PLACEJTIa – Six months ago, Brittany Park wasn’t a nationally ranked golfer.
That has changed.
Born in Korea, Park’s family settled in Fullerton more than a decade ago. She was in third grade when she started taking swings while tagging along with her brother and dad at the local driving range.
Park’s dad, Kiho, put her in weekly lessons at the encouragement of a golf professional who was impressed by her swing. She quickly progressed and at 12 began entering local golf tournaments.
This summer, everything clicked for the Valencia High sophomore.
In July, Park claimed her first big junior tournament win at the Southern California Professional Golf Association’s Toyota Tour Cup Series in Santa Ana. In the first round of the 54-hole competition she fired a 5-under par 67; she’d go on to win the event by eight strokes in what she calls a “turning point” in her career.
Then in August, she claimed her first American Junior Golf Association victory by firing a final-round 1-under-par 71 at a tournament in Stockton.
Park’s play accelerated her to No. 110 in the Polo Golf rankings – a number that includes international junior players, based off tournament finishes.
“It really showed me what I can do and what I’m capable of,” said Park, 15. “If I really am mentally strong and if I really do stick this out, I can win and I can end up on top and produce good scores.”
Park returns as Valencia’s low-scorer this fall. She was a third-team All-County selection as a freshman for the Tigers, who finished second in the Empire League. At the CIF-SS Southern Division championships, she was three strokes behind the event’s winner with a 2-over-par 74.
She’s the current leader in O.C. for medals won this season – given for lowest scoring honors at a match. She stands a good chance of qualifying for CIF-SS individuals, said coach Mark Castillo.
That, and so much more.
“I think honestly at a junior golf level, she’s a potential invitational player, potential Rolex All-American and a tier-one Division I college (player),” Castillo said. “That’s what she is. She’s got the game to do all those things. It’s just a matter of doing it at the right time.”
Aside from Park, Valencia returns every member of last year’s team, all five of whom compete in tournaments outside of the high school season. But high school golf stands a distant second priority to the prestige and competitive value of AJGA and Toyota Tour tournaments.
Castillo knows all too well the path that those types of tournaments pave for teens. His son Derek – a junior at Valencia this year and Rolex All-American – committed to UNLV to play golf on scholarship as a freshman.
That’s why when a player like Park comes along, Castillo doesn’t do much in the way of coaching.
“As far as winning and losing, that’s not necessarily what we’re about,” Castillo said. “Now if I have a girl who’s not a tournament player, yes, I will work with them a lot more. But I don’t touch Brittany’s swing. I talk to her dad and we talk about tournament schedules and we talk about logistics and how to get places and things like that.”
Park has a couple of swing coaches already, including her father; she credits him for much of her recent success this summer.
Kiho Park – who spends about half the year in Korea on business – always seems to help his daughter rectify inconsistencies in her swing when he returns, Park says.
Kiho Park says it’s not her swing that has improved.
“Since the start of competitive golf, she has grown mentally as well as physically,” Park’s father said. “But I think she still needs to learn quite a lot in terms of becoming a top player.”
Park estimated she spent at least 30 hours a week working on her game this summer. Fatigue and restlessness was inevitable, but it became part of her growing process.
“I think it’s just another stage that you have to overcome,” Park said. “To play a sport, you really have to enjoy it. I figured that out this year. You really have to enjoy playing this game and if you don’t, it’s just a waste of your time.”
“I love golf,” she said. “It teaches you so much about life, and you have to have a strong mentality to play this. It’s taught me so much.”
Contact the writer: 714-704-3796 or mhanlon@ocregister.com
