Jaden Soong (SCGA Photo)
The hardest part about unpacking Jaden Soong’s dominant five-shot victory at the 125th SCGA Amateur Championship is figuring out where to start. It should probably be noted off the top that the young man from Burbank, Calif. is just 14-years-old.
Soong’s bogey-free 66 in his final round was as surgical as it was beyond his years. The soon-to-be high school freshman got around The Saticoy Club like a veteran with decades of experience.
Eleven fairways, 14 greens and just 27 putts to go along with a perfect four-for-four in scrambling added to up to what his father, Chris, called “the best round of Jaden’s life.” Not bad for a kid that just graduated from eighth grade a few weeks ago.
As for the leaderboard, Soong cleared the field by five shots, making birdie on his 72nd hole to finish at -10 for the week. In the process, Soong became the youngest player ever to win the second oldest amateur championship in the country. Now his name will forever be engraved alongside Tiger Woods, Sahith Theegala, Beau Hossler, Patrick Cantlay and Rico Hoey.
Coming into the final round, it seemed as if the Hollywood writers just 60 miles down U.S. Route 101 had overnighted a readymade script to The Saticoy Club. The final group on the final day consisted of Greyson Leach, the defending SCGA Amateur champion, Torrey Edwards, the reigning SCGA Mid-Amateur champion, and Soong, the SoCal Junior Amateur champion.
Apparently Soong read the screenplay as an action plot and not a drama. His second birdie on the front nine, which came at no. 6, gave him the outright lead over Leach and he would never look back from there.
The seventh hole proved to be the explosion scene of the movie. Leach, who entered the final round tied with Soong at -4, detonated his chances with a wayward drive and an approach shot that flew the green. It took two below average chips to finally get on the dance floor, where Leach would three-putt for a triple-bogey seven.
Meanwhile, Soong made his second of back-to-back birdies—his third of the front nine—and the four-shot swing would cripple Leach’s chances before even making the turn. The brown bear cub that ran across the fairway on Wednesday was now, somehow, the second-most memorable event that occurred at no. 7 this week.
After nine holes, Soong had a five-shot lead thanks to going out in 33. Edwards shot a 37 and Leach carded a 39.
Sticking to the film motif, the back nine was a sequel of the front. Soong again shot 33, with three more birdies, no bogies and no stress.
A testament to Soong’s poise and talent is that you can easily forget you’re watching a 5’ 2”, recently graduated middle schooler who is only 14-years-old. Today he showed up to play in a star-studded, pedigreed group and tore the course apart right in front of them to win a major amateur championship. What 14-year-old kid does that?
Jaden Soong. That’s who.
Jaden Soong interview with the Southern California Golf Association
ABOUT THE
SCGA Amateur
This is the longest standing championship
conducted
by the SCGA. Started in 1900, this event
crowns the
best amateur player of the Association. Since
the
inaugural event, the SCGA Amateur has
enjoyed an
illustrious history of great champions, including
Tiger
Woods and Al Geiberger to more recent stars
including Beau Hossler and Patrick Cantlay. The
event is open to members with a Handicap
Index of
5.4 and below. Competitors undergo 18 holes
of
qualifying play in order to reach the final field
of 84
players. In the Championship, players compete
over
72 holes of stroke play with the top 42 and ties
advancing after the first 36 holes.
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