Jeong Hyun Lee from South Korea was to have played in the Queen Sirikit Cup in Indonesia.

But when that event was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak she made the decision to come to New Zealand for a few weeks.

What a decision that was.

Last month she won one of New Zealand biggest amateur events when dominating in the New Zealand Strokeplay Championship at Hastings.

The teenager had rounds of 67, 71, 68, and 66 to reach 16-under for the event and cruise to a six-shot victory over playing partner, Darae Chung from Wellington.

Lee, who had played in the New Zealand Super 6s at Palmerston North the previous week, was delighted with her closing round.

“I’m really happy I was able to finish strong today,’’ Lee said.

``My goal was to bounce back and win this week after I was able to put three good rounds together last week at the Super 6s but wasn’t able to play well in the final round.

“To play well when there was a lot of pressure was pleasing.”

Lee is no stranger to the New Zealand shores having travelled here for golf tournaments for the last four years.

Lee felt comfortable throughout the final day and said remaining calm was her focus for the fourth round.

“I just tried to be as calm and as free as possible. I tried to focus on each shot and make pars, but I was surprised to make as many birdies as I did,” she added with a laugh.

Lee said while the world was going through something bigger than the game itself at the time with the coronavirus pandemic, her decision to play in New Zealand was a good one.

“I’m really happy to be here in New Zealand. Even though tournaments and sporting events around the world have been cancelled, it was a good decision to come here to play in some tournaments and see my friend (Darae Chung),” Lee said.

Chung finished in second place at 10-under, whilst defending champion Carmen Lim took out the bronze medal at eight-under.


Scores

272 Jeong Hyun Lee (P, South Korea) 67 71 68 66

278 Darae Chung (Shandon) 71 71 68 68

280 Carmen Lim (Windross Farm Golf Course) 69 73 68 70

282 Fiona Xu (Titirangi) 68 71 71 72

283 Caryn Khoo (P, Whitford Park) 70 73 72 68

287 Marina Ito (Mt Maunganui) 73 74 73 67

292 Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland and Grange) 76 72 73 71, Eunseo Choi (Takapuna) 75 73 70 74

294 Sieun Ha (North Shore) 76 74 74 70

295 Tara Raj (Wanganui) 74 76 72 73, Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa) 69 78 72 76

296 Yeonsoo Son (North Shore) 76 71 77 72

297 Jessica Huang (Pakuranga) 73 73 78 73

298 Danika Lee (Takapuna) 76 71 76 75

300 Amy Im (Pupuke) 78 75 75 72, Rianne Li (Akarana) 73 73 80 74, Zhuo Yi Hu (Palmerston North) 75 75 74 76

302 Misong Jang (North Shore) 78 73 76 75

307 Mimi Guo (Royal Auckland and Grange) 75 77 76 79

308 Aileen Du (Remuera) 80 80 71 77

309 Maddie May (Russley) 79 73 81 76

311 Katherine Cao (Whitford Park) 76 76 81 78

312 Erika Cui (Boulcott's Farm Heritage) 80 80 75 77, Tessa Jane McDonald (Poverty Bay) 81 74 75 82

314 Kelly Wu (Remuera) 83 74 77 80

315 Jessica Green (Wainui) 77 82 79 77

318 Lizzie Neale (Nelson Inc.) 81 77 77 83

319 Grace Zhan (Maungakiekie) 82 80 79 78

320 Mia Scrimgeour (Boulcott's Farm Heritage) 81 75 81 83

323 Faith Vui (Apiti) 81 81 80 81

327 Mia Collins (Windross Farm Golf Course) 86 80 78 83

336 Keara Harrison (Titirangi) 84 86 85 81