Golfers often have a certain image as serious, focused, and often boring people who couldn’t play other sports and so ended up on the fairway. Very few people would even think of golf as an exciting sport made for the typically lively and energetic college student.
UCLA sophomore Tiffany Joh, however, has proved otherwise.
“If you look at everyone playing golf, you see every type of golfer,” Joh said. “I play better when I am looser and when I don’t put as much pressure on myself. That’s my style and if I changed it, I wouldn’t be as effective.”
With her joyful personality, Joh is as comical and alive as golfers come. Spend a couple hours with her and you would never realize that she is the Pac-10 champion and one of the biggest reasons why the UCLA women’s golf team has succeeded this season.
“Tiffany’s physical talents exceed most players’,” coach Carrie Forsyth said. “She just has a natural talent for the game. Her work ethic is amazing and she has a very unique personality. She is very smart and extremely funny.”
This season, Joh was the most consistent member of the team, leading all golfers with an average score of 73.6. However, despite her strong performances, she was never able to finish first and pick up the victory in any of the team’s tournaments.
But after two seasons of hard work, an opportunity to achieve the long-awaited results finally presented itself. At the Pac-10 Championships, Joh went into a sudden-death playoff against Arizona State’s Anna Nordqvist after both finished regulation 2-over par.
During the second hole of the play- off, Joh hit a birdie putt to seal the deal and bring home the Pac-10 individual title.
“I was just taking it one hole at a time,” Joh said. “I’ve been very consistent but never managed to win so it felt good to finally get the W.”
However, Joh did not rise to success on the usual path of many outstanding golfers. While most pick up the game at a young age with the encouragement of coaches and parents, Joh began playing almost by chance.
As a child, she lived in a San Diego home that happened to be on a golf course and every day she wondered what it would be like to play golf.
“Our backyard was connected to the golf course and so it was kind of just waiting for me,” Joh said. “It was bound to happen.”
After a year of just hitting the ball around on her own, her parents decided that maybe it was time to assist in her new passion. She entered into some local junior golf tournaments and despite not having the skill level, being forced to compete helped her develop her game naturally.
Since that time, golf has become her life. After four years of golf in high school, Forsyth approached her and gave her the opportunity to join the Bruins.
“I actually noticed her a couple years before she was of recruiting age,” Forsyth said. “What drew me toward her was her beautiful talent. She had a great golf swing and you could see how much potential she had to become a phenomenal golf player.”
In just two years, Joh is already showing signs of the tremendous talent she has. Last June, Joh scored her first major amateur victory as she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. The victory was the first by a Bruin since 1981, when Mary Enright came away with the victory. It was also the first USGA championship for a UCLA player since 2004.
But more importantly, by winning, Joh earned various exemptions for future USGA amateur events, a major step in her path to eventually becoming a professional.
“It takes off a lot of stress to know that you do not have to qualify,” Joh said. “The fields are just really big and everyone competing is really talented, so it is tough competition just to get into these events.”
Someday Joh hopes to go professional and follow in the footsteps of current LPGA golfer and UCLA graduate Charlotte Mayorkas. Mayorkas played a major role in helping the Bruins win the 2004 NCAA national championship, a feat Joh also hopes to accomplish in her four years.
“She did it the right way,” Joh said. “She worked hard to get to where she is, and she is definitely someone whom I would love to follow.”
Although her game is strong, she still has a lot of growing up to do before becoming a professional, and a huge part of that is simply enjoying these four years in college. While her strokes and her putting may be solid, the mental aspect of golf is a major factor and one that comes with time.
“She’s not the goofy little girl anymore,” teammate and close friend Hannah Jun said. “She is really focused on her life and her game. She takes care of what she needs to take care of. She is growing up.”
Nonetheless, for now, Joh has her eyes set in one direction only.
While her professional career will certainly evolve, her collegiate career is approaching its ultimate prize. As her team gets set to head to the NCAA Regionals this week, there is only one major goal in mind ““ the elusive 100th national title. And it will require her to play like a champion to help her team claim the prize.