Rose Zhang has dominated golf news recently. Not since Tiger Woods’ “Hello world” moment has an amateur turning pro captivated fans as much as Zhang’s announcement last Friday. And even though she is not yet a member of any major tour, the 20-year-old, who is arguably the most accomplished amateur since the founding of the LPGA, will no doubt create a lot of buzz over the summer as she accepts exemptions to play around the world – the first of which will come this coming week at the Mizuho Americas Open.
As we close out Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, it’s worth noting that Zhang is just the latest in a long line of Asian-American pros to come out of the most famous California universities. The fact that she is now the winningest golfer in Stanford history – with 12 victories in two seasons, surpassing the previous record of 11 shared by Woods, Maverick McNealy and Patrick Rodgers – and the only player ever to win back-to-back NCAA Women’s National Championships as an individual, makes Rose today’s posterchild for West Coast college golf. But she is far from alone.
Before Zhang, Stanford had Andrea Lee, who held the previous school record for women’s golf victories at nine. Lee won the Mark H. McCormack medal in 2019 after spending 17 weeks as the top-ranked amateur in the world before she turned pro and joined the LPGA Tour.
After a solid start in the abbreviated 2020 season, Lee struggled in 2021 and found herself on the Epson Tour. That can be a hammer blow to a career, especially for a player who never struggled with doubt or a lack of success. But Andrea dug deep, carrying her own bag and driving across America for much of the 2021 season. She regained her form through grit and perseverance, and in 2022 she captured her first title as a professional at the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic on the Epson Tour. Andrea won with a par on the third playoff hole against her former U.S. Curtis Cup team member and now LPGA Tour colleague Lucy Li.
Later that fall, Andrea broke through on the LPGA Tour, winning at the Portland Classic, firing a final-round 66 for a one-shot victory over Daniela Darquea.
If you watched any of the Women’s NCAA Championship last week, you not only saw Zhang in the Final Four with her Stanford teammates, you also saw a familiar face walking the fairways and providing counsel to players in the semifinals and finals. Tiffany Joh, who played on the LPGA Tour for nine years (plus two more on the Epson Tour), is now the assistant women’s golf coach at the University of Southern California. She was a force last week as she guided the Trojans to the finals against Wake Forest.
Joh, a Korean-American who was born in Philadelphia but grew up in San Diego, was a four-year standout at UCLA from 2005 through 2009 before embarking on her professional career. Always one of the most popular and friendly players in the game, her second act as a coach seems like a natural progression for a player who is innately empathetic and a natural communicator.
One of Joh’s teammates at UCLA was Jane Park, also a Californian of Korean descent, who was a two-time U.S. Curtis Cup team member and U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. Jane played the LPGA Tour for 14 years and now cares for her daughter Grace, who suffered brain damage from a virus in 2021 and remains physically and mentally disabled.
The litany of AAPI players on the LPGA Tour who matriculated through UCLA also include our latest major winner Lilia Vu and 2021 Chevron Champion Patty Tavatanakit.
But one of the better stories out of the Bel Air college is Alison Lee, who advanced to the Round of 16 at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play presented by MGM Rewards. Alison was always a UCLA girl, long before she ever donned the Bruins blue and gold.
“I grew up in Los Angeles and went to middle school and high school in Santa Clarita, which is still a part of LA county, probably 40 minutes from campus,” Alison said. “UCLA was the only school I visited, and I fell in love immediately. I knew I would be going to a California school so that narrowed it down. At the time, I knew some of the girls of the UCLA team already, so it was pretty easy decision for me to make.”
The hard decision came later. In the middle of her sophomore year, Alison decided to give LPGA Qualifying School a try. Her expectations were low. She loved college and had every intention of playing all four years as a Bruin. Then she won medalist honors at LPGA Q-Series and felt almost compelled to give the Tour a try.
“Even as I was playing on Tour, I stayed in school, actually lived on campus, joined Delta Gamma sorority, and did all the normal school stuff that I could around my Tour schedule,” Alison said.
“For me, growing up in L.A., UCLA just always made the most sense. It was close to friends and family. There’s Koreatown, really close by. My grandparents have been in the U.S. for close to 50 years and they still don’t really speak English. But they get around great, because in Koreatown they can get around fine. There are a few things that they need my mom for like translating documents or mail or things like that, but I feel very lucky.
“Los Angeles is a huge melting pot. From a cultural standpoint, that’s the reason I got into golf. Whether it’s Asians or Asian-Americans, golf has to be one of the most diverse sports and the LPGA Tour is certainly the most diverse among any major professional league. I always found that appealing and it was one of the main things that kept me playing golf.”
USC held a similar appeal for American players of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. Annie Park and Allisen Corpuz are at different stages in their professional careers, but both have bonds as Trojans, while Gabriella Then, who walked away from golf to take a marketing job with a cosmetics firm for a while, has found her way back to the LPGA Tour, finishing in the top 10 of the 2022 Race for the Card last year on the Epson Tour to regain her status for the 2023 season.
“Golf just lends itself to diversity,” Alison Lee said. “Being an Asian-American in our game is not unique, just as it’s not unique to be a golfer from any ethic background. It’s part of what makes golf so special.”
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