Chen Wins the Season Opener
Chen Earns First Senior Year College Win
Summer might seem to be the time college students take a break, but Peicheng Chen kept working hard on his game—and the effort paid off this week. He shot 5-under 206 over 54 holes at the Bethpage golf complex to win the prestigious Doc Gimmler event. Chen was tied for the lead with Columbia's Grant Lester after two rounds on the Red Course, then shot the best score of the day on the brutal Bethpage Black U.S. Open course to beat Lester by five and earn his fourth college individual title. He also helped St. John's finish second in the team portion of its home event.
We've been doing a lot of work on how Chen uses his hips, and the result has been a much more stable and consistent action through the hit. He's had awesome streaks of ball-striking through the years, and now he's becoming even more consistent. This summer, he won the Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship and finished top-12 in three events open to pros and amateurs—the Long Island Open, New York State Open and Met Open Championship. I can't wait to see how he does the rest of his senior year at St. John's. I always tell him, “We are just warming up kid!”
First Hole at Bethpage Black Final Round Tee Shot
