From the sports archives: A junior golfer’s endless summer

For Menlo-Atherton rising senior Xin Fang, the three months between school years are the busiest of the year.

As a competitive junior golfer, June and July are a whirlwind of travel, golf and, when she can squeeze it in, sleep.

"We travel so much, sometimes I’m like, ‘Where do we go?’” Fang said. “It seems like [the summer is] going by pretty slow because I have so much going on.”

Fang posted some impressive results since the 2012 summer season began. She won the Junior Golf Association-NorCal (JGANC) First Tee Tri-Valley Junior Open June 10. She followed that up with a 4-over 77 and a third-place finish at the USGA Girls’ Junior Qualifying tournament in Utah 10 days later. She advanced to the semifinals of the Junior Girls’ State Championship, losing to the eventual champion two week ago. This past Monday and Tuesday, she was in Pebble Beach playing Spyglass at the NCGA Junior Championships, finishing in a tie for ninth out of 35 players. She followed that with the JGANC/NCGA Players Championship at Rancho Cañada Wednesday and Thursday, finishing sixth out of 33 players in the 15-17 age group.

On Friday, she rested.

“I think I’ve done OK, but I know I can be better,” Fang said. “There’s always room for improvement. I think I started (the summer) pretty bad. I started pretty slow, but now I think I got my game back. Even if I have a good round, I know I left a few strokes out there.”

Despite her recent run of success, the summer season could not have started any worse for Fang. She found herself in a tournament the day after the last day of school and to say she was rusty would be an understatement. She hit into the hazard three times on the first hole and posted a 10. She hit into the hazard again on the second hole and, by the time she walked off the green, she was already at 9-over after just two holes.

Needless to say, there were no thoughts of making a charge on the back nine.

“I think everyone has that round (at some point). I remember thinking, ‘Oh wow! So this is how it’s going to go?’ That was a pretty bad day, playing-wise, but I moved on. Golf is not a game where you can not do it for a while and pick it back up and be amazing,” Fang said. “After that, I had like three days (off) and I just practiced every single day. After the bad round, it motivated me to practice and get better. Obviously, it was embarrassing. I don’t even remember (what I shot). I don’t want to think about it.”

Fang has turned her summer season around since that initial meltdown. And the summer isn’t over. Monday she’ll be at Fountain Grove Athletic Club in Santa Rosa, playing in the USGA Women’s Amateur Qualifier. The following week, Fang will be in Oregon at Centennial Golf Club for a tournament, then to Marin Country Club in Novato for the Corena Green Classic tournament, and then it’s back to the Monterey Peninsula and two days playing Poppy Hills.

She thinks, maybe, her schedule will slow down in August.

By the time she fully recovers from the summer season, her senior year at M-A will be in full swing. While the high school golf season isn’t nearly as stressful as the summer season, Fang said the addition of school and applying to colleges will make up for the missing stresses of golf.

"I still want to beat everybody (during the high school season), but I feel like I need to focus a lot on school,” Fang said. “I’m going to be taking four [advanced placement classes]. I just have to adjust back to school work. … It’s going to be pretty hectic, along with golf.”

In fact, if there is one thing Fang works harder on than golf, it’s her studies. Given the time she’s put into school, carrying a 4.3 grade point average, Fang expects to have a career outside of golf once she graduates college.

"I feel like [being a professional golfer is] kind of difficult. I’ve heard some things about the (professional) tour that it’s not financially beneficial,” Fang said. "I’ve also worked pretty hard at school, so I want to pursue engineering or medicine or something like that.”