Westlake High graduate Danielle Kang returns to county for LPGA tournament in Somis

Before the money, pressure and hectic schedule of professional golf, The Saticoy Club was a childhood playground for Danielle Kang.

This week, The Star’s former Golfer of the Year from Westlake High — now the No. 14th-ranked golfer in the world — returns home to play the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship at the Somis club.

Which gave the 29-year-old professional a moment to remember herself as a teenager.

“They gave me an honorary membership back then,” Kang said, “and I just used to play the golf course however I wanted in the afternoon.”

Walking the course with her caddie Wednesday morning, the memories came flooding back. Blasting wedges over trees onto the 11th green. Hitting drivers on the 10th green. Flipping a cart on the first hole.

“The stories are endless,” Kang said. “Around here, every golf course I went to there is a story. … So it's fun.”

Kang was able to briefly catch up with Tom Szwedzinski, Saticoy’s former general manager on Wednesday.

“So Tom … came out today and said I was a pain in the (butt) when I was 16, because I was hitting everywhere,” Kang said. “I didn’t realize what I was doing back then, but obviously, 13, 14 years later I go, ‘Wow, what a brat.’ ”

Kang was a force growing up locally. As a freshman, she joined her brother Alex on the Oak Park High boys golf team. She qualified for the 2007 U.S. Open at 14.

She was so good at Westlake High that Dave Costley, the Warriors’ head coach, specifically made a trophy to celebrate her as the county’s best golfer.

As a senior, she won the Marmonte League title by 20 strokes, graduated in December and immediately joined the team at Pepperdine University. She finished second in the West Coast Conference and was named second-team All-American by GolfWeek.

After winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2010 and 2011, she went pro.

Kang, who now lives in Las Vegas, returns this week for the first LPGA event in Ventura County during her decade-long pro career.

“I was super excited because it’s closer than Wilshire and my friends that I know from that Westlake area can come out as well,” Kang said. “I was more excited because the golf course is really difficult.”

She may have more experience with the course than anyone else in the field, but Kang doesn’t necessarily believe that’s an advantage this week.

“I know that this golf course has small greens, always tilted, it's just narrow, trees everywhere, and I like that kind of difficulty,” Kang said. “I don't believe that the scores will be that low. I don't even think I'd go that low out here, to be honest. I shot 85 here before.

“It's a golf course that can throw a double and a triple (bogey) here and there, and it’s just a fun place to be.”

Her 12th year on the LPGA Tour began with her sixth title, winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando in January.

She finished in the top 10 in each of the first four tournaments of the year.

But the momentum was interrupted in June, when Kang took nearly three months off to treat a benign tumor on her spine.

“I'm all right, right now,” Kang said. “A little uncomfortable, but I'm OK.”

Kang has played four tournaments since returning in late August, shooting a 10-under-par 274 to finish tied for 17th at the CP Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club and 6-under 278 to finish tied for 49th at the Dana Open in Ohio.

She nearly won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship late last month, losing a playoff to rookie Atthaya Thitikul after shooting a 17-under 196 at the three-round tournament.

"It's OK," Kang said. "We just have to keep pushing through. It's going to take a little time. The rest of the year's schedule is one week on, one off for me.

"I'm excited because I think I've come really far in a very short amount of time for me. I expedited it as much as I could. That kind of effort, it's not just me. It's the team that has helped me get out here and I have to emphasize that. I even flew to Vegas just to see my team to put me back to where I could want to and then function on my own.”

After returning to Las Vegas from Dallas, where she finished tied for 39th at The Ascendent LPGA last weekend, Kang took the time Monday to caddie for her brother Alex, who was attempting to qualify for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

“As I'm flying home, my brother goes, ‘Can you caddie for me?’ ” Kang said. “The one person I never say no to is my brother.”

So Kang saw her swing coach, Butch Harmon, early Monday morning, before caddying for her brother — with the help of a push cart — for 18 holes.

“It was wild,” Kang said. “It was a wild day.”

Despite her busy schedule, Kang is also making time for friends and family locally. She met a friend for ice cream Tuesday and had plans with another friend from high school after her practice round Wednesday.

“When we're at a tournament we can't really do that much,” Kang said. “That's all I can do. They're going to come out this weekend.”

Joe Curley is a staff reporter for The Star. He can be reached at  joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Westlake grad Danielle Kang returns to county for LPGA event in Somis