Station Camp golfer Lynn Lim captured her second Tennessee Junior PGA Championship earlier this month, scoring two under par, beating out fellow Gallatin resident Kynadi Adams 140-142 at Old Hickory Country Club.
Her success is the by-product of hard work, determination, and setting lofty goals.
She does not come from a traditional golf background, picking up the sport for the first time at 5 years old and not entirely falling in love with the game until she turned 10 years old.
“My family does not come from a golf background, but I did pick up the game because of my grandfather. He took me to the range for the first time when I was five, but I did not start playing in tournaments until I was nine.”
Lim remembers early on not being ‘very good,’ but a tournament at the age of 10 at Cedar Crest Country Club quickly changed her attitude towards the game she now dominates.
“I had never won a tournament before; I was always finishing somewhere after second, but that was the first tournament that I won, and at that moment, I was motivated to pursue my dreams of playing golf. I can say that is when the game started to click for me.”
Since that day at Cedar Crest, Lim has filled her trophy case with various medals, accomplishments, and other personal bests, including back-to-back titles with the Bison.
“The first year playing at Station Camp was something new,” she said. “I have never played in a team setting like that, so that took some getting used to. The transition from an individual sport to team sport was so easy because of my amazing teammates. We enjoyed cheering each other on, and that made the sport even more fun.”
Lim and her teammate Lily Bloodworth continued their positive momentum the next season, capturing their second team championship over Farragut while Lim earned her first individual championship with a 144 score.
“We had more expectations that second-year than we did the first year,” she said. “We were dipping our toes in the water that first year, but the second year we had the pressure on us to repeat. I could not ask for a better teammate and coach or a better team environment than the one I have at Station Camp. I have only been in high school for two years, but it has been the best two years.”
As someone who excels in a primarily individual sport, Lim says that what she has learned in a team setting the last two years cannot be overlooked.
“Being with a team has helped my competitive grit,” she said. “I have always had that, but never with someone else. After missing the individual championship in my first year, I realized that the team is more important than individual performance, even in an individual sport.”
Just like any other competitor, Lim wants to capture the three-peat next year while winning her second individual championship. With the lofty goals in front of her, she says she cannot lose focus on what she needs to improve on.
“My personal goals for improvement is my mentality,” she said. “The mental side of the game is just as important as the physical, and I would add that your mental stability determines how well you do. That is something I am always working on to improve.”
With still two years left in high school, college on West End seems forever away, but Lim says she has always had her eyes on Vanderbilt.
“Vandy has always been a dream school of mine,” she added. “Going to Vanderbilt has always been a big thing growing up in Nashville. I love the school stands for its academic rigors as much as athletics. It was never a question of if I would go to Vanderbilt, but when I would go.”
While getting her degree is of utmost importance to Lynn, she is not sure what she wants to study, but instead, she focuses all her energy on playing golf for as long as she can.
“I do have an interest in pre-law and business, but it is very vague. I have always been a belief in hard work getting results, and that is what keeps me going towards my goal of playing on the LPGA Tour one day. I want to help other girls realize their dreams. I want to inspire them as much as the players I grew up watching inspired me.”
While the likes of Inbee Park and Michelle Wie are Lim’s inspiration on the golf course, she says it is her father that truly motivates her to improve.
“He knew nothing about the game when I first started playing, but he has dedicated himself to it like I have and now knows everything about the game. He is committed, and that keeps me motivated. He influences how I think, and his lessons have taught me so much about approaching the game.”
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