Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Lauren Kim battles the breeze to secure second career collegiate win
Lauren Kim - Photo Credit: Bernard Brault/Golf Canada
In Other News/Notes: Anna Huang impresses on Ladies European Tour; Vanessa Zhang second for Harvard; Ewart, Crisologo, Rowe set for PGA Tour Americas season-opener
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(March 24, 2025) - It was a one-under 71, which under normal circumstances would not get Lauren Kim overly excited. She can shoot that type of round in her sleep. But this one was different. It came in difficult conditions with the wind howling in the final round of her team’s home event at the University of Texas Golf Club.
That round — one bogey, two birdies and 15 pars — turned out to be the only sub-par round of the day at the Betsy Rawls Invitational and propelled the Surrey native to her second collegiate victory. “We were getting gusts of up to 35 miles per hour, so it wasn’t easy out there,” Kim said in an interview.
“I just kept it very simple. I didn’t think too much about my overall score. When the conditions are tough like that, pars are your friend and birdies are your lovers, as my coach would say. I was very happy with that round. Just to be near par that day would be a good score, but to shoot one-under and take the lead and end up winning the tournament was big.”
Getting that win at her home event made it extra special for Kim, who is now in her sophomore year at Texas. The Longhorns also won the team event. “I had my whole team there, it was a home event and all nine girls were there. To do it in front of them and celebrate all together, not just my win but the team win as well, was great," Kim said.
"We had members cheering for us, alumni, friends and family, so it was really cool. My parents couldn’t make it out this week, but I had other people who are just like family watching me and it was just really nice hearing cheers because usually when we are at tournaments there are a not a lot of spectators who are rooting for Texas. We’re a great school but not many people like us. So when we do have fans it is just so nice. So to do it here was really cool,” added Kim.
Kim finished the 54-hole event at one-over par, one shot better than Texas teammate Cindy Hsu and Kyra Van Kan of Tennessee. The victory earned her SEC golfer of the week honours. “I haven’t had any of those individual accolades, so that was nice,” Kim said. At No. 22 in the world, Kim is Canada’s top-ranked amateur. When the new World Amateur Golf Rankings are released later this week, she could move inside the top 20.
Kim plays close to home again at this week’s Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. The following week she heads to Georgia for her second Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
SWEET 16: Three starts on the Ladies European Tour and three cuts made. Anna Huang, the 16-year-old from Vancouver, is looking right at home in her early days as a professional golfer. Huang closed with a one-under 70 to finish tied for 22nd at the Ford Women’s New South Wales Open at Wollongong Golf Club in Australia. Her 72-hole total of five-under par left her 12 shots behind winner Mimi Rhodes of England. Huang earned 3,951 Euros (about $6,100 Cdn).
Jeff MacDonald, head coach of Golf Canada’s NextGen girls team, has worked closely with Huang in recent years and is impressed with the poise she is showing as she begins her pro career. “Her decision-making on the golf course is really solid, well beyond her years,” MacDonald said in an interview. “She is just so steady, she knows her limits and is patient and just executes her game plan. She’s a very smart golfer.”
Huang currently sits 30th on the LET points list. The next event on the Let schedule is the Joburg Ladies Open in South Africa, which goes April 3-6.
SEASON OPENER: Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart, Chris Crisologo of Richmond and Lawren Rowe of Squamish are in the field for this week’s PGA Tour Americas opener, the 93 Abietro Telecom del Centro in Cordoba, Argentina. The PGA Tour Americas plays six events in South America and Mexico before heading north for 10 North American (nine in Canada) stops.
CLOSE SECOND: Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang, a freshman at Harvard University, tied for second at the Dallas Baptist University Patriot Invitational in Carmel, Calif. Zhang fired rounds of 68, 70 and 75 to finish the event at even-par, one shot behind winner Ellen Spigner of Arkansas Tech. Michelle Liu, Zhang’s former high school classmate who also competes for Harvard, tied for 26th. Harvard finished second to Dallas Baptist in the team competition.
EARLY EXITS: Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin and Adam Svensson of Surrey both missed the cut at the Valspar Champtionship in Palm Harbor, Fla., where Norway’s Viktor Hovland won by one shot. Although he had the weekend off, Hadwin made headlines Friday en route to a double-bogey on the par 4 10th hole when he angrily slammed his wedge into the ground, struck a sprinkler head and sent water spewing in all directions.
Hadwin then tried to step on the sprinkler to stop the flow of water. That didn’t work and he was heard to mutter the word “sorry” as he walked away to finish the hole. Hadwin, Svensson and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor are all in the field for this week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open. Merritt’s Roger Sloan, now a Houston-area resident, is trying to Monday qualify his way into the event.
CAPILANO CALLING: The B.C. Golf House Society is holding its 35th annual fund-raising tournament at Capilano Golf & Country Club in West Vancouver on May 12. It’s a 1 p.m. shotgun start and each participant plays their own ball. It is not a Scramble. The $375 entry fee includes lunch, dinner, a tee gift, team prizes and a shared golf cart. Registration is available here
CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Leah John, a regular on the Epson Tour, has signed a deal to represent Fairmont Banff Springs Golf Course. . .Part-time Whistler resident James Lee will attempt to win his third B.C. Junior Boys title at this summer’s event at Quilchena Golf Club in Richmond. Lee, who won the 2022 and 2023 championships, did not play in last year’s event won by Austin Krahn of Christina Lake. . .Delta’s Max Osten, a freshman at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, tied for seventh at the Virginia Wesleyan Invitational. . .UBC-Okanagan’s Andrew Rouble tied for 14th at the Hot Dirt Desert Shootout in Goodyear, Ariz.