Derek Kim T7 at the California State Junior Amateur

Derek Kim, Irvine, CA, shot 71-75-68 (214) at the prestigious California State Amateur played at Soboba Springs Golf Club. Derek shot a respectable -1 under par in the first round. He posted an even par on his front 9 with 9 straight par’s. He bogied 10 and 11 before closing the back nine with a -3 under par on 12-18.

Derek’s second round was not as kind to him. He made bogey on 3 and a birdie on 7 before making his second bogey of the day on 9. He led off the back side with 4 straight par’s before making bogies on 14 and 15. He rebounded with a birdie on 16, a par on 17 and another bogey on 18. Derek had it going on the front side before stumbling a little in finishing his round. The second round left him in 12th place.

Derek wanted to finish inside the top ten in the amateur so he knew he had to come up with a good final round to move into the top 10. After his 2nd round, Derek went to the range and worked out what he thought caused him to falter a bit on the second day. He obviously found a little something that helped him finish the final round with a solid -4 (68). He told his new coach, George Pinnell, that he continued to work on shortening his swing at the top and that he controlled his distance and direction really well in the final round. “I didn’t control my driver as well as I would have liked, but I did keep the ball in play,” Derek said.

Christian Lingamen shot 73-74 (147) to move into a tie for 16th place after the first two round’s. Christian shot +1 over par in his opening round before making 2 birdies and 2 bogies on his back side for a respectable 73.

Christian’s second round did not treat him as well as he wanted. He made a triple bogey on 3 a bogey on 5 before rebounding with a birdie on 6. Unfortunately, he could not keep it going. Christian bogied 7 and then made back to back birdies at 9 and 10. A bogey on 13 followed by a birdie on 14 and another bogey on 15 kept him on the roller coaster round. He finished by making par’s on 16, 17 and 18 for a hard fought 74.

Christian was looking to improve his final round play and got off to a good start with a birdie on the first hole. Trouble came at the second as he made a bogey and then a double bogey on three. He made back to back bogies on 7 and 8 before parring out on 9 for a 40 on his front nine. He continued the bogey train on 10, but then ripped off 8 par’s in a row to finish the back with a +1 over par 37 to post a final round of 77. His three round total of 224 (73-74-77) put Christian into a tie for 23rd place.

Congratulation’s to Derek and Christian!

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