Kelly Xu, the 2020 SCGA Women’s Player of the Year out of Claremont, successfully defended her title at the 2021 Southern California Junior Amateur Golf Championship at Morongo GC at Tukwet Canyon.
“I’m so honored to be able to play this well,” Xu said. “It’s just an enormous confidence booster and it really puts into perspective how much work I’ve put in and how lucky I am to be where I’m at today.”
After one round, she shared first place with Jasmine Leovao of Oceanside.
Xu sunk two birdies on her last two holes on the front.
“Usually I play well when my putting is really rolling, so today I had a lot of eight foot par putts that managed to roll in,” Xu said. “I really figured out how to put the right amount of pressure on myself to help me execute my shots.”
Erica Lee of Arcadia, who trailed the leaders by one stroke headed into Sunday, notched a pair of birdies as well to stay within reach of Xu.
Paired with Leovao in the leading group, Xu and Lee continued to battle throughout the back nine.
After each of them birdied Hole No. 16, Lee bogeyed her final two holes, whereas Xu parred, then posted her eleventh birdie of the weekend on Hole No. 18 to seal the victory.
“My favorite shot was definitely the second shot on the last hole,” Xu said. “There was definitely still a possibility of the tables turning so I wanted to keep calm.”
Xu chose a seven-iron from about 150 yards out and planted her shot two feet from the hole for a tap-in birdie.
“We chose a club up,” Xu said. “That was probably my best shot of the day.”
Xu finished the tournament shooting nine-under 135, posting only two bogeys in her 36-hole weekend.
“The mental aspect was really good this weekend and the putting was also working really well for me,” Xu said.
She is the 7th SoCal Junior Amateur Girls Champion. This championship started in 2015 as a junior amateur boys and girls event run by the SCGA and SCPGA.
Lee shot 139 to finish runner-up, while Koo (141), Kim Frances of Rolling Hills Estates (142) and Annika Ishiyama of Costa Mesa (143) each secured top-five finishes.