Claremont High School golf phenom Kelly Xu added another victory to her trophy case Tuesday, winning the seventh Southern California Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur Championship title with a five-stroke lead.
Xu, who was the SCGA 2020 SoCal Junior Girls’ Golf Champion, was the only competitor to shoot under par for all three rounds at the Mesa Verde Country Club, according to a news release from SCGA.
Earlier this month Xu became the first Wolfpack golfer to win a CIF individual championship by shooting a 73 at the CIF Southern Regional tournament at Western Hills Country Club. The soon-to-be senior has committed to play golf at Stanford University, following her graduation next spring.
On Monday, under difficult conditions including “ridiculously fast greens” and “a sneaky breeze,” Xu shot a first-round score of 69, followed by an impressive 68 second round to complete the 36-hole first day. She was the only player to achieve two under-par rounds, giving her a strong four-shot cushion heading into the final round on Tuesday.
In the final round Xu dropped a few strokes on the front nine, providing an opportunity for Stanford junior, and Xu’s future Cardinal teammate, Brooke Seay who got three birdies. The tightening score put the pressure on Xu—however, Seay dropped three strokes on the back nine.
“On the 12th hole, Xu hit her approach shot to 20 feet, where she promptly sank the putt for birdie. That was the confidence boost she really needed, and it was all smooth sailing from there. After a string of pars that looked way too easy, she found another birdie on the short par 4 on 17, where she pulled her 3 wood giving herself a wildly difficult wedge shot from the thick kikiyu rough, about 60 yards out. But, she stuck it to six feet and it was on that green where Xu and her caddie, high school teammate [Davorah Strober] smiled from ear to ear as they knew that made putt sealed the deal, heading into the scenic par-3 on 18,” the news release read.
Los Angeles native Angelina Kim finished one under to claim second place, followed by Seay finishing tied for third alongside USC Trojan Katherine Muzi, and University of Texas Longhorn Sophie Guo,
“I’m so humbled, every SCGA event has been so amazing,” Xu said, “and to have my name up there alongside so many other great names is just incomprehensible for me right now.”