Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Mills’ Irene Hur

Freshman golfer Irene Hur has got the Mills Vikings thinking big.

Mills has never won a Peninsula Athletic League girls’ golf championship. And while its still early in the season, the Lady Vikings are off to a 3-0 start as one of just two unbeaten teams remaining, along with four-time PAL Bay champion Aragon.

Head coach Ron Perez, for one, believes this could be the year Mills finally breaks through.

“Oh, most definitely,” Perez said. “I don’t want to get too giddy or anything but I’m watching the scores ... and I’m like: ‘OK. This is interesting.’”

Hur, whose breakout performance has helped stoke Perez’s optimism, has earned Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors. While she is seeded No. 3 on the Vikings’ ladder, she has been their top performer in each of the three victories, including a 1-under 34 in last Tuesday’s 219-248 win over Hillsdale at Poplar Creek.

“The first round (Sept. 3), I wasn’t very satisfied with my performance because I made no birdies,” Hur said. “But the other times I improved and got used to the course.”

While Hur didn’t birdie Sept. 3 in Mills’ 211-277 season-opening victory over San Mateo at Poplar Creek, settling for a 3-over 38 in her varsity debut, she did manage to impress her new coach the first time he saw her playing on the team’s home course at Coyote Point.

Perez already knew Hur had game. They met when she arrived for the first day of golf practice at the Mills baseball field. The team mostly practices wedge shots while limited to the diamond, but Hur managed to impress. She was just as impressive a few days later when the team shuttled to the driving range at San Bruno Golf Center.

“I saw her swing and I watched her short game; she’s very methodical and her swing is very confident,” Perez said.

When Hur made her first trip to play on a course with her new team for a Sept. 2 intrasquad scrimmage, she dialed in one of the best tee shots she’s ever taken in her life. Teeing off with her 6 iron on the par-3 third hole, her shot carried to the green, took two bounces and clipped the pin, then settled two feet from the cup.

“That was pretty special,” Hur said. “Especially since I hit it with my 6 iron, which I’m usually not very good at. So, that was pretty cool.”

Hur is part of a solid foursome of Mills golfers, fronted by No. 1 Angelina Chen, a senior who has played varsity since her freshman year. Chen’s younger sister, sophomore Christina Chen, is the team’s No. 2, while senior Kayli Tsang is seeded No. 4.

A competitive golfer on the U.S. Kids Golf circuit since she was 10, Hur is optimistic about the Vikings’ prospects as well.

“Oh yeah, the team is really great,” Hur said. “They have great personalties and they’re all great golfers to be on that varsity team. ... So, I’m really looking forward to this season with my girls.”

The team concept is new to Hur, who discovered her love of golf by sheer luck during COVID. A native of South Korea, whose family moved to Chicago for two years when she was 5 while her father was getting his MBA from Northwestern University, Hur had been settled into life in Millbrae for several years when the pandemic hit. She’s never played golf to that point, but her mother was looking for a hobby activity to get out of the house and started hitting the driving range.

“So, I decided to tag along with her,” Hur said, “and I just hit some balls and I decided I liked it.”

Six months later, Hur was playing in her first U.S. Kids Golf tournament at Spring Hills Golf Course in Watsonville. She admittedly didn’t perform well, but less than a year after she made that initial trip to the driving range, she earned her first tournament hardware by shooting an 8-over at Green Hills County Club, good for third place.

Hur knew she wanted to play golf in high school, but almost passed up the public school route when she was accepted to St. Ignatius in San Francisco. Fortunately for Mills, she opted to stay closer to home.

“I always wanted to be part of a golf team since I was young,” Hur said. “It was kind of sad playing alone, so I always wanted to be part of a team.”

Just three games into her varsity career, Hur has quickly had an impact on an already promising Mills team.

“It’s helped them step up their game,” Perez said, “and to stay low with her. ... A little more focusing.”