Daily Journal Girls’ Golfer of the Year: San Mateo’s Lindsey Huang

“I was just too greedy with my long putt. … I wanted to get that birdie,” Huang said. “That day, my patience was a little thin. … It was almost a six-hour round, with a one-hour delay. It was a long day out there.

“After I came back from CCS, I practiced all my short putts. So I definitely took something from that. It was a good learning experience.”

Missing the putt does not define Huang. Practicing her short putts is. Huang has worked on her game relentlessly since middle school. It helped her become a recruited college golfer who will continue her career at Amherst College in Massachusetts and it helped her become the Daily Journal’s Girls’ Golfer of the Year.

“This fall, she was a lot more consistent,” said San Mateo head coach Jimmy Ikeda. “She works hard.”

Huang said the sheer amount of golf she played in 2021 helped her take her game to the next level. She was arguably the best player during the 2021 spring season before she hit the junior tournament circuit hard in the summer. When she got to Peninsula Athletic League play this past fall, Huang was ready.

“I definitely feel like playing two [high school seasons] in one year was very beneficial,” Huang said. “Part of me wanted to make this my best season. I didn’t explicitly think I needed to shoot the low round, it’s just implied I would have good scores if I played my best.”

Huang really couldn’t have been any better her senior season. In 13 matches, including a CCS play-in match against Menlo-Atherton, Huang had low-round honors nine times and tied for the lowest round two other times. Playing all PAL matches at Poplar Creek, Huang shot par or better on the front nine six times in 13 matches. At CCS, her score of 73 tied for ninth.

“I think she is someone who realizes her abilities and limitations and tries to play within it,” Ikeda said. “She doesn’t try to do more than she is capable of. … She keeps the ball in play and stays out of trouble.”

After a dominant regular season, Huang was the top seed when it came to the PAL individual championship tournament. She and teammate Hannah Sangha were tied at the turn, but Huang shot a 36 on the back nine to finish with a 74, four strokes ahead of Sangha.

Huang admits that she is the type of player who steps her game up when playing with better competition. She gets that a lot on the junior tournament circuit, but it’s not always a given during the high school season. That’s why Huang was grateful that Sangha decided to play for the Bearcats her senior year. Not only are the two good friends, but Sangha’s game is nearly as good as Huang’s and she definitely pushed her during the PAL season.

Of the two times Huang didn’t win low-round honors, it was Sangha who eclipsed her.

“I do think I tend to play better with players who shoot lower (scores). … It was nice to have [Sangha] on the team. A lot of [my game] is getting in a rhythm. When I was playing with her, I could find that rhythm,” Huang said. “We’ve been playing together for a long time. … It was nice to have a friendly competition. It was nice to keep me on my toes.”

Huang was first introduced to the game by her father during middle school and started playing tournaments in junior high. When she got to high school, there was no doubt she was going to play for the Bearcats.

“For me, I see it (high school golf) as a class I needed to take,” Huang said. “It’s really important to play on a team and have that experience. I think it’s a great way to connect with a community and build relationships.”

That experience should pay off when she gets to Amherst. Being academically focused, she began researching colleges and universities her freshman year at San Mateo. When it became apparent she wanted to play golf collegiately, she started looking for schools that would accommodate both passions.

“We really got serious about it sophomore year. … Summer (of senior year) was the time I working toward the goal,” Huang said. “I remember the phone call (from the Amherst coach). I had been working so hard. I had been playing tournaments every single week. I was traveling all over California; went to Nevada, going to the East Coast. I was kind of waiting for an answer.

“I verbally committed in July.”

Now, Huang will continue playing in tournaments and working on her game because that’s who she is.

“She’s always looking for self improvement,” Ikeda said. “I wait for the kids to get picked up (from the practice facility or course) every day. If her mom is late, she’ll go to the putting green and practice her putting.

“She’s into the game.”

Said Huang: “It does get tiring. Like anything, you can get burned out. But I really do love playing golf. I try to go and practice as much as I can. It’s such a great game.”