Olivia Duan

OLIVIA

24 | THE PROSPECTOR DUAN

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

Olivia Duan: 69th in the American Junior Golf Association and in the 2021 AJGA Junior All-Star Team

SOHA ROY

writer

When it comes to Cupertino High School’s rising stars, sophomore Olivia Duan and her impressive golfing career certainly come to mind. She was introduced to the sport through a family friend who was accepted into Harvard for playing golf. Inspired by her path, Duan took on the sport and fell in love.

Said Duan, “Whenever you start, there’s always struggles because everyone else is so experienced—so I think it just takes experience.” Duan particularly remembers her first tournament shaping her growth. Said Duan, “I was really confident, and it was a really small tournament— so I felt like I should win— but I didn’t know how tough the competition really was. So after my tournament, obviously I was upset, but I felt like I had just tried it out. The next time was better, and I just improved little by little over time.” Since then, Duan has taken her golfing career by storm. She is ranked 69th in the American Junior Golf Association and is a part of the 2021 AJGA Junior All-Star Team. With experience playing both individually and with a team, Duan mentioned, “Golf is mostly an individual sport so being in a team—it just makes it so different. It’s more fun playing with a team because you feel like you can support each other and you can compete with other teams as well.”

Many difficulties come with playing a sport competitively. Although Duan finds it challenging to balance her academic and social life with her athletic career, she works out ways to manage her time efficiently.

“In the car, when I go somewhere, I just try to do homework or read something. I just try to squeeze in as much time in between.” said Duan. Outside of golf, Duan spends her time

swimming, playing the piano, and playing the flute. The previous summer was quite the milestone in her golfing career. Said Duan, “I was playing a really big “ WHENEVER YOU START, THERE’S ALWAYS STRUGtournament, and I almost won. I think that was the time where I gained a lot of confidence, and my rankings have

GLES BECAUSE EVERYONE been going up since then.”

ELSE IS SO EXPERIENCED— With the sport’s popularity waning,

SO I THINK IT JUST TAKES EXPERIENCE. ” OLIVIA DUAN the dedication and efforts of golfers are often overlooked. Said Duan, “I think a lot of people just don’t know the female side of golf, so they think that golf is only a men’s sport, and there used to be an acronym called Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. A lot of people also think golf is easy, so it’s definitely hard to convince people and tell them about the sport.” Despite this, Duan takes pride in her sport and continues to grow as a golfer. “ I THINK IT IS A LOT OF FUN, AND IT HELPS YOU MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS Said Duan, “I think it is a lot of fun, and it helps you manBECAUSE OBVIOUSLY age your emotions ” THERE’S A LOT OF STRESSFUL TIMES. OLIVIA DUAN because obviously there’s a lot of stressful times.” Duan is working enthusiastically towards her goals. By the end of next summer, she wants to win an AJGA Tournament. After high school, she intends to play Division I college golf and hopes to be recruited by the end of next year. SPORTS | 25