By her own measure, Izzy Leung is ahead of schedule.

Drawn to the University of Hawaii from Hong Kong by golfing opportunities and an interest in marine biology, Leung promptly led the Rainbow Wahine in scoring average last season while posting top-six finishes in her first three events as a freshman.

Even so, her first collegiate win arrived earlier than she initially projected.

"I was hoping I would win soon, but I wasn’t expecting it until my junior or senior year when I had more experience," Leung said before a recent practice round at Oahu Country Club.

She instead earned medalist honors in the first tournament of her sophomore season, finishing atop the leaderboard at the Oregon State Invitational last week in Corvallis.

Leung opened the season by firing a 5-under-par 67 — the lowest round of a career that began as an 8-year-old with her hitting balls at the range with her father –and she ended the 54-hole event as the only player under par and the first Rainbow Wahine to win a tournament since 2006.

Leung heads back to the mainland this week as the Rainbow Wahine continue their fall schedule in the Wyoming Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif. The tournament opens with 36 holes on Saturday and concludes Sunday.

Leung posted her best finish last year at The Classic Club, where she placed fourth, and went on to lead the Wahine in all nine tournaments as a freshman.

Her summer practice sessions with Brad Schadewitz, the Hong Kong Golf Association’s national coach, focused on honing her shots from 100 yards in and her improvement was evidenced in the trophy she brought back from Oregon.

"Usually my short game is the weakest part of my game. Last week it was very good," Leung said. "Everything was just flowing very well, tempo, everything."

UH coach Lori Castillo concurred and broke down Leung’s victory as an offensive coordinator might.

"Izzy’s short game is what held her back for some of the events last year," said Castillo, a Hawaii Golf Hall of Famer.

"She worked really hard on making that sharp and that’s the key to winning tournaments, because you can get it in the red zone, but if you can’t score you just got it to the red zone and that’s all you did. … To convert more often just breeds so much confidence and it just sort of keeps going in that direction."

In last week’s opening round at Trysting Tree Golf Club, Leung holed out a wedge from 90 yards for eagle and carded four birdies in her 67. But her touch around the greens came in especially handy on the second day when the pins were tucked in the back of the greens, "maybe 5 yards from the left or the right," she said.

She began the day one shot out of the lead and didn’t think a 1-over 73 would be enough to win. "But then when I came back it turned out everyone wasn’t doing too well that day," she said.

Leung’s round that day included a bogey and double bogey. She’s learned to leave the bad shots behind, a lesson reinforced this summer when she played for Hong Kong in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Japan in early September.

Leung played with Canada’s Brooke Henderson, the world’s top-ranked amateur, in the first two rounds and took note of the teen’s demeanor on the course.

"However well she was playing, she was always the same emotional level," Leung said. "She just kept playing and kept sticking shots."

Leung said she’ll see where her game stands after her senior year before deciding whether to pursue professional golf. For now, her focus is fixed on helping elevate the Rainbow Wahine program.

"I think it’s going to help the players she plays with on the team," Castillo said. "They know they’re not very far from Izzy. It’s a matter of believing so it helps raise the bar for them."