Andrea Lee is the author of five books, including the National Book Award-nominated memoir Russian Journal, the novels Red Island House, Lost Hearts in Italy, and Sarah Phillips, and the story collection Interesting Women. A former staff writer for The New Yorker, she has written for The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, W, and The New York Times Book Review. Born in Philadelphia, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University and now lives in Italy.

Lee was born on August 15, 1998, in Los Angeles, California, United States. She grew up in California and attended Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach. Her interest in golf began in childhood, and she learned to play under the guidance of her father, James Lee. Throughout her upbringing, her mother, Sunny Lee, provided unwavering support.

Even though Andrea Lee had a stellar junior golf career starting at age 8, her name wasn’t widely known. At 15, she made her dream come true at the 2014 US Women’s Open, with her dad as her caddie. In 2015, Lee received a sponsor’s invite to the ANA Inspiration but narrowly missed the cut. That year, the golfer also won the silver medal at the Pan American Games and the Southern California Amateur tournament.

In 2016, Lee secured second place in both the Canadian Women’s Amateur and the US Junior Girls Championships. She represented the United States in the Curtis Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship and also began her journey at Stanford University. In her first year, at Stanford, the golfer won three out of five championships, with an average score of 71.62 strokes per round, almost the lowest in university history. As a result, she climbed to the top of the US amateur ranking in no time.