Kelli Oride breaks 3-way tie at Mission Hills

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Kelli Oride of Lihu‘e claimed her second American Junior Golf Association victory after outlasting Danielle Kang of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Jennifer Johnson of La Quinta, Calif. in a sudden-death playoff, over the weekend.

Oride finished with a three-day total of five-under par 211 to win the Girls Division of the ClubCorp Mission Hills Desert Junior that was played at the Mission Hills Country Club — Dinah Shore Tournament Course in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Coming down to the wire in the Girls Division, Oride claimed her victory with an up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the first playoff hole, states a release from the AJGA.

Oride, a member of the Kaua‘i High School golf program, played steady all day, recording four birdies against just one bogey. She birdied the final hole, the 521-yard par-5 No. 18, to give her the clubhouse lead.

Johnson bogeyed her final hole which put her at 5-under-par 211 and resulted in the three-way playoff.

“I actually wasn’t hitting as quality of shots compared to the previous two rounds,” Oride said. “But fortunately, the putts were falling.”

Kang and Johnson finished in a tie for second place, both carding a three-day total of 5-under-par

211.

“We are currently in Missouri at the Dalhousie Golf Club for the TOC Rolex tournament and will travel to Pennsylvania to the Betsy Rawl’s Girl’s Championship,” said Gail Oride, Kelli’s mother, in an e-mail. “We’re looking forward to more great golf.”