Chen was the Quakers’ leading scorer in the tournament, shooting a 45 to help Moorestown to a second place finish in the event.
A hilly course, gusty winds and fast greens couldn’t slow down Moorestown High School’s Lauren Chen at Old York Country Club in Chesterfield last Monday.
Chen outscored most of the 92 competitors in last week’s GolfU LPGA Girls Golf Classic, shooting 45 in the nine-hole competition to finish in a tie for fifth place. Chen’s efforts helped Moorestown to a second place finish in the team competition. The Quakers shot 212; finishing four strokes behind first place West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
Chen’s performance is the latest of a number of strong outings she’s had in recent weeks. Chen admitted she had a slow start to the season due to the unseasonably cold weather early in the spring. Her performance has improved in the later half of April, with Chen shooting a season-best 43 in a match on April 23 against Robbinsville High School.
“The beginning started off a little bit shaky, because the weather this year hasn’t been the greatest,” she said. “It’s gotten better.”
Chen and the other competitors faced a very difficult course at Old York featuring a ton of hills. Scores for many of the teams in the competition were higher than they have been averaging during the regular season. Moorestown’s team total of 212 was higher than any score the team had shot all spring.
Despite the challenge, Chen felt the course was a good way for the team to prepare for some of the competitions lying ahead.
“It was very hilly,” she said. “The greens were really fast. There were lots of slopes. The rough was really thick as well.”
“It’s a lot different than the Moorestown Field Club in that it’s more spread out,” Chen added. “It’s a much harder course.”
Chen’s game plan was to maintain her consistency through all nine holes and keep the ball on the fairway.
“I wanted to break 50,” she said. “It was just about keeping my head in the game, getting good drives, getting on the fairway, staying on the fairway and putting well.”
One of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament for Chen is playing with other girls from around the region. The LPGA Girls Golf Classic is one of the few girls-only tournaments on the schedule each year and Chen looks forward to participating in the event and seeing other female players.
“Seeing familiar faces that I’ve played with in other tournaments is great,” Chen said. “It’s wonderful to see a girls tournament dedicated to girls playing golf. It’s not very common right now. I think (tournament director) Brad (Hare) is doing a great job organizing this.”
Moorestown is entering the home stretch of the season with the NJSIAA sectional tournament less than a week away on May 14. The Quakers entered last Monday with a 5–3 record. Though the Quakers were unable to win the team title in the Girls Golf Classic, they did finish ahead of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, a team Moorestown lost to by 31 strokes earlier in the season.
“We lost a really good senior last year, Megan Duman, but I think our team is really coming together,” Chen said.
