Stephanie Woo: SFS's Next Golf Superstar?

Photo courtesy: Yena Kong

Imagine having a season in which you were top scorer and top assister, won All-Conference and All-Tournament, and were named KAIAC MVP - all in your second sport. Well, that basically sums up Stephanie Woo’s spring soccer season (10). Many know of her as a star SFS athlete, a good friend, or just a classmate. However, many people don’t know that she is primarily a golfer, despite her impressive soccer and basketball performances last year. Golf is a sport that doesn’t get much attention here at SFS. As it is not an official SFS sport, there aren’t many people with the willpower to commit to an outside activity like golf. But Stephanie is one of the few people here at SFS who are passionate enough about golf to pursue it and compete on a high level.

Stephanie started playing golf alongside many other sports, such as soccer and basketball from a young age. From those sports, she found a strong passion for soccer as she started to develop and excel at the elementary to middle school levels. However, things took a sharp turn when COVID hit around three years ago. Playing team sports like soccer and basketball became much more difficult with heavy restrictions on gatherings, disrupting practices and games. During this period of isolation, Stephanie found a new passion: golf. Because golf is an individual sport, she could play it easily. She continued to develop as a golfer throughout the pandemic and won a few tournaments in North America. She has won three SCPGA junior (Southern California Professional Golfers' Association of America) tournaments and two tournaments in the CJGA (Canadian Junior Golf Association). This shows what an incredible golfer Stephanie already is after only starting to take golf seriously three years ago.

One thing that separates golf from all the other sports Stephanie plays is that it is an individual sport. Stephanie says that a thing that makes golf so difficult is the mental game. She explains that “in golf, you're on your own during the round, so mentally it is a lot more difficult to handle pressures and stress compared to other team sports. Though golf may not be as physically demanding, she says that golf “requires a lot of patience and resilience”, as one round of golf can take 5-6 hours. In these 5-6 hours, you’re alone the whole time, which makes it “really hard to stay focused and motivated because after one bad shot or one bad hole. You can easily break down, which can affect the rest of your round.” To pick yourself back up and keep playing is essential in golf, while “in sports like soccer, you have your teammates to encourage you,” she elaborates.

Stephanie plans to continue playing golf for as long as possible, hopefully through university and beyond. She is committed to improving her game to "become a more consistent player.” Indeed her sights are set very far at such a young age: “The best part of golf is that it's a life-long sport that you can enjoy even when you're older and less fit. It's also a great way to meet friends and get to know them better during the game.” Stephanie and Jeean Lee (10) represented SFS at Camp Humphreys earlier this year, achieving a second-place finish. Stephanie expresses that "it was really fun playing as a team and especially with friends." Hopefully, golf can continue to expand and become a varsity sport at SFS as more and more students pick up the sport every year.