Bethany Wu walked 18 holes with her fiercest competitor and one of her best friends Monday.
The Diamond Bar High School golfer and Mira Costa’s Andrea Lee have been close friends since they were 8 years old and roomed together at last summer’s Junior Solheim Cup. But on Monday at River Ridge Golf Course, they were fighting it out for top honors at the CIF-Southern Section Northern Division individual regionals.
“It’s always fun to play with Andrea,” Wu said. “I love playing with her.”
Lee got Wu by one stroke by shooting a 6-under-par-66 to Wu’s 67. Both players had seven birdies, Lee had one bogey and Wu had two.
“Bethany and I are really close,” Lee said. “It’s really cool to play with her. She played well and I played well. We have a good time out there.”
Wu started off with a par, had three consecutive birdies and bogeyed the par-3 ninth and par-4 10th.
“I just didn’t get up and down,” Wu said. “I did not make my putts. I’m happy with my 67.”
Seven of the 106 golfers shot under par on the par-72, 5,232-yard course. Two other area golfers broke par. Patricia Wong of Walnut and Danielle Lee of La Mirada each shot 1-under-par 71 to tie for fourth.
Wong bogeyed the second hole when she three-putted.
“Last year I shot an 84 and three-putted the first hole,” she said. “I thought, ‘Here comes my 84 from last year.’ And I had started with my drive to the left, just like last year. Other than that first hole, it was great.”
She had four birdies and three bogeys. Danielle Lee had one birdie and parred the other 17 holes. She needed 35 putts.
“My ball stroking was pretty good, but my putting was pretty bad,” she said. “My game is improving right now. I’m really happy with that.”
It was sunny and windy in the 18-hole tournament. The top 36 players advanced to next week’s CIF-SS finals at Talega Golf Club in San Clemente. They will compete along with 12 teams to try and advance through Thursday’s team competition. Six area golfers shot at least a 5-over-par 77 on Monday to make the cut.
Walnut’s Alison Chang and Diamond Ranch’s Shennalyn Deleon each had 74, Diamond Bar’s Kaitleen Shee a 76 and Arcadia’s Kayla Yn, West Covina’s Lexandro So and Diamond Bar’s Josephine Chang all came in at 77.
“I played OK, except for my putting,” Pacific Lague champion Yn said. “If I had putted better, I could have shot really low.”
Two golfers, Arcadia’s Michelle Cheung and Diamond Bar’s Esther Yin, shot 78 and were forced into a playoff with seven other players. Cheung double-bogeyed the first playoff hole, the par4 14th, and was eliminated. When Notre Dame’s Janet Yeo went for the hole over water on the par-5 15th, she finished with a birdie and eliminated the others.