With five minutes to go before tee off, junior Tiffany Joh decided to check her pockets, a routine she completes every tournament to ensure she has extra golf balls and tees.
Only she didn’t have any pockets.
It turned out the All-American golfer wore her skort backward that day. As teammate Sydnee Michaels looked on in disbelief, a panicked Joh dove into the bushes to reverse the article of clothing.
“I seem to get into a lot of these situations,” Joh said. “It’s almost as if (when) I don’t do something stupid and awkward in a tournament, something’s wrong. That’s kind of my role on the team.”
Joh certainly provides comic relief for the No. 1 UCLA golf team ““ she once listed South American capitals in her first meeting with Colombian teammate Maria Jose Uribe ““ but she also fills a slightly more important role.
The junior is the defending Pac-10 individual champion and a key piece of the Bruin team, which is competing for a conference title this week at the Pac-10 Championships at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
The Bruins are also an early favorite to win the NCAA Championships at the end of May in Albuquerque.
After 18 holes Monday at the Pac-10 Championships, Joh is in a first-place tie with Michaels at 2-under par, and UCLA is in first place overall. The tournament continues today and concludes Wednesday.
Joh has been the Bruins’ most consistent and top-ranked player for the past two seasons but only recently has she has become more of a leader.
“She is really stepping into that role, more so this year, especially toward the end of this year,” UCLA coach Carrie Forsyth said. “Being a leader doesn’t come naturally to some people, but as the year has gone by I’ve really seen changes in her leadership.”
Junior star
Joh had no trouble deciding to play at UCLA ““ she committed on the spot when Coach Forsyth offered her a full scholarship. Joh said she wanted to attend UCLA because of its academic reputation. She is a communications student and was named to the director’s honor roll in all three quarters as a sophomore.
“Coming from Southern California, it’s where everyone wants to go,” said Joh, a San Diego native. “Coach (Forsyth) was kind of taken back, like, “˜Are you sure you don’t want a couple weeks to think about it?’ And I said, “˜No, no, it’s fine.’ My parents were freaking out.”
Coach Forsyth knew when she saw Joh as a junior golfer that she had tremendous potential.
“She had so much going for her in terms of her natural ability, that there was no question in my mind that even though she was not No. 1, that she was going to be,” Forsyth said. “What drew me to her on top of her personality ““ she’s such a good person, so many friends ““ was her talent.”
Joh literally grew up living and breathing golf: Her parents’ old house in San Diego had a backyard that was connected to a golf course. As a kid, Joh was often found wandering onto the course and getting kicked off until age 12, when she finally decided to pick up the sport.
“I figured that the only time I could be on it legally without trespassing was if I had a golf club in my hand and if I was actually playing,” Joh said.
She immediately fell in love with the sport. She won four junior tournaments and played high school golf, but she never thought about playing professionally until she came to UCLA.
“Coming into college, it wasn’t that I thought I had a future in it, but I just thought it was something I loved so much and something I couldn’t live without,” Joh said. “Whether I go get a job and play golf afterward or play professionally, I’d settle for either one.”
Team player
Besides being its leading scorer, Joh also contributes to the team’s chemistry.
“Golf is an individual sport. It can get very self-centered,” Forsyth said. “But our team, we’re fortunate, and Tiffany is a part of that. They spend a lot of time with each other outside of golf. They go to dinner with each other all the time. We definitely have an advantage over most programs right now with the chemistry we have.”
Joh has a similar perspective on the importance of team unity.
“A team is like a family: You just get thrown together with people whose personalities might not match your own,” Joh said. “We’re really lucky that, even though we’re different, we get along really well.”
And despite the individual nature of the sport, Joh is quick to praise her teammates.
She said her favorite golfer is one of her teammates, Uribe, the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion.
“She has the same charisma that Tiger (Woods) has, so it makes you want to watch her play,” Joh said of Uribe.
Tough competitor
Even with her animated and comical personality, the All-American is a competitor at heart.
“Tiffany is a really dedicated player, and she works really hard at the game, so she obviously has high expectations of herself,” Forsyth said. “She is extremely well-liked by her competitors and her teammates. Underneath that, it hides how competitive she really is and how high her expectations are.”
Joh recognizes the distinction between friendliness and competitive drive.
“I’m pretty amicable with people from other teams, but there’s a really fine line because outside the golf course, you guys could be good friends, but once you get in there, you can’t even look at them,” she said. “It’s a competition. College golf is pretty cutthroat, especially because UCLA is a dynasty, and you don’t have room for friends.”
When Joh arrived at UCLA, part of that competitiveness led to insecurities about her own game.
“She had a lot of questions about how good she really was,” Forsyth said. “I don’t know (that) she was particularly self-confident as a player. She had a tendency to really idolize other players and minimize her own abilities, but I think that’s probably the area she has grown the most.”
The transition from junior golf, where players play only as individuals, to college golf, where the team aspect is introduced, also wasn’t the easiest adjustment for Joh.
“There’s this big weight, especially since freshman year, our team was ranked No. 1 going into the season, so you’re thinking every little miscue on the golf course, you just freak out and break down,” Joh said.
Since her first year, Joh has toughened up mentally. Forsyth labeled her victory at the Pac-10 Tournament last year her breakthrough. In the final round, she was paired with Arizona State’s Anna Nordqvist, who entered the round leading the tournament and four shots ahead of Joh.
Forsyth said Joh “admired” Nordqvist but was able to maintain her focus and come from behind to win the tournament.
“That was really a breakthrough that gave her some sense of who she actually was as a player,” Forsyth said.
Joh beat Nordqvist in a sudden-death playoff after the two golfers tied their scores at the end of regulation with 2-over par. Joh made birdie in the second hole of the playoff to ultimately win the title.
Postseason focus
While the title in 2007 was the moment Forsyth singled out, Joh pointed to a tournament this February as a turning moment of her career: the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.
“The reason that course is so lush is because I’ve watered it with my tears,” Joh said jokingly. “Every time I play (there), I do something really bad.
“Going into that tournament we were hyping it up, like, “˜Oh my gosh, Palos Verdes.’ We played so many practice rounds there. I’m not even talking about coach (Forsyth) calling them up but us trying to make friends with the members, trying everything we could to get an advantage.”
Joh played solidly but not spectacularly, finishing in seventh place with a score of 5-over par, but the Bruins came out of the tournament on top, ahead of No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 Florida.
It was a huge moment for Joh because that tournament was played on the same challenging course that the Bruins find themselves on for this week’s Pac-10 Championship.
And even though she didn’t win the tournament, it was her team’s solid play that meant the most to Joh; three other Bruins finished in the top 10 that week.
“All these girls in the lineup ““ they can beat everyone in the field with their B game when everyone is playing their A game,” Joh said. “They’re just that talented. So I think having that is a big sense of comfort for me. I think they’re ready, I think they’re good to go.”