Northwestern University Athletics
Pro Experience Prepares Kaitlin Park For Senior Campaign
8/21/2015 10:48:00 AM | Women's Golf
By: Jasper Scherer
Kaitlin Park doesn't like to rush.
Her approach from the time she began golfing in middle school has remained the same: Take it step-by-step and strive to be the best at each level. As she enters her senior year at Northwestern, Park has placed her professional aspirations on the backburner, with sights set on the upcoming season that might be the most important campaign of her career.
It could have been easy for Park to overlook her last year as a Wildcat. Since arriving in Evanston, she has helped Northwestern win the first two Big Ten women's golf team titles in program history while earning All-Big Ten honors in each of her three seasons. Plus, she got her first taste of professional golf in the July's Meijer LGPA Classic in Michigan.
Still, the 2016 tour isn't on Park's mind – which makes golf, a sport recognized as one of the hardest to play and one that requires seemingly endless patience, such a natural fit for someone with Park's forbearance.
"I'm not going to rush through it and say, 'I've played an LPGA tournament, I know exactly what to do,'" Park says. "That's not the way it is. I'm definitely going to take it slow, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to grind it out. I'm not going to give up on any round because senior year is the time to prove myself to myself."
Park began playing golf at age 12, not long before she played a crucial role on Northwestern's first Big Ten championship-winning golf team during her freshman year. Park's golf-fanatic parents introduced her to the game just as they did to her siblings, and she made it her mission to play in college. And when her older sister passed up the opportunity to play collegiate golf, Park's resolve only strengthened.
At Beckman High School in Tustin, California, there was never much doubt whether Park would fulfill her goal. She won two American Junior Golf Association events in the summer of 2011 just before her senior year and earned a spot on the AJGA's All-America team. The ranking site Junior Golf Scoreboard put her tops among recruits in California and seventh in the nation. At that point, it was no longer a matter of if, but where Park would play golf in college – and Northwestern made her decision easy.
Park saw a program with potential, but also one with players she knew. In golf, one of the few sports in which you compete against your teammates, chemistry matters.
"That's definitely a huge part," Park says. "You can't play golf, especially in college, without the support of your teammates. I think that's kind of what lured me to Northwestern."
Park immediately helped fulfill the promise she saw in the program that drew her there in the first place. In her third collegiate tournament, Park shot a third-round 67 – one stroke off the all-time school record – and finished 1-under par for a sixth-place finish. In the spring of that year, Park again finished sixth, only this time on a much bigger stage: the Big Ten Championships, where her 6-over 222 helped earn Northwestern a share of its first-ever conference title. Park was honored as the 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team.
Two years later, Northwestern golf is coming off its second Big Ten title, and Park has established herself as one of the best golfers in school history with a career stroke average of 74.74, trailing only current teammates Kacie Komoto and Suchaya Tangkamolprasert. Those three all return for 2015-16, along with Big Ten Player (and Freshman) of the Year Hannah Kim and Big Ten Individual Champion Sarah Cho. Last year, the Northwestern women's golf team placed 10th at the NCAA Championships, the best finish in program history, while Tangkamolprasert, Kim, Komoto and Park recorded four of the six best single-season stroke averages in Northwestern history.
Park wants to see more of the same.
"I'm not going to be expecting 5-unders and winning every tournament," Park says. "But I want to get my game back, I want to improve on every single part and be confident while I'm playing."
Park is interning full time this summer for Intersport, a Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing firm, which has limited the amount of time she can be on the course. Still, playing in the Meijer Classic on July 23 and 24 helped, an event she qualified for when a 72-stroke round at Michigan's Blythefield Country Club earned one of two sponsor exemptions to compete against the world's best.
Park recognized the importance of playing in the competition even before her qualifying round in June.
"One of the biggest things was I really wanted to at least play, because I knew I wasn't going to get a lot of playing time," Park says. "And my senior year is really important, so I can't slip up on my game."
During the Meijer Classic, Park played alongside professional golfers who had been in her shoes just a couple years ago. She saw the experience not just as a preview of life after Northwestern, but also as a benchmark to see how she compared with the best of the best.
"The girls I played with, they were college players themselves, and they tell me you have to work at it," Park says. "College golf is great, but professional golf is very different. You have to take everything as a learning experience."
Park birdied the last two holes of her second and final round after a chip-in secured an eagle the day before. She finished 6-over after 36 holes, six strokes ahead of any other amateur in the competition.
"The competitive nature was different," Park says. "It was just so intense, but at the same time I was playing the game I loved, just like the rest of the girls. I think it was a learning experience. I looked at those girls and how they were playing and I kind of can pinpoint what in my game I need to improve to play at this level."
Park doesn't feel the need to rush to the LPGA in part because she doesn't want to drop off during her senior year. But she also wants to savor the team aspect of golf, one that doesn't exist in the pros.
"I don't think I'll ever find those kind of experiences anywhere else," she says. "I think it's definitely going to be a lonely road when I'm playing professionally. I won't get what I get here at Northwestern, especially with the people, the coaches, the encouragement. I just feel like that's something I won't get anywhere else."
