ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

Golf athlete Eric Sun shares his athletic journey and future

PRITHIKA SUNDAR writer

Junior Eric Sun spends his days attending classes at Cupertino High School, while making hole in one’s as a competitive golf player. Playing golf since the age of three years old, Sun has been able to develop and perfect his golfing skills throughout his childhood to now. When Sun’s dad used to play golf, he took Sun with him once he was old enough, igniting Sun’s golf journey. Throughout his childhood, Sun has moved across countries as an athlete, coming to Cupertino during late 2019 to early 2020. Sun talks about how back in Canada, he felt like a big fish in a small pond, winning tournaments often.

After moving to Cupertino, Sun says, “The environment was much more competitive, as I pushed myself to work harder.”

As a competitive athlete, Sun undergoes training both at school and outside of school. Aside from school practices, where he connects and works with the other Cupertino athletes and coaches, Sun has a professional coach in Monterey. Sun meets with this coach before or after school practices, and even coaches, Sun has a professional coach in Monterey. Sun meets with this coach before or after school practices, and even on weekends to improve his skill set. Sun undergoes both technical training and conditioning, both key factors that support his golf game. primarily on sharpening skills, whereas in football, there is a balance between skills and conditioning.

In a typical week in his life, Sun has school matches on Tuesdays and Thursdays, preparing for those through practices held on Mondays, all ranging from two to three hours. In addition to this, Sun takes lessons outside of school and practices consistently throughout the week on his own. When asked how he balances academics with athletics, Sun responds that communication is key and staying on top of his school work is his main priority.

As Sun has been continuing his golf journey for over a decade, he has had many different experiences throughout his tournaments and practices. When asked for the most memorable aspect he has learned from golf, he talks about the stereotypes around the sport regarding the lack of diversity as he says, “Golf is a lot more diverse than people think it is, I’ve met a lot of interesting people throughout my playing career.”

Sun has made many personal connections through this sport, as most of his best friends were met through playing golf. Playing in both tournaments or just casual rounds with his friends have brought Sun a lot of unforgettable memories that he will cherish throughout his life.

Before shifting his focus purely to golf, Sun played a variety of sports like hockey, track and football. During his freshman year, Sun took part in football conditioning after speaking to Coach Oswald.

Sun explains how golf is focused

“Often I do work during the car ride to my golf practices, finding any time that I can and using it to the best of my abilities.”

For the 2023 Cupertino golf season, Sun says his coach sets goals for his team and him to meet during each match. Sun is hoping for the team to collectively qualify for the CCS tournament.

As co-captain of the Cupertino Golf team, Braden Monroe, is both a teammate and friend to Sun.

Monroe says, “Now that he’s my co-captain this year, it’s cool to see that we have a lot of similar ideas when it comes to helping teammates, running practices, and more. I’ve actually known Eric for as long as he’s been at Tino, so I’ve seen him change over time. He’s definitely become more confident with himself and his ideas, which is really fun and inspiring to see.”

Sun hopes to continue playing golf in the future as a college athlete, taking his journey in as it progresses