A Season Clearly Up to Par

Golfers as a group are perfectionists, seemingly never content with their play even in victory, so when Jennifer Osborn offers the slightest hint of satisfaction with her game this season, you know something must have gone right.

“I was pretty happy with my season,” she said.

“I think I played pretty consistently in all areas.”

In golf circles, that’s the equivalent of jumping for joy, and if any girls’ golfer should do that, it’s Osborn, a senior from Huntington Beach Marina headed for Arizona State.

Osborn started her season with a three-shot victory over a solid field in the Irvine University tournament and capped it with a third-place finish in the state championships.

In between, she won the Southern Section individual championship, placed fifth at the Southern California Regional and was medalist in just about every match she played this season.

Osborn is The Times’ 2004 Girls’ Golfer of the Year.

“It was a good year,” she said. “There was a stretch of a couple of weeks when I was under par the whole time. It’s a lot of fun when you’re playing that well.”

When she shot 68 for a one-shot victory in the Southern Section individual tournament, she added that title to the Southern California regional title she won in 2002 and became the first girls’ golfer to win both.

Osborn credits an improved mental game and increased distance off the tee. She has worked with swing coach Derek Hardy at the Long Beach Golf Learning Center and has added almost 25 yards with her driver.

“That really improved for me this year,” she said. “Greens I normally wouldn’t be able to reach, I can go for now. It never hurts to have a few extra yards off the tee.”

Hardy, who has taught LPGA professionals Jane Geddes and Beth Daniel, said that if Osborn continues to develop, he has no doubt she will make the LPGA Tour. That shouldn’t be a problem, Hardy said, because Osborn’s work ethic is what has helped separate her from her peers.

“When I first got her she had a terrible grip, a terrible stance and couldn’t hit the ball 50 yards,” said Hardy, who has taught Osborn since she was 9. “But she is unique because she truly loves to practice. And any time she recognizes a weakness, she works very hard to correct it. She absolutely loves to work things out.”

That love for practice was part of the reason Osborn chose Arizona State over USC and UCLA. Arizona State has a golf course on campus.

“For me, that was the big clincher,” Osborn said. “If I want to practice between classes, I can just ride my bike over there.”

Practice helped make Osborn a successful age-group player, and that translated into success in high school and a No. 19 national ranking by Golfweek magazine.

Osborn said she is ready to embrace the challenge of college now and move one step closer to her dream of playing professionally.

“I’m ready to move on,” she said. “Hopefully if I keep working hard, I can contribute at the next level and work out the things I need to work out.”

She will carry one regret with her, however. Even while acknowledging the success she had this season, the true golfer in her came out.

“I really wanted to win the state title,” she said. “But, oh well.”