By Brianna Cheek, AJGA Communications
In its 38-year history, the American Junior Golf Association has molded countless Major Championship winners and PGA TOUR players to showcase their talent at an early age on a competitive, worldwide stage. Of the many top junior golfers, for whom the AJGA has provided an opportunity to, next in line to make a name for herself is Yu Wen Lu from Shanghai, China.
Yu Wen Lu has had a great start to 2016. After playing in four tournaments in a short two-month span, Lu has been riding a hot putter and hopes to carry her form to finish a great year of golf. Lu, who is just 13, already has two AJGA wins under her belt. She has competed in a total of six AJGA events and hasn’t finished outside the top four this year. The China native is currently ranked No. 166 in the Polo Golf Rankings. In the month of June, Lu competed in the AJGA Junior All-Star at Diablo Grande
, where she trailed by only two strokes heading into the final round and secured the Girls Division after rounds of 68-70-72—210.
Kicking off the month of July, the emerging young golfer finished tied for fourth in the ACDS / Ryan Moore Junior at Oakbrook
and will play this week in the AJGA Junior at Centennial
in Medford, Oregon. Lu, who is set to graduate high school in 2021, is already on an impressive track and working diligently towards her goal of earning a scholarship to play collegiate golf and hopefully move up as a professional golfer. Lu believes her early accomplishments come from staying cool, calm and collected.
“Since I am younger I don’t have too much to worry about,” Lu said. “I try not to stress because I know I still have time to improve.” Lu also credits her success in AJGA events to ACDS Managing Director, C.J. Gatto.
“He [C.J.] really helped me figure out which tournaments to play in and how the Performance Based Entry system works,” said Lu. “He has been a big help to me this summer.”
Lu has been enrolled in ACDS, an association that guides student-athletes through their junior careers and prepares their transition into NCAA athletics, for two years.
After what Lu describes as a tiring, yet rewarding past two months, she still has one goal in mind before the summer is over—score lower than her sister. Lu’s older sister, Jing Wen Lu, who was recently knocked out in the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls Junior, will be joining Yu Wen in the field this week at the AJGA Junior at Centennial.
“We both have been playing really well, so it would be fun to beat her [laughs],” said Lu.