Author: Becca Miller
It’s not hard to imagine how sophomore Tori Leon singlehandedly carried the Oxy Women’s Golf Team through a successful first season. Her passion for the sport cannot be contained as she describes her golfing experience, which began when her uncle died of cancer after receiving his PGA Pro Card when Leon was a child. Thus without question, golf runs in the family for Leon.
After playing for one year with the Oxy’s Men’s team, Leon became the first, and so far, only member of the Women’s Golf team. In the team’s first season, Leon was tournament champion for both the Claremont Invitational and The Redlands Lady Bulldog Classic. She placed fourth in the Oxy Tournament, and after a disappointing finish where she was twenty-nine strokes off the lead in the Braveheart Classic, hosted by Division I University of California Riverside, she came out with strong performances where she finished only five strokes off the lead in the Cal State San Marcos Invitational and in the Desert Invitational.
Despite her success, Leon is not satisfied. “I’m not going to settle for only those two wins,” she insists.Leon’s enthusiasm for golf is palpable. “I love that it is an art and a sport at the same time,” she said. “It’s a sport that demands so much from a person, and people can go their whole lives without coming close to mastering it.”
She relishes in the physical and mental challenges of the game, savoring especially the “electric rush of accomplishment after a good round.” Being Oxy’s lone female golfer, competing often in upper-division tournaments in a sport that has only recently gained a strong female following, Leon has internalized the patience, persistence, discipline, and diligence she believes are essential for success.
“I have spent hours of serious focus and training, to the point where golf has become a part of me,” she said.Leon’s coach, Eric Johnson, describes Leon as “an exceptional player and a great student,” whose greatest asset is her competitiveness and intense aversion to losing. He explains that the team was not formally approved until after the admissions deadline had passed last year, and sees this as a contributing factor to the lack of players. Though he regrets the team’s diminutive size, Johnson is proud of its first season and excited for the future, explaining that Women’s Golf recruited twenty-two players for the upcoming year. Meanwhile, Leon is more than able to support the team alone.
According to Johnson, “Tori has the potential to be an All-American type player at the Division III level.” Next season, Johnson intends to continue entering her in Division II tournaments as an individual, though hopefully Leon will also be able to compete at the Division III level with Oxy’s anticipated full Women’s Golf team. Johnson intends to build a competitive group of female golfers within the next few years.
Oxy is not the only nearby college to foray into female golfing with a smaller-than-average team. Pomona also has less than the minimum of five players necessary to compete in SCIAC as a team, and only Redlands and CMC have full rosters.
Golf is a new addition to women’s athletics in the SCIAC conference, a testament to a rise in popularity the sport is experiencing as it gradually moves away from the exclusive country-club setting and becomes more accessible to the general public. Men’s professional golf has only recently accepted women into its tournaments, most notably when Michelle Wie medaled in a Men’s U.S. Open qualifying tournament at the age of sixteen. In this spirit of inclusion, Oxy was the third school in SCIAC to offer women’s golf as a varsity sport.
Leon is adamant that Oxy Women’s Golf be taken seriously. She describes her frustration with people who insist that golf is not a sport, but does not let their views deter her from following her passion. She does, however, lament what she perceives as a lack of interest in golf among Oxy females, and suggests that is the reason why the team currently consists of one member. Despite this belief and regardless of the team’s youth, Leon is certain Women’s Golf will be successful in the near future, driven by the characteristic determination of Oxy sports teams.
“I would love it if Oxy had more members on the Women’s Golf team,” she says. “I’m excited about representing Oxy out on the course. I can’t wait for others to join me.”
Given her contagious enthusiasm, she shouldn’t have to wait long.
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