Texas women’s golf sophomore Lauren Kim represented Canada at the 2024 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship on Nov. 12. The tournament is an Olympics-inspired amateur golf competition where countries send their two best amateur male and female golfers.
“It’s always nice representing my own country, because there’s all of these players out there, and I was the one chosen to represent Canada,” Kim said.
Team Canada’s women’s team, which was composed of Kim and Vanessa Borovilos, finished third overall with Kim finishing tied for 11th on the individual leaderboard. Kim reflected that while her game wasn’t the best in certain aspects, other parts shined through.
“My ball striking wasn’t the best that week, but I made it through because my short game and putting was really good,” Kim said. “That was probably the highlight, working on my putting.”
Kim’s performance at the Spirit Amateur is a continuation of her strong play so far this season. She has finished in the top six at all of Texas’ stroke-play competitions, sans one blip at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
Now, Kim will prepare herself for the second half of the Longhorn’s schedule, which will likely include the Southeastern Conference championship and a NCAA tournament appearance.
“There’s a lot of highlights to take from the season and a lot of things I can work on,” Kim said. “Overall, I feel like my game has improved a lot from the beginning until now, and it’s nice to see improvement.”
Kim and the rest of the Longhorns are in a great position as the No. 5 team in the country. New head coach Laura Ianello and her team entered the year as the No. 4 team and held that position until the most recent WGCA poll. Still, Ianello has done a great job in her first year in the burnt orange.
“She’s been a great addition to the team,” Kim said. “She’s that energy that we needed before. The team chemistry has gotten better. We already had good chemistry but now we’re having fun (as a team).”
The second half of the season will give the Horns plenty of opportunities to continue their upward trajectory. The upcoming slate also gives Texas a chance to get revenge on some top competitors who got the better of them in the fall, facing USC and South Carolina in the Northrup Grumann Regional.
Kim’s personal plan to get ready for the spring season is to simply play golf and make minor adjustments where she can.
“I want to start just playing more often, just getting out there and playing nine holes every day,” Kim said. “I’m just gonna keep my head down and work on the small things.”
Texas begins its spring schedule on Feb. 2 at the Northrop Grumann Regional in Palos Verdes, California.
