Winter Garden's Olivia Lu swings up

Olivia Lu is exhausted as she walks from the ninth hole to the clubhouse at Rio Pinar Country Club in east Orlando.

On this Sunday afternoon, the sun sits high above, and the heat that permeates throughout the links is unforgiving. 

And yet there was the 14-year-old Lu, who spent the last two days competing in the Florida Junior Tour— fighting both the course and the weather.

“You have to deal with it — you can’t avoid it, and it’s going to be hot no matter what,” said Lu, who lives in Winter Garden. “I just try to get a good night’s sleep, have a positive attitude, good mindset, and stay hydrated and just play my game. It’s really all you can do.”

And not only has Lu been fighting the Florida heat through the year, but since November, she also has been punching above her weight class.

Since winning a tour last November, Lu is now playing in a junior division that’s made up of 16- to 18-year-olds. The difference between her old division and this one is massive. 

The girls in FJT are bigger and stronger, and they have the ability to drive the ball a good 40 yards farther than she can. Although that may bother some golfers, it doesn’t seem to make Lu second-guess her game.

“Golf is an individual game, so why would you worry about the other people?” Lu said. “They’re just playing with you, and all you need to really worry about is yourself and your game only.”

Competing against physically stronger girls in her division may not be a cause for concern, but it does mean she has to adapt her game to the situation. So instead of worrying about driving the ball as far as she can, Lu works her magic in her short game.

“My short game is my life-saver,” Lu said. “For a chip, I have to find the landing point, because you know — when it chips —  it’s going to roll. Then for putts, I measure how far the distances are by footsteps — so a big step would be a yard for me. It takes a lot of practice to actually know how far the distances are.”

Like any sport or activity, it’s practice that has led Lu to the success she has experienced in the four years she has played.

Growing up, Lu played a number of sports, before her mom sent her to a golf summer camp where she learned the basics and found she actually really enjoyed it. 

Although some would be turned off by the copious amounts of required practice time to master the game, it was that concept that intrigued Lu.

“I did figure skating, I did soccer, and I did tennis, and none of those caught my attention — I felt like golf was a sport that you can’t play without practice,” Lu said. “Anyone else can play soccer or tennis, but golf is really a game that you have to get into. It takes a lot of time — it’s like, the only sport you can’t play without common sense.”

Unlike her play today, those early days and tournaments were difficult. In her first U.S. Kids tournament at age 11, she struggled as she shot a 126 in her first 18 holes of play. It was a frustrating moment for Lu, who admits as a kid she had quite the temper.

Thinking back on her early playing days, Lu said getting control of her emotions has been one of the biggest changes she has seen throughout the last four years.

“Golf is an individual game, so why would you worry about the other people? They’re just playing with you, and all you need to really worry about is yourself and your game only.”

— Olivia Lu

“My temper has gotten better,” Lu said with a laugh. “I was an angry kid — I always got mad at everyone when I was little — but I feel like golf has really helped me.”

While Lu has put in the hard work to get to where she is today, she didn’t just get here by herself.

Her coaches — Dennis Kwon and DeLin Feng — have been instrumental in developing her game, and her parents have played the role of being her biggest fans.

Having her parents there for every tournament is something that helps her game, Lu said.

“It means everything for them to watch me,” Lu said. “It’s comforting (to me), because I know that they’re there for me even though they can’t talk to me. They’re always 50 yards away from me. I think if my parents weren’t watching, I would be a lot more nervous because even though they can’t help, just knowing they’re there helps me a lot.”

Lu will have her parents alongside her this weekend, when they fly down to the Dominican Republic, where she will compete in the AJGA Dominican Junior Open in Punta Cana.

“I’m psyched, but I’m a little bit nervous; it is my first time going out of the States,” Lu said. “I’m just hoping I do (well) — if I don’t do (well), It’ll at least be a really good experience for me to even play there.”