole total of one-over par after rounds of 72 and 73 ended up being good for a four-shot victory and the lone spot into the Open up for grabs.
Lee will join two other British Columbians at Riviera. Vancouver’s Anna Huang, a regular on the Ladies European Tour, and Lauren Kim of Surrey had previously qualified for the event. Kim, who is just completing her junior season at Texas, will be a teammate of Lee’s this fall.
That Lee emerged as the winner of the qualifier should not have come as a huge surprise. The Walnut Grove Secondary student has put together an impressive junior golf resumé. She won the 2024 B.C. Junior Girls at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna by a whopping 18 shots with a 72-hole score of seven-under par.
She has also won the last two B.C. Women’s Amateur Championships. She beat the field by three shots in 2024 at Balfour Golf Course and by two shots last year at Victoria Golf Club. She will try for a three-peat in late June at Chilliwack Golf Club.
Lee also has two wins on the American Junior Golf Association tour, the most recent coming this past March at an event in Jasper, Tex.
Lee, an only child, moved to B.C. from South Korea when she was nine years old. Her dad, Dennis, introduced her to the game when she was eight and she took to it quickly.
“It started as a hobby, a father-daughter thing we were doing for fun,” Lee said. “And then people started telling him, oh, your daughter has some talent for this sport.” Lee jokes that she has a love-hate relationship with golf. “It’s kind of hard to always love it,” she said with a laugh. “But jokes aside, I do love golf.” Most of the time.
Lee committed to the University of Texas in the fall of 2024 and said Laura Ianello, head coach of the women’s team at Texas, is constantly offering words of encouragement. “It is so nice that she has reached out via text so often to me,” Lee said. “And the two assistant coaches also text me regularly.”
Lee has made just one visit to the Texas campus in Austin and was blown away by the facilities. “All those resources should really help me improve my game. And it will be so nice to have another B.C. girl and a familiar face (Lauren Kim) there for my first year.”
Lee can’t wait to get started on her collegiate journey. “It is going to be so much different than junior golf, which is so independent,” she said. “At college you are part of a team and I look forward to that. It will also be nice to play in a warmer climate.”
Hopefully, Southern California will also be warm in early June when Lee heads to Riviera. Lee knows the U.S. Women’s Open set-up will be tough. It will be Vancouver Golf Club on steroids. The rough will be longer, the greens will be be faster and Riviera will be set up much longer, likely in the neighbourhood of 6,700 or 6,800 yards.
Although she’s not a long hitter, Lee is less concerned about Riviera’s length. She thinks her short game will need to be on point to have any kind of success. “For me, I think it’s all about the short game. I feel like everybody hits the ball well at that level. It’s just about who can make the up-and-down, who can make that last putt.”
Lee will head to Riviera with realistic expectations. “I’m obviously not going to go there expecting to win,” she said. “I will be going there to learn.” And hopefully to rub shoulders with some of the players she regularly watches on TV. South Korean star Hyo Joo Kim is a personal favourite.
“I love her personality on the course. It’s always the same and she’s down to earth. Every time she has a bad hole or a bad moment, which everybody does on the course, she just brushes it off and I think that’s something I can learn from.”
Lee also would like to meet Australian Minjee Lee, mainly because many of her friends call her Little-Minjee. “I don’t see the resemblance, but that’s what everybody calls me,” Lee said with a laugh.
But mainly, she wants to soak up every minute she spends at Riviera and savour the experience. Her dad, who missed the Vancouver Golf Club qualifier, will be back caddying for her at Riviera. His main job, as always, will be to keep his daughter focused and calm.
Lee said that’s easier said than done. “My mom and dad are more nervous than I am when I play,” she said. “But I know this will be a great experience.” And the beginning of what should be a summer to remember.
CHIP SHOT: Bella Yang, 14, of Vancouver earned first alternate status at the Vancouver Golf Club qualifier after beating Elaine Liu of Vancouver in a playoff. Both players finished the qualifier at five-over par. A total of 29 players teed it up in the qualifier.
See final qualifying scores here.