2011 girls golf preview

TUSTIN – She ran to get the front seat at a golf clinic starring an LPGA icon. When Kaitlin Park got there, the way she approached the game completely changed, putting the Beckman senior on a course that could finally make her CIF State Champion in November.

Annika Sorenstam, a World Golf Hall of Famer, was there that day to work with all the teenage girls competing in the invitational tournament that she was hosting. Sorenstam answered questions, gave them tips and then grabbed her clubs and took a swing alongside these wide-eyed junior golfers.

It was then that Park decided she would never practice or play the same way again.

Instead of trying to see how far she could blast the ball off the tee on the driving range, she decided to focus more on her putting and chipping because Sorenstam told Park that she should spend the majority of her time honing her short game. Park listened to her mentor.

Girls golf preseason O.C. top 10

Girls golf preview: Players to watch in '11

Girls golf preview: Important dates for the '11 season

And now, she said she's hitting more greens and holing about 70 percent of her putts from 10 feet. Both could help her should she earn another tee time at the CIF State Championship, which will be played this year at Poppy Hills, a tricky course in Pebble Beach known for its difficult greens. Park played in the prestigious tournament there as a sophomore and finished tied for eighth after shooting a 4-over-par 76.

“If I do get back to state, I am going to rethink it,” Park said. “I want to be there as a different player.

“I want to be the senior that played the course before. First of all, I have to get there, though.”

And that's no easy task as only six girls out of an area that extends from basically Fresno to Mexico qualify as individuals for state. Park, though, has done it the past two seasons, making it to Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga in 2010 after winning the WSCGA So Cal Championship at The Golf Club at Rancho California with a 6-under-par 66. But Red Hill proved to be quite a challenge for her, and she shot an 86.

Since then, though, she has become one of the top junior players in the country, winning two AJGA tournaments, finishing second in another and moving up to 26th place in the Polo national rankings, up 53 places from where she was just six months ago.

“Now, I want to take my new drills and make my shot mine,” she said.

Contact the writer: ddotttore@ocregister.com