Kaitlin Park doesn't like to rush.
Her approach from the time she began golfing in middle school has remained the same: Take it step-by-step and strive to be the best at each level. As she enters her senior year at Northwestern, Park has placed her professional aspirations on the backburner, with sights set on the upcoming season that might be the most important campaign of her career.
It could have been easy for Park to overlook her last year as a Wildcat. Since arriving in Evanston, she has helped Northwestern win the first two Big Ten women's golf team titles in program history while earning All-Big Ten honors in each of her three seasons. Plus, she got her first taste of professional golf in the July's Meijer LGPA Classic in Michigan.
Still, the 2016 tour isn't on Park's mind – which makes golf, a sport recognized as one of the hardest to play and one that requires seemingly endless patience, such a natural fit for someone with Park's forbearance.
"I'm not going to rush through it and say, 'I've played an LPGA tournament, I know exactly what to do,'" Park says. "That's not the way it is. I'm definitely going to take it slow, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to grind it out. I'm not going to give up on any round because senior year is the time to prove myself to myself."
Park began playing golf at age 12, not long before she played a crucial role on Northwestern's first Big Ten championship-winning golf team during her freshman year. Park's golf-fanatic parents introduced her to the game just as they did to her siblings, and she made it her mission to play in college. And when her older sister passed up the opportunity to play collegiate golf, Park's resolve only strengthened.
At Beckman High School in Tustin, California, there was never much doubt whether Park would fulfill her goal. She won two American Junior Golf Association events in the summer of 2011 just before her senior year and earned a spot on the AJGA's All-America team. The ranking site Junior Golf Scoreboard put her tops among recruits in California and seventh in the nation. At that point, it was no longer a matter of if, but where Park would play golf in college – and Northwestern made her decision easy.
Park saw a program with potential, but also one with players she knew. In golf, one of the few sports in which you compete against your teammates, chemistry matters.
"That's definitely a huge part," Park says. "You can't play golf, especially in college, without the support of your teammates. I think that's kind of what lured me to Northwestern."
Park immediately helped fulfill the promise she saw in the program that drew her there in the first place. In her third collegiate tournament, Park shot a third-round 67 – one stroke off the all-time school record – and finished 1-under par for a sixth-place finish. In the spring of that year, Park again finished sixth, only this time on a much bigger stage: the Big Ten Championships, where her 6-over 222 helped earn Northwestern a share of its first-ever conference title. Park was honored as the 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team.
Two years later, Northwestern golf is coming off its second Big Ten title, and Park has established herself as one of the best golfers in school history with a career stroke average of 74.74, trailing only current teammates Kacie Komoto and Suchaya Tangkamolprasert. Those three all return for 2015-16, along with Big Ten Player (and Freshman) of the Year Hannah Kim and Big Ten Individual Champion Sarah Cho. Last year, the Northwestern women's golf team placed 10th at the NCAA Championships, the best finish in program history, while Tangkamolprasert, Kim, Komoto and Park recorded four of the six best single-season stroke averages in Northwestern history.
Park wants to see more of the same.
"I'm not going to be expecting 5-unders and winning every tournament," Park says. "But I want to get my game back, I want to improve on every single part and be confident while I'm playing."
Park is interning full time this summer for Intersport, a Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing firm, which has limited the amount of time she can be on the course. Still, playing in the Meijer Classic on July 23 and 24 helped, an event she qualified for when a 72-stroke round at Michigan's Blythefield Country Club earned one of two sponsor exemptions to compete against the world's best.
Park recognized the importance of playing in the competition even before her qualifying round in June.
"One of the biggest things was I really wanted to at least play, because I knew I wasn't going to get a lot of playing time," Park says. "And my senior year is really important, so I can't slip up on my game."
During the Meijer Classic, Park played alongside professional golfers who had been in her shoes just a couple years ago. She saw the experience not just as a preview of life after Northwestern, but also as a benchmark to see how she compared with the best of the best.
"The girls I played with, they were college players themselves, and they tell me you have to work at it," Park says. "College golf is great, but professional golf is very different. You have to take everything as a learning experience."
Park birdied the last two holes of her second and final round after a chip-in secured an eagle the day before. She finished 6-over after 36 holes, six strokes ahead of any other amateur in the competition.
"The competitive nature was different," Park says. "It was just so intense, but at the same time I was playing the game I loved, just like the rest of the girls. I think it was a learning experience. I looked at those girls and how they were playing and I kind of can pinpoint what in my game I need to improve to play at this level."
Park doesn't feel the need to rush to the LPGA in part because she doesn't want to drop off during her senior year. But she also wants to savor the team aspect of golf, one that doesn't exist in the pros.
"I don't think I'll ever find those kind of experiences anywhere else," she says. "I think it's definitely going to be a lonely road when I'm playing professionally. I won't get what I get here at Northwestern, especially with the people, the coaches, the encouragement. I just feel like that's something I won't get anywhere else."
Players Mentioned
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