B.C. Contingent Looking To Bounce Back In Second Round Of CPKC Women’s Open
Former BC Junior Girls Champion Luna Lu - BC Golf Photo
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
They battled their nerves along with an exceptionally tough golf course. Teeing it up a LPGA Tour event was a new experience for five of the six British Columbians playing in the CPKC Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.
“I think on a scale of one to 10 on the first tee I was like an eight or a nine,” was how Burnaby’s Luna Lu described her nerves early in Thursday’s opening round. “And then after about nine holes I was like maybe 5 or 6.”
The 16-year-old former B.C. Junior Girls champion carded a five-over 77, joining a large percentage of the field who were over par for the day.
Lu struggled early in her round. She bogeyed her first hole, added another bogey on No. 4 and doubled the fifth. Then she settled down. Lu played the rest of her round one-over par and recorded her lone birdie on the par 5 11th hole.
“On the back nine I settled down a little bit more and played more consistent,” said Lu, who Monday qualified her way into the event. “I started making some putts.
“I made a few up and downs from the rough and the bunkers. My short game allowed me to make some par saves, so that was good.” Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon and Angela Arora of Surrey were still smiling after they both shot 81. “Honestly I am still super excited to be here,” said Arora, who plays her collegiate golf at the University of Tennessee.
Her round started with a triple-bogey on the first hole after her approach shot plugged into a greenside bunker. “It was a bit of a mess,” she said. “I didn’t feel great obviously, but I kept fighting. Today my irons just weren’t there. I was hitting fairways, but I just wasn’t able to hit greens and at this golf course you have to hit greens.”
“I am just going to go to the range and tune up my irons. It’s a great opportunity to be here. It sucks how I played but there’s tomorrow. I know my game is good enough that I can shoot a low round tomorrow.”
Kwon, the 2022 Canadian Junior Girls champion, was also upbeat after her round. “I am just really happy to be here honestly,” she said. “It was an awesome experience. Yes, I didn’t play so well, but there is another day and I am just out here to get some experience, learn some things, and I think I did that today.”
Victroria’s Sonja Tang also opened with an 81. Lu, Kwon, Arora and Tang all played their first round on the morning side of the draw. Vancouver resident and Shaughnessy member Victoria Liu and Surrey’s Lauren Kim teed it up in the afternoon.
Kim, the Canadian Women’s Amateur champion who is about to begin her collegiate career at the University of Texas, shot a 5-over 77. Liu, who is heading into her third year at Princeton University.
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