Lee, Shearer Play Follow the Leader

As soon as the score went up, the race for second place was on.

Anne Lee of Notre Dame High and Krystal Shearer of Alemany were right in the thick of it.

Candie Kung of Fountain Valley, in the first group to finish the CIF/SCGA girls’ championship Tuesday at the SCGA Members Club, shot a women’s course-record seven-under-par 65.

Lee, a junior, and Shearer, a sophomore, came in a few groups later with 72s.

Based on a card-off, Lee, who shot two-under-par 34 on the back nine, was awarded fifth place. Shearer, playing in the CIF/SCGA tournament for the first time, tied for sixth to give Mission League players top honors among girls from the region.

Harvard-Westlake freshman Ina Kim, also a Mission League player, shot 73 to miss winning a trophy by one stroke.

City Section girls’ champion Saki Uechi of Granada Hills shot 75 and teammate Julie Park shot 76.

“Swing-wise I haven’t changed that much,” said Lee, who as a freshman shot 81 in the same tournament. “But mentally I’ve matured a lot.”

Shearer, playing in her first CIF/SCGA tournament, also credited a strong mental approach for her success.

“I’ve worked on my head a lot over the last year,” Shearer said. “I used to be intimidated by the people here, but now I just think that I’m just as good as they are.”

Shearer had two birdies, two bogeys and saved par with putts of 12 and 20 feet.

Lee had four birdies and four bogeys. “I wish I could have made more of the longer putts,” Lee said. “But no matter what you shoot, you’re not happy. Candie shot 65 and she’s probably not happy.”

Kung, a junior, hit every green in regulation and missed only one fairway in her seven-birdie, bogey-free round. Her score, a career best, broke the tournament record of 67 set last year by Nicole Dalkas of Palm Desert.