Former Duke University Blue Devil Celine Boutier is one of many collegiate stars in the field this week at the Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America that have had a taste of Palos Verdes Golf Club from their career as a student-athlete. Boutier, who participated in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge all four years of school, said she doesn’t remember much from the course, but her results stand out. Her best finishes were a tie for 12th and 16th in 2014 and 2015 at PVGC, respectively, years before she became a two-time LPGA Tour winner.
“It's definitely a physical challenge to get through 18 holes, but I think it's a good course. It's pretty tricky. Not a lot of the uneven lies and kind of really slopey greens,” said Boutier. “So I think you definitely have to put yourself in the right spots on the green.”
Boutier has kicked off the 2022 season, her sixth on Tour, with a flurry of top-10 finishes. Her best finish through eight events was a solo third at the Honda LPGA Thailand, which she followed up with a tie for fourth result at The Chevron Championship – her career-best finish in a major championship, which bested her tie for fifth at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open presented by Pro-Medica. Boutier enters the week in Palos Verdes coming off a tie for 14th at the DIO Implant LA Open but hopes to use the momentum derived from the first part of her season on a challenging course this week.
“I was definitely happy with that week, especially because it was the last time at Mission Hills so I definitely wanted to finish on a high note there. Getting a top five is very encouraging,” said Boutier, whose T4 result at The Chevron Championship was the third T4 of her season so far. “I'm just, you know, really grateful to be able to play and to be able to have some good results. I hope I can keep going.”
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