Shon looks to build upon historic year

2013 has been a year of firsts for senior golfer Kelly Shon. Last April, Shon finished at plus-2 to win her first Ivy League Championship and with it, the honor of Ivy Player of the Year. And, after finishing in second place in her third appearance at the NCAA East Regional in May, Shon became the first Princeton women’s golfer to earn a bid to the NCAA women’s golf championship in 16 years. In Georgia, playing as the only Ivy Leaguer in the tournament, Shon tied for 37th overall — putting her performance at first place all-time among women Ivy League golfers in the tournament. Shon noted that while at the tournament, she noticed how different her practice schedule was from her competitors’.

“I think for a lot of these other girls that I saw at NCAAs, golf is their number one priority, and that’s a difference,” Shon said.

When Shon played the winner of that tournament, Annie Park of USC, at the U.S. Women’s Amateur in early August, Shon challenged Park all throughout the 18 holes. Shon matched her career best performance from the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2010, but failed to advance from the Round of 16 after falling to Park in the final hole. Shon’s outstanding year caught the eye of Golf World. On Aug. 29, the news outlet named her on their Top 50 Players to Watch list.

At the Princeton Invitational this weekend, in her first appearance since that announcement and her last appearance in a tournament at Princeton, Shon finished plus-2 to end the tournament in third place individually. Though Shon’s performance helped boost the women’s golf team to finish second overall, 12 shots behind Harvard, she said it’s been a long time since she’s hit the ball that wildly.

“I think all around right now my golf game is not as sharp as I would like it to be,” Shon said.

But for Shon, this year’s Princeton Invitational was not just about winning.

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“At the same time, knowing that my game isn’t all there, I was just trying to enjoy my last time playing in my home tournament,” Shon said. “It was a little emotional at the end, but all in all I’m very happy. Coming down to the 18th hole, I was reflecting on all the good times I’ve had at the golf course here and all the good times I’ve had with my teammates. Even though the results aren’t exactly what I wanted, I really couldn’t be happier.”

The Crimson’s Tiffany Lim claimed the individual title for the second straight time. In the contest, freshman Jordan Lippetz finished just behind Shon, shooting four over to tie for fourth. Fellow rookie Hana Ku finished at plus-11 to tie for 11th place, and sophomore Alexandra Wong shot plus-15 to take 17th. The team will now travel to Franklin, Tenn. on Friday to continue their fall season at the Mason Rudolph Invitational.