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Consistency was key for Palmdale’s Kuree Little, who was one oftwo players not to shoot a round above 70 on her way to claiming victory at Morongo GC at Tukwet Canyon.
The action got underway on Friday, and Little wasted no time getting herself under par as she had back-to-back birdies on holes four and five to put her at -2 through five. She continued her solid play on the back nine where she would pick up four more birdies, against just one bogey giving her a first round 67 (-5). She would start the second round hot as well, picking up two birdies in her first three holes, but two bogeys over the course of the round would slow her roll. Still, the UNLV-commit managed to shoot a 70 (-2), the worst round of her tournament, as she entered the final round in a tie for the lead with Ein Kim.
Little’s final round group was composed of Ein Kim, whom Little was tied with at -7, and Rina Kawasaki, who was one stroke back at -6. Little started her final with a par on each of the first seven holes. Down the leaderboard, Kawasaki had shrugged off a first-hole bogey to climb into a tie for the lead at -7 while Kim had carded two bogeys dropping her down to third at -5. As the final group was approaching the turn, the competitors would all take their games up to another level. Little got the party started with four birdies in a row from holes eight to eleven while Kawasaki tried to keep up with three birdies of her own on holes nine, 11 and 12. Ein Kim, not to be left out, rallied back into contention with four birdies of her own on holes nine, 10, 12 and 13. The leaderboard, now through 14 holes, had Kuree Little at the top at -11, Rina Kawasaki in second at -10 and Ein Kim climbing back up at -9.
Little, sensing her opportunity to shut the door on any potential comebacks, did just that by notching back-to-back birdies on holes sixteen and seventeen to put herself at -13 and all but sealed the championship. Kawasaki and Kim would both continue to put up a fight with birdies of their own on sixteen, but bogeys from the pair on eighteen would guarantee Little the title in the desert with a record champion score of -13.
