County Players Struggle on Windy Desert Course

On a blustery Tuesday at Mission Lakes Country Club in Desert Hot Springs, Orange County golfers were blown away in the Southern Section Individual Championships.

Six county players broke 80 and four finished in the top 10, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the sister act put on by Hana Kim of Brentwood High and Ina Kim of North Hollywood Harvard Westlake, who finished first and second.

Hana Kim, a senior who has signed with Northwestern, shot one-under-par 71 to win by three shots. Ina Kim tied for second with Kim Kowabunpat of Upland and Hwanhee Lee of Cerritos and was awarded second after a two-hole playoff.

Kowabunpat claimed third after the playoff, so the top three spots went to players with Kim in their names.

Defending champion Young Pak of Cerritos Gahr struggled to an 82.

Angela Won of University shot 75 to lead the county on a day with steady, sweeping winds estimated at 25 mph. The quick, undulating greens created putting fits for nearly everyone.

“I couldn’t make putts,” said Won, who had two birdies. “Plus I never played in wind like this before. It was really windy.”

Irene Cho of Sunny Hills shot 76 to tie for eighth. Shelly Raworth and Priscilla Park, both of Villa Park, each shot 77 and finished in a six-way tie for 10th.

Channing Lovejoy of Woodbridge and Seiko Onoue of Sunny Hills were the other county players to break 80. Both shot 79.

Of the top eight finishers, only Won and Ina Kim played for their high school girls’ teams this fall. The others are either among the final group of female players still allowed to compete on boys’ teams in the spring, or do not play on a high school team.

Next season, girls must compete in the fall if their schools offer girls’ golf.

Hana Kim, ranked No. 11 in the nation among girls, was five under par through 16 holes, but finished bogey, triple-bogey on Nos. 8 and 9.

She hit her ball into a tree on the par-five ninth, waited the allowed five minutes before declaring a lost ball and returned to the tee.

While she walked past the same tree toward her second tee shot, a wind gust dislodged the first ball, but the penalty already applied and she took a triple-bogey eight.

Kim had birdied her first three holes and was four under after six holes, then played steady until the finish.

“This is totally unexpected,” she said. “I haven’t been out on a course for four weeks.”

Notes

The top 50 advance to the CIF-WSCGA championship Nov. 30 at the SCGA Members’ Club in Murietta. . . . Other county players advancing were: Sunny Lee of University, who shot 80; Nikki Glowin (Valencia, 82); Carling Cho (Dana Hills, 82); Courtney Goebel (Marina, 82); Stella Lee (Irvine, 83); and Kelly Hunt (Newport Harbor, 83). . . . Michelle Barth of University, Heather McDermott of Mater Dei and Jamie Oliver of Los Alamitos each shot 85 and tied for 50th to get in a six-way playoff for the final CIF-WSCGA entry, but Sara Jones of Newhall Hart earned the berth with a par on the first playoff hole. . . . Oliver, who was injured during the Sunset League tournament and did not earn an automatic berth, gained entry when teammate Michelle Eastlack, who finished fifth in the league finals, gave up her spot. “[Michelle] knew Jaime was our No. 1 player all season so she had no problem with it,” Griffin Coach Bob Atherton said. “It was a class move.”