Rookie golfing sensation at the top of her game

Going into the Ivy League Championships this weekend, freshman Michelle Piyapattra already holds the best single-season scoring average—by nearly an entire stroke—in the history of Columbia women’s golf.

“I started [golfing] when I was 5,” Piyapattra said. “My parents wanted me to play golf because not that many people were playing it, and there’s a good future in it.”

Her father had the biggest influence on her golf game, as she recalls spending most of her early golf years with him.

“He’d always pick me up after school and we’d go practice, and on the weekends, mostly playing with him,” Piyapattra said.

Although her mother was never an athlete, Piyapattra has a strong sports pedigree, as her father was an Olympic-level archer.

Despite the early start, Piyapattra was a little slow coming out of the gates.

“I had my first tournament when I was 7, but I didn’t start winning until I was 9,” she said.

Since she started winning, there has been very little looking back. At the age of 14, she qualified for the USGA Amateur Championship. One year later, she was of four 15-year-olds to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open while starting her tenure as three-time captain of the golf team at Lutheran High School in Corona, Calif.

Head women’s golf coach Kari Williams immediately recognized Piyapattra’s talent when she saw it, but with so many top women’s golf schools around the nation offering spots on the team, she was worried. Ultimately—although she would like to take all the credit for recruiting—Williams admits that the Ivy League education was the biggest factor in Piyapattra’s decision to play golf at Columbia.

In addition to her talent on the links, Piyapattra had several other characteristics that Williams liked. “She was a great fit for the team,” Williams said. “She has a great sense of humor, so that is nice.”

Piyapattra is only a freshman but already has plans to study political science and also hopes to attend law school.

Despite being a California native, Piyapattra was not worried about the weather adjustment. She noted that she actually enjoys the cold weather and has learned to embrace the limitations of living in New York City.

“Because I don’t have the opportunity to play 24/7 as I would in California, I’m much more focused in my limited practice time,” Piyapattra said. “It makes me appreciate golf more … being in the city, then being out on the golf course where it’s peaceful and quiet.”

“At first I thought, ‘With the break my game is going to get worse, because I’m not going to have that many practices,’” Piyapattra added, “but it’s actually been fine.”

Although she has performed extremely well this season, the fall season was not as smooth. Williams says that most of the problems could be blamed on putting. While Piyapattra has never had trouble hitting the ball far, it took some time to get used to the East Coast greens.

This spring she has been shooting lights out: two first-place finishes in three competitions.

Her first top finish was at the Paradise Desert Classic on March 16 in Kailua, Hawaii, where she shared medalist honors with Arizona State’s Giulia Molinaro.

Piyapattra’s second top finish occurred this past weekend at the fifth annual Roar-EE Invitational, at Spook Rock Golf Course in Suffern, N.Y. Despite disastrous weather conditions, Piyapattra says that she was frustrated when the tournament had to be called off in the middle of the second round, as she felt she could have increased her two-stroke lead.

After the weekend, Piyapattra’s scoring average dropped to an impressive 76.26 strokes per round, and her low round of 73 also leads the team. Despite putting woes throughout the season, she still averages fewer than two putts per hole.

The freshman sensation seems to have hit her stride at the perfect time, with the Ivy League Championships just a few short days away.

If all goes according to plan, she could lead the Lions to their second Ivy title.