Jack Major
Staff Writer
Not many people can boast of winning over fifty junior tournaments in a span of four years, playing multiple times on a team of ten of the best junior female golfers in the nation, nor of being the number one overall female amateur in the nation, but Andrea Lee has accomplished all of this and much more at barely eighteen years old.
Although she has only four collegiate starts under her belt, Lee has won the Windy City Collegiate Championship, the Eastlake Cup, and placed runner up in the Stanford Intercollegiate championship. According to Lee, her instant success at the collegiate level is attributed to her focus on the mental aspect of her game.
Video interview with Lee after Eastlake win
“I think I’ve improved on the mental aspect of the game, especially after gaining a lot of competitive experience this past summer,” Lee said. “I’ve learned how to constantly stay patient no matter what situation I’m in, and how to gradually get out of my comfort zone in order to utilize my physical talents.”
While at Mira Costa, Andrea Lee dominated girls golf. She was the number one ranked female junior golfer in the United States, won over 20 high school tournaments, and led Mira Costa to the 2016 California State Title. But one of her biggest accomplishments, was the impact she left on her former high school teammates, including current senior, Lexi Nielsen.
“Andrea was such an amazing teammate, also cracking jokes while inspiring us to play to our full potentials,” Nielsen said. “She is obviously an exceptional golfer but more than that she is an exceptional person.”
Nielsen and Lee formed a close friendship while playing together the past three years. Nielsen believes they have become much closer and that Lee drove her to improve her game considerably. Although Andrea was busy playing national tournaments, she reserved time for the girls golf team according to Nielsen.
“It was amazing that Andrea came back to the team her senior year because we definitely would not have won state without her,” Nielsen said. “Her scores were outstanding and obviously hugely impactful, but perhaps even more impactful was the constant help and inspiration she provided all of her teammates.”
Former high school golf coach Tom Cox, who coached her for 2 years, echoed similar sentiments. According to Cox, she had an exceptional work ethic, impacted the team in many ways, and was a constant inspiration to her teammates.
“Besides the obvious factor of having a golfer as talented as she is on the team, her impact was really felt in the way in which she practiced and prepared,” Cox said. “She set a standard for others to follow on what it takes to achieve at a high level.”
Lee’s academic rigor at Mira Costa led her to being named a scholar-athlete and has helped prepare her for the increased workload at Stanford, one of the premier universities in the world. According to Lee, the balance between academics and golf eluded her at the beginning of this year.
“It’s been pretty difficult to find a balance between academics and athletics at Stanford, but that’s the transition that any athlete has to go through during the first year of college,” Lee said. “I started competing in tournaments the week after classes started, and I quickly had to learn how to effectively manage my time in order to get all my work done.”
The Stanford phenom is off to an amazing start to the season, and with 6 more collegiate tournaments ahead, looks forward to the rest of her matches this season. According to Lee, she has been meeting her standards so far this season but is only looking to improve.
“I’m really proud of the way I’ve performed this season at Stanford,” Lee said. “Going into college I didn’t really know what to expect, especially playing golf at the collegiate level, but I was able to start off strong with some solid wins and a runner up. I know the amount of work I need to put in to succeed, and if I commit to that, I will hopefully perform to the best of my abilities.
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