On Her Own, Park Delivers on Course

Angela Park feels most comfortable in the solitude of a golf course, with only a ball, a bag of clubs and her thoughts as company.

Those are the moments during which she shines, often hitting laser-like iron shots to within gimme birdie range to dash the hopes of another opponent. The cheers from the gallery, if there is one, are nice, but to Park, those moments before the cheers are what golf is all about.

“Golf is all about relying on yourself,” Park said. “It’s a very independent sport, and those times when you are alone is what I love about the game.”

Park, 16, a junior at Torrance High, often takes advantage. A three-time winner on the national junior golf circuit over the summer, Park was named an American Junior Golf Assn. All-American.

She advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and made it to match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. At No. 4, she is the top girl west of the Mississippi in the Golfweek national rankings.

Success, she said, has come from a love of the game, and the part she loves the most is the independence.

“In golf, you get as much reward as the effort you put into it,” she said. “That’s what made me motivated to do it. I don’t need someone to be like, ‘Do this, do this, do this.’ I’m more of an independent golfer. I know what I need to do and I like to take care of things myself.”

Even so, as she leads Torrance into the Southern Section playoffs today -- the team will compete in the Eastern Divisional at Seven Hills Golf Club in Hemet -- Park has a great appreciation for team golf.

Sometimes, players of her ability neglect high school golf, but Park is as committed to her team as any player.

She attends nearly every practice and was the low scorer in every match she played this season, leading Torrance to an undefeated regular season.

“With Angela it’s never about not wanting to play,” said Torrance Coach John Wurzer. “She’s got a lot of team spirit. She’s a superstar, but she doesn’t act like a superstar. She doesn’t seek out a pat on the back.”

Park, who won the Southern Section individual title as a sophomore and was selected Torrance High’s girls’ athlete of the year, said she wouldn’t miss high school golf for anything.

“Some people look at high school golf and they’re like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,’ ” she said. “But I don’t think about it that way. It’s a part of my life. It’s something special, so I try to benefit from it.”

It’s hard to argue with the results. When she shot 64 in the final round of the AJGA Rolex tournament of champions in July, it was the second-lowest score on the AJGA this year and the fifth-best in the history of the AJGA.

She shot 66-66 in the last two rounds of the Westfield Junior PGA Championship and won the tournament by 10 strokes.

She sat out the first three weeks of this season because of a wrist injury, and she says it still bothers her on occasion, but her game appears to be rounding into shape as the postseason begins. She shot a school-record five-under 29 two weeks ago at Penmar.

“She probably has more potential than any other student I’ve had,” said Don Brown, Park’s swing instructor at Harbor Golf Practice Center. “She could almost play on tour right now. She’s the real deal.”

Park, born in Brazil, moved to Southern California eight years ago. Her parents, both South Korean, still run an embroidery business in Brazil. She lives with her father, who regularly travels to Brazil, but her mother remains in Brazil and Park sees her every three or four months.

The youngest of four children, she has no sisters and said that her family situation makes her a perfect fit for golf.

“I’m away from my mom a lot and I don’t have any sisters, so trying to talk to brothers about some things is kind of weird,” she said. “It makes me depend on myself, just like in golf.”

Park is the only member of her family who plays golf seriously. She started, she said, when, on a whim, her father suggested she give it a try.

“I like all sports and one day my dad was like, ‘Let’s try golf,’ ” Park said. “It was just random. He doesn’t even play golf at all.”

Random, perhaps, but a good decision nonetheless. Over the years, Park has developed a strong all-around game, but her iron play is her strength.

“When she gets going, she hits everything close to the hole,” Brown said. “I mean stiffs them. She can get hot and make a lot of birdies.”

But her real strength, Brown says, is in her mental approach.

“Nothing bothers her,” he said. “She is so laid back and mellow.”

Maybe on the outside, but Park said on the inside the competitive desire burned.

“Don’t be fooled by my looks,” she said. “I can be very competitive. But I’m competitive with myself.”