Daily Journal Girls’ Golfer of the Year: Hillsdale’s Ashlyn Johnson

Johnson said she had two main goals when she came to Hillsdale and, two seasons in, she’s already accomplished both. Last year, she helped guide the Knights to the PAL Bay Division title.

“(This year) my main focus was winning the PAL individual title,” Johnson said. “That was the big accomplishment.”

Johnson’s 6-over 76 at Poplar Creek was five shots better than the second-place finisher. That qualified her for the Central Coast Section tournament, where she finished tied for 21st with a round of 80.

It capped a season that saw her win 11 of 12 rounds she played for the Knights, with the CCS tournament the only high school match she didn’t win. While the Hillsdale squad finished 5-5, good for a tie for third finish in the Bay Division standings, Johnson posted the low-round of the day in all 10 league matches, playing at Poplar Creek, Crystal Springs, Peninsula and Sharon Heights. Her best round of the season was a 1-under 36 in a match against Aragon at Peninsula Golf & Country Club.

“She didn’t score over a 40 all season,” said Hillsdale girls’ golf coach David Godoy. “She’s out there competing. She’s getting better and better.”

Winning team and individual titles is nice, but winning them for Hillsdale is even better. Johnson comes from a Hillsdale family. Both her parents and older sister graduated from Hillsdale. In fact, Johnson’s history teacher is the same person who taught her mom.

“She’s always been a Knight,” Godoy said. “She loves Hillsdale. The fact she can rep (the school) the way she does, she really digs it.”

All of her success during the school year was set up by the success she had during the summer and she carried that momentum into the high school season. In May, Johnson finished 35th in the IMG Junior World Qualifier at Haggin Oaks Golf Club in Sacramento. In June, she was fifth in the 12-18 age bracket at the Notah Begay III Qualifier at Ruby Hills in Pleasanton and at the end of June-early July, Johnson finished tied for third in the 12-18 age group at the Reserve Junior Championship at Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton.

If Johnson has learned anything playing in these events, including the high school season, it’s to remain calm and she learned that on the international level. Born deaf, Johnson has bilateral cochlear implants that allow her to hear. But she still qualified for the national and world deaf golf championships. She was part of Team USA that won the 2020 world deaf golf championship when she was 12. She won the 2021 U.S. Deaf Golf Championship and in May, participated in the Deaflympics in Brazil, finishing fifth overall and second in her age group.

“I won the 2021 U.S. national championship and they (Deaflympics) just contacted me and asked me if I wanted to go to Brazil,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘Sure, why not?”

In October, she participated in the World Deaf Golf Championships at the Wailua Golf Course on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The U.S. team finished second and Johnson was the only team member to have her score count in every round.

“It was a little intimidating. It’s nothing like high school golf,” Johnson said of playing in these national and international events. “You’re playing against the best deaf golfers in the world.”

Despite excelling in deaf competitions, her deafness doesn’t define her. She’s a golfer who happens to be deaf, not a deaf golfer.

“I try not to focus on the deaf part,” Johnson said. “With the implants, I feel like a normal kid.”

What wasn’t normal was her reputation preceding her enrollment at Hillsdale. She was a known quantity before she ever teed off for the Knights. Having taken up the game at 7 and participating in junior tournaments when she was 10, she quickly decided golf was the sport for her.

“I used to play softball and basketball (also), but I was just a [middling] player,” Johnson said. “I stopped playing because I want to play on the LPGA Tour. I gave up (the other sports) when I got to high school.

“Golf is a fun sport, plus it was the sport I was good at.”

Godoy said Johnson is already getting a crash course in what it’s like to be practicing next to professionals. Godoy said Johnson told him she just so happened to be practicing at Foster City’s Mariners Point when New Zealand’s Lydia Ko showed up next to her on the driving range. Ko is the No. 1-ranked female golfer in the world.

According to Godoy, Johnson told him that Ko told her, “I wish I could hit my driver like that.”

Despite already having a reputation of being a good golfer, Johnson did not sit on her laurels. She wanted to prove she was the best player in the school.

“People would say that, but I wanted to work harder,” Johnson said. “To prove that I was the No. 1 golfer on campus.”

Now two years into her high school career, there is no doubt she is the best the Knights have. Known for her ball striking and prodigious drives, Johnson said she needs to work on her short game and putting.

Part of what makes Johnson successful on the course is her ability to appreciate the work that goes into a game that can be absolutely maddening. Many give up because of the frustration of trying to learn the golf swing.

But it’s Johnson’s will to get better that has enabled her to be as successful as she has been.

“It’s challenging and it can be frustrating,” Johnson said. “But I don’t focus on beating other players. I just focus on playing the course.”