Player of the Year: Lalita Patipaksiri, Cypress 2005

By Orange County Register | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: December 13, 2005 at 3:00 AM PDT

No Jennifers. No problems.

With last year’s top-two golfers, 2004 player of the year Jennifer Osborn and 2004 first-team performer Jennie Lee in college, Cypress’ Lalita Patipaksiri knew she had a fair shot at a successful season.

The season wound up being a 2-foot putt for the 5-foot sophomore.

Patipaksiri medalled in all 15 of Cypress’ matches, leading the Centurions to a 15-0 record. Her dominance earned her a second consecutive Empire League player of the year award. She averaged an even-par 35 in the regular season and birdied 14 of the 126 holes she played. She missed the cut for the state tournament by six strokes.

For her performance over the regular and postseasons, Patipaksiri is the Register’s 2005 Player of the Year.

She credited more distance on her shots, a new putter and better course management for her success.

“I was a little scared at times last year,” Patipaksiri said. “But we had two freshmen this year so I knew I’d have to be more consistent for my team.”

Patipaksiri already has her sights set on the 2006 campaign.

“I was a little upset about how I finished at state,” Patipaksiri said about missing the cut.

FIRST TEAM

Jacqueline Struck (Mission Viejo, Sr.):Struck was the No. 1 player for the No. 8-ranked Diablos and finished fourth (77) at the Lady Triton Invitational.

Justine Chen (Sage Hill, So.):Chen was the county’s top finisher in the first round of the CIF-SS Individual finals at Diamond Bar.

Piper Miller (St. Margaret’s, Jr.):Miller medalled 10 of her team’s 14 matches and won her second consecutive league MVP honors (Golden West, Academy). She averaged 37.7 over the year.

Hannah Shin (Villa Park, Sr.):A 2004 All-County second teamer, Shin shot a 7-over 79 at WSCGA regionals.

Jasmine Chean (Northwood, Jr.):Chean nearly advanced to the state tournament. She missed the cut by one stroke after her 4-over 76 performance at the WSCGA.

SECOND TEAM

Player

School

Yr.

Christine Song

Sunny Hills

Fr.

Kathy Suarez

Santa Margarita

Sr.

Cara Freeman

Capistrano Valley

Jr.

Tarah Taylor

Santa Margarita

Fr.

Kalyn Dodge

Mater Dei

Jr.

Michelle Benninghoven

Aliso Niguel

Sr.

Janette Kim

Irvine

Jr.

Girls’ golf: Cypress cleans up with awards sweep 2007

Dec. 19, 2007 1:07 PM PT

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Not surprisingly, Orange County’s top-ranked team in girls’ golf also had the county’s player of the year, according to the OC Register. Cypress’ Lalita Patipaksiri medaled in 10 of 14 matches for the Centurions, who showed this fall they weren’t just about football.

Doug Mitchell, the Cypress coach, made it an awards sweep by garnering Coach of the Year honors.

By Orange County Register | Orange County Register

PUBLISHED: December 26, 2006 at 3:00 AM PDT

Video killed the radio star, but it gave new life to St. Margaret’s golfer Piper Miller.

A first-team All-County selection in 2005, Miller used video technology to improve the top of her swing, which in turn helped put her at the top of her game.

Miller, who won medalist honors at the CIF-SS Individual Finals at Diamond Bar GC with a 3-under-par 70, is the Register’s 2006 Player of the Year.

The Stanford-bound Miller said the visual aides aided her already accurate stroke.

“It instantly gave me more accuracy,” Miller said. “I hit 17 greens (at Diamond Bar) and didn’t chip once.”

She medaled in eight of St. Margaret’s 11 matches this season and took home her third consecutive league title (two Academy; one Golden West) in 2006. With Miller, the Tartans went 30-0 in league play, a mark she wears with pride.

The video player is currently playing an ad.

“I love being a part of the team,” Miller said “It gives you more desire to play well when you have a team behind you.”

Miller started playing at age 7 at Pelican Hill GC with her father. She played both golf and tennis until age 12, when she decided to drop love (tennis) for her true love (golf).

“Tennis is cutthroat; intense,” Miller said. “In golf, it’s you against the course, not you against the opponent.”

With medals in nearly 80 percent of her high school matches (she won 35 of the 45 matches she played), Miller owned both her opponents and the courses.

First team

Cara Freeman, Sr., Capistrano Valley

If the Register handed out a most valuable player award, Freeman would win it. Freeman, who won the South Coast League title by 10 strokes, captained a team that went winless in league.

Lalita Patipaksiri, Jr., Cypress

The 2005 player of the year led the Centurions to a 15-0 mark for the second consecutive season.

Jasmine Chean, Sr., Northwood

Chean earned her second first team all-county selection by leading the Timberwolves to an 8-1 record and a 1-under 72 at the CIF Individuals.

Whitney French, Jr., Dana Hills

French finished second at the South Coast League finals and shot even par at the CIF Individuals.

Ani Gulugian, Fr., University

The lone freshman on this list came on strong during the playoffs, tying with Freeman for a county-best 3-over 75 at WSCGA.

Second Team

Player

School

Victoria Park

Irvine

Sarah Elliott

Mission Viejo

Stacy Kim

Brea Olinda

Kayln Dodge

Mater Dei

Desiree Dubreuil

Mater Dei

Ameila Ek

Cypress

Golf: Patipaksiri boosts Anteaters

By Bryce Alderton

March 26, 2012 10:29 PM PT

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UC Irvine senior Lalita Patipaksiri has quite a full plate.

She works two jobs, is taking 24 units and is the only senior on a UCI team fresh off a fifth-place finish in the Juli Inkster Invitational in San Jose, where Patipaksiri had her best tournament of the spring season. She finished third overall, at even par, two shots behind champion Joanne Lee of Cal.

