CHILLIWACK — Amy Seung Hyun Lee doesn’t just win golf tournaments. She wins big. The 18-year-old Langley phenom was at it again at this week’s B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Chilliwack Golf Club. She captured her third straight B.C. Women’s Am and once again did it in convincing fashion. Lee won the 54-hole event by 11 shots, finishing the tourney at nine-under par.
When it was officially over — and let’s face it, it was over long before she tapped in her final putt of the final round — Lee had a question. “Has anyone ever won three straight Women’s Ams,” she wanted to know. Yes, she was told. It has happened before, but not for a long time. The last two to do it were Penticton’s A.J. Eathorne in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and Prince Rupert’s Lisa Young (Walters) in 1979, 1980 and 1981. When Lee was told that Walters and Eathorne both went on to play on the LPGA Tour, she broke out in a smile and said: “Really, well that’s good motivation for me.”
It’s not a stretch to suggest Lee could have a bright future in professional golf. But before that happens, the Walnut Grove Secondary graduate will head to the University of Texas later this summer to begin her collegiate career. Lee came to Chilliwack Golf Club not knowing what to expect. She missed Monday’s practice round due to her high school graduation. “So I came into the first round and I was like, I’m just going to have fun,” she said.
Her first round was a lot of fun. She opened with a five-under 67 and proceeded to go wire-to-wire for her umpteenth win at a British Columbia Golf championship event. Lee has won every B.C. Golf event at least once, capturing provincial bantam, juvenile and junior titles. After shooting a one-under 71 in the second round, Lee closed with a tidy three-under 69. She was generally pleased with her final round, but a little perturbed by what she called a sloppy bogey on the final hole. “We’re going to talk about that one in the car on the way home,” she said.
Lee does not show much emotion on the course. You won’t see many fist pumps after birdies and she does not show much frustration when shots don’t go her way. “My dad wants me to smile more, so I tried to do that on the last couple of holes today, but it was really difficult,” she said with a chuckle. “It does not come out naturally.”
Lee began the final round with just a two-shot lead, but extended it throughout the day with some fine play. She seemed to be hitting fairways and greens all day. Meanwhile, her closest pursuers struggled. Surrey’s Rebecca Kim closed with a six-over 78 and finished solo second at two-over par. Victoria’s Anna Wu shot a one-under 71 to move into third place at three-over.
Lee made only four bogeys all week at Chilliwack. Three of them came on the par 4 seventh hole. “I think it something mental,” she said. “There was something going on there.” Lee, Kim and Wu will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which goes July 21-24 at Toronto Golf Club.
Lee’s win at Chilliwack followed an appearance earlier this month at the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. She also has a spot in this summer’s U.S. Junior Girls Championship in Durham, N.C. Then it’s off to Texas, where she will join a Longhorns team that also includes Surrey’s Lauren Kim.
Lee is looking forward to the college experience, but acknowledges feeling a little apprehensive. “It’s mixed emotions just because this has been my home for a really long time,” she said. “But I am looking forward to the experience.”
Lee has been working with instructor John Shin at Northview Golf Club in Surrey for just over a year. Shin, who took in the final round, said Lee is extremely focused. “The work ethic is there, the drive to get better is high,” Shin said. “She’s very determined to achieve what she wants to achieve. She doesn’t show a lot of emotion when she plays, but she’s very focused at what she’s doing.”
Along with the B.C. Women’s Amateur, the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship for players aged 25 and older and a Mid-Master Championship for players 40 and over were also contested at Chilliwack. Victoria’s Veronica Ivy won both championships with a 54-hole score of seven-over par to edge Vancouver’s Nonie Marler by one shot.
Ivy had stretched her lead to four late in the round, but a double-bogey on the par 4 16th hole led to a nerve-wracking finish. “That’s when the nerves started to hit,” Ivy said. Ivy, a former world-class cyclist, arrived at the 18th green needing only to two-putt from 12-feet for the win.
“Golf is more stressful than cycling,” she said. “Cycling is like maybe five minutes of stress and golf is just five hours of non-stop stress.” Ivy, Marler and third-place finisher Aram Choi of Surrey will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which goes Aug. 5-7 at Burlington Golf & Country Club in Ontario.
Click HERE for complete final scoring.
CHIP SHOTS: A two-person better-ball team competition was also held at Chilliwack. The duo of Cadence Ko of Richmond and Anna Wu of Victoria won with a score of 13-under par. That was one better than the team of Amy Lee and Chelsea Truong of Victoria.