Courtesy photoA vital asset to the Cal Poly women’s golf team, Stephanie Yocum was named the Big West Conference Women’s Golfer of the Month in February.
The communications sophomore, who has been playing for eight years, was raised in what she calls a “golf family.” Her dad is an avid golfer, and she inevitably became interested in the game when her older sister started playing.
“I was the younger sister, so I wanted to do everything my sister did,” she says of Shannon, who plays at Cal.
When the sisters are back home together, she says, they have sibling competitions, and often beat their dad.
“He doesn’t like that too much,” she says.
Her success hasn’t stopped there, though.
Yocum, who entered the conference championships Monday with a 77.5 average, third on the team, and a team-high five top-20 finishes, came in the top 10 on three occasions this season.
At the Lady Braveheart Challenge hosted by UC Riverside on Feb. 11-12, she led the Mustangs to victory amongst 17 teams at the Oak Valley Golf Course in Beaumont.
The Rancho Palos Verdes native earned top individual honors by carding a 75 and a 76 for a seven-over-par 151 total.
Through Monday’s two rounds of play at the Big West Championships at the Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Mission Viejo, Yocum was tied for 27th individually, but Cal Poly, with a 622 total, was third overall, trailing second-place UC Davis by five strokes and leader UC Irvine by 15.
Yocum played all four years at the varsity level at Peninsula High and was named team captain her senior year. Comparing the sport at the high school and college levels, she says despite the added work and intense commitment, “It’s actually a lot more fun in college. You’re all there working for a common goal, and we have a lot more resources.”
The Mustangs have about 10 courses they can play on less than an hour from Cal Poly, and practice most often at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande.
Yocum says Cypress Ridge is not only her most frequented course, but also her favorite.
“It’s a challenging course, but not too challenging,” she explains. “You can always count on it being in good condition.”
Yocum sleeps and golfs, it seems.
She’s up early most mornings for a 7 a.m. tee time or workout, during which she does a variety of conditioning involving weight training and cardio to prepare for long competitions.
The team has mostly range practice during the week, during which they’ll play a three-to- four-hole loop, and, on weekends, 18 holes along with a more drill-like structure to practices.
Almost every weekend this season, she says, the team has left San Luis Obispo on Saturday for a tournament, practiced on-site Sunday and competed Monday and Tuesday.
“We miss a lot of class,” she says, while crediting professors for their understanding. “Most people don’t realize how long it takes or how much time it consumes to play 18 – it takes all day.”
The Mustangs are young, with only one senior on the 12-woman roster.
Being such a tight-knit group will only help their cohesion in the future, Yocum says.
“We have really good chemistry on the team,” she says. “And we all push each other to get better.”
The final round of the conference championships begins at 7:30 a.m. today.