Patipaksiri and teammates were blasting balls into a net inside Crawford Hall on Sunday in preparation for the Anteater Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Dove Canyon Country Club.

She took a few minutes to talk about the Juli Inkster Invitational, reflect on her college career and describe how she got into golf.

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She started ice skating at a young age, but when she was 9 she switched to golf to make it easier for her parents, who had to drive her to the ice rink and her older brother Andrew to the golf course.

“I switched [sports] so my parents didn’t have to drive both places,” Patipaksiri said. Andrew played golf at UC Riverside and Lalita said he plays professionally on smaller tours.

“I’m happy with golf because it’s more long-term,” Patipaksiri said.

She starred at Cypress High, helping the Centurions go 15-0 in 2005, according to the Orange County Register. She was medalist in every match that year. In 2007 she was part of the Southern California team that won the 30th Girls’ Junior America’s Cup at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore.

Patipaksiri has been a consistent performer for UCI. She played all 31 rounds as a freshman and earned second-team All-Big West Conference honors her sophomore and junior years. As a junior, Patipaksiri finished fourth in the conference tournament and ended the year with four top-10 finishes.

She has been pleased with her Anteater career.

“At the end of every season [coach Julie Brooks] gives an individual meeting to assess our progress,” Patipaksiri explained. “One of the things is lower scoring average and I’ve done that every year.” Patipaksiri led the Anteaters with a 75.36 stroke average in 11 rounds last fall.

Patipaksiri finished the Juli Inkster Invitational at even par (73-71-72 — 216), playing the Almaden Golf & Country Club for the fourth straight season. UCI placed fifth among 12 teams.

“I always tended to mess up in one round,’ Patipaksiri said. “This is the first tournament I was able to consistently play well all three rounds. I knew I was close to the lead. In my mind I wasn’t thinking I have a chance to win, but felt like I was capable. I was hitting it straight and made putts when I needed to. I made a few long ones that really helped me play well.

“[The course] is infamous for bad weather. The last day was really windy and I hate playing in the wind. I was surprised I finished strong.”

Brooks said Patipaksiri’s progress the last four years is evident from tee to green.

“She’s executing better now than ever,” Brooks said. “She can go through the round before she plays and knows where she needs to be.” Patispaksiri stands 5-foot-2. She’s learned how to tailor her game to her size.

“I’m not that long of a hitter so I need to work on fairway wood and approach shots to the greens,” she said. “I’ve learned where to miss, so it’s easier to chip. Working on the short game is key.”

Patipaksiri said being more composed has also helped.

“I used to be really nervous traveling and playing in tournaments,” she said. “I had high expectations and put pressure on myself. I’ve gotten a lot better. I’ve overcome [the nerves] through experience. I can’t jump ahead of myself.”

She’s also learned how to handle injury.

Three weeks ago Patipaksiri was standing on a ladder, scooping practice balls out of a machine at El Dorado Golf Course in Long Beach, where she works in the pro shop and as a starter. She fell and twisted her right foot, spraining a ligament in her ankle. She wore a protective boot and took some time off.

“I was down all week,” Patipaksiri said. Brooks suggested Patipaksiri try playing Dove Canyon in preparation for the Anteater Invitational. Patipaksiri give it a go and shot 74, boot and all.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen someone play in a boot,” Brooks said.

“I knew I would be fine for [the Anteater Invitational] but I don’t want to just play, I want to compete,” Patipaksiri said. “I went to rehab every day. There’s no point [in playing] if I know I can’t perform at the highest level.”

Patipaksiri said the ankle still hurts when she walks up and down hills, but she was wearing tennis shoes Sunday.

This July she plans to try qualifying school.

First things first. She wants to enjoy every minute on the course with her teammates.

“We have great chemistry on the team this year,” Patipaksiri said. “I don’t want to go out into the real world yet.”

In order to qualify for the NCAA regional, UCI has to either win the conference or place among the top 60 in the Golfstat rankings, Brooks confirmed in an e-mail. UCI was ranked 75th as of March 21.

Patipaksiri will try to qualify as a professional, possibly on the Cactus Tour, a developmental tour based in Arizona.

If she’s not playing golf as a professional, Patipaksiri would like to continue working in the golf business.

“I’ve dedicated so much time and effort into the game that if I were to never go to a golf course again that would be really hard for me,” she said.

.PREP: Hails from Cypress High School...named Orange County Player of the Year in 2005 and 2007...2006 Honorable Mention Rolex Junior All American...won the AJGA Hanmi Bank Jr Open...played in the U.S. Girls Qualifier in 2008 at Carlton Oaks...member of the Southern California team that won the 30th Girls Junior Americas Cup at Waverley Country Club in 2007... 

• 2007 First team All Orange County, Ca.

• 2007 Girls CIF Southern Division 2nd

• 2007 Orange County Ca. Player of the Year (2nd time)

• 2007 Arizona Silverbelle- 3rd

• 2007 Girls Junior Americas Cup 1st (team)

• 2007 Superintendent Scholar-Athlete of the Year

• 2007 AJGA Hanmi Bank- 1st

• 2006 Rolex Junior All American Honorable Mention

• 2006 Girls CIF Southern Division 4th

• 2005 Orange County Player of the Year

• 2005-2008 Empire League Team Champion’s

For Lalita Patipaksiri, convenience has paid off. It was one of the reasons why she was named Orange County Player of the Year in 2005 and 2007. It was responsible for a spot on the second-team All-Big West as a sophomore. And now, as a junior, convenience has led Patipaksiri to the NCAA All-Star Team.