In Full Swing

CARLSBAD —  Ever since Tiger Woods came out of the amateur ranks to take the PGA Tour and the world by storm, phenom watching has become a favorite pastime for those associated with junior golf.

One tournament official at this week’s American Junior Golf Assn. event at the Aviara Golf Club said he’s sickened by those who throw the phenom label on a junior golfer after they shoot a few low rounds.

“Everybody is the next Tiger Woods these days,” the official said.

However, that same official admitted that Candie Kung, a Fountain Valley High junior-to-be, might be worth the hype.

“She’s quite a story,” he said.

Said Bobby Powell, tournament director of the Aviara Junior: “She’s probably the hottest story going in junior golf right now.”

Kung’s story is pretty amazing.

Kung didn’t start playing until she moved to California from Taiwan in April, 1995. She didn’t play competitively until the spring of 1996. Yet in that short span, she has become one of the top junior girls’ players in the country.

This summer, Kung finished third at the Tournament of Champions and second at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur in Franklin, Tenn. At the Junior Amateur, Kung lost in the finals, 4 and 2, to Beth Bauer, the No. 1-ranked junior in the U.S. amateur rankings. She also was chosen to play on the West Canon Cup team, the junior equivalent of the Ryder Cup.

Kung stayed hot Tuesday at Aviara, which played much longer than 5,828 yards because of stiff breezes in the players’ faces on the back nine. Kung drove every fairway and hit every green on her way to a one-under-par 71 and a share of the first-round lead with Kim Kouwabunpat of Upland and Blair O’Neal of Tempe, Ariz.

Kung wasn’t too impressed.

“I could have had 68,” she said, referring to the three par putts of less than three feet she missed on the back nine. “I was reading too much break on those short putts. But I played pretty good.”

When you ask Kung if she surprised herself by qualifying for the 1996 U.S. Junior Amateur and making it to the round of 16 after only three months of playing tournament golf, she shrugs it off. “A little bit,” she said.

Kung, the only female on her high school golf team, never played in Taiwan because it was too expensive and she spent most of her days in school.

“Only three or four girls play golf in all of Taiwan,” Kung said.

But she has found time to play in Southern California. In the last year, the only day she took off from hitting balls--she hits about 400 to 500 a day--was last Sunday, her 16th birthday.

Out celebrating?

“I was traveling all day, coming back from a tournament in Baltimore,” she said.

Kung was taught the game by her father, Sen Sun Kung. She is coached by Victor Paez, a pro at David C. Baker course in Fountain Valley.

Mark Brazil, Kung’s Canon Cup coach, said Kung’s father and Paez have done an excellent job of teaching Kung how to swing a club. Though she’s only 5 feet 4, 100 pounds, Kung hits her driver 220 yards consistently.

“She has an incredibly fluid swing,” Brazil said. “But you can’t forget what a great athlete she is. She has a real long swing and it’s very smooth. For her to take the club back that far and hit it like she does, you have to have great hand-eye coordination.”

Still, Brazil said, Kung, ranked ninth in the latest rankings, will have some growing pains.

“She’s got a lot of maturing to do,” Brazil said. “But if she works at it, I don’t see much stopping her.”

Notes

The junior tournament will be looking for a new site in the San Diego area next year. The three-year agreement with Aviara has run out and will not be renewed, said Bobby Powell, tournament director. . . . Yon Yim of Irvine trails Kung by one stroke after shooting a 72. . . . John Ray Leary of Culver City leads the boys’ division after shooting a 30-35 for a seven-under 65 on the 6,852-yard course. Leary qualified for the Buick Open at Torrey Pines last year at age 16. Tom Osseck of Mission Viejo trails Leary by 10 shots.