The long and short of competitive golf

    This week at the U.S.G.A. Junior Girls National Championship at Hartford Golf Club, Karen Chung, a 13 year old from my hometown of Livingston, NJ, showed that distance off tees is not all it's cracked up to be.
    At barely 5 feet tall, Ms. Chung does not drive the ball very far, and she gave up 20 to 30 yards to her opponents off the tees.  But unerring approach shots on par 4s she could reach with her fairway metal and an outstanding short game narrowed the differences.
    But at this level of competition, even outstanding shotmaking is not enough.  Over a week of play - two medal rounds and then six matches, including a 36-hole final - even a 13 year old needs the mental toughness of a Tiger or Golden Bear.  Twice, coming to the long, uphill par 4 18th with an opportunity to halve the hole to win her match, Ms. Chung made bogey to extend to extra holes.  Her shoulders never slumped.  Both times she prevailed, once with par at the long par 4 1st hole and then, in the semi-finals, winning with a par on the 26th hole (the longest playoff in the history of the tournament), the brutally long par 3 8th hole.
    In match play, you can turn your distance disadvantage to advantage. Ms. Chung almost always played first from the fairways, and because she was so unerring in her approach shots, she put tremendous pressure on her opponents.  The best junior players don't show much emotion, but Ms. Chung's opponents had to be roiling inside when they were way longer off the tee than she was and yet consistently left the green with a halve at best. Length off the tee isn't all it's cracked up to be...until it is.
    That showed in the grueling 36-hole final match between the 13-year old Ms. Chung and her opponent, the much taller and more seasoned Alexis Thompson of Florida, also 13. This was the first final between two girls this young in the tournament's 60 years.  The second 18 holes began with Ms. Thompson going 3 holes up after #1.  But timely putting brought Ms. Chung back to just one down on the 6th tee.  However, after she bunkered her tee shot at the par 3, Ms. Thompson holed a 35-foot putt for birdie to stop her opponent's momentum.  
    Ms. Chung stayed within two holes down but as they turned into the wind on the back nine, Ms. Chung's lack of length off the tee began to put her at a major deficit.  The accomplished Ms. Thompson was consistently straight off the tee and a good 50 yards beyond Ms. Chung.  Hitting first from the fairway is only an advantage if you put the pressure on your opponent, but Ms. Chung was having trouble getting to the putting surfaces on her approach shots into the wind.  Ms. Thompson won holes 12 thru 14 and earned the championship with a 5 and 4 victory.
    A great week of competitive golf...