University of Tennessee Athletics
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Catching Up With Yang and Retamoza
January 29, 2008 | Women's Golf
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? In just its 16th year as a varsity sport at the University of Tennessee, the Lady Vol golf program has produced several accomplished student-athletes who have gone on to hold high positions in the world of golf. Two of those graduates, Young-A ???Jacqueline??? Yang and Violeta Retamoza, are currently members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Prior to the start of the LPGA season on Feb. 14, they took some time to reflect on their collegiate experiences and talk about their upcoming years on the Tour.
???I think having two players on tour is a tremendous honor for our program,??? Lady Vol Head Coach Judi Pavon said. ???It also proves that what we are doing can help prepare a player for the LPGA Tour.???
Yang, a native of Tae-Gu City, South Korea, graduated from Tennessee in 2002 with a degree in psychology and joined the tour in 2003. To date, Yang has earned $618,333.00 in 95 tournaments over the course of her four-year career. As a rookie, she posted three top-10 finishes, with her best ranking coming at the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic where she placed second.
Yang contributes much of her success to her parents and coach Pavon.
???It is so hard to see girls who don???t graduate and turn pro these days,??? Yang said. ???I don???t know what the rush is. I am very thankful for my parents who strongly suggested that I should graduate before I turn pro. I haven???t regretted the fact that I joined the Tour a little later than most of the women because I was busy getting a college degree and experiencing college life.???
???I don???t even know where to begin talking about coach Pavon,??? Yang said. ???I think Judi was and still is like a big sister. Even her husband Luis is my golf buddy and like a big brother. My college career and life would not have gone smoothly without their help and support. Judi was not just a great advisor in golf, but she was a great advisor in every aspect of my life.???
Yang holds many records at Tennessee and is the only Lady Vol to be named a National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American and First-Team All-Southeastern Conference each of her four years at Rocky Top. She is also one of three (Abby Pearson and Retamoza are the others) Lady Vols to be crowned SEC Freshman of the Year, accomplishing the feat in 1999.
In 2000, Yang led Tennessee to a program-best, fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. She was the only Lady Vol to finish in the top 10, as she tied with two other individuals at the par-72 Crosswater Course in Sunriver, Ore., for the No. 10 spot. One year later, Yang shot a fifth-place even-par 288 at the national championship to earn the best individual placement in UT history.
Yang was a consistent contributor on the Lady Vol squad throughout her entire career. She has etched her name in the Lady Vol record books with the most top-10 finishes in a season (nine), most top-10 finishes in a career (26), most rounds of par or under in a career (36), lowest career stroke average (74.37) and most tournaments as the top UT scorer (31), to name a few. She also holds the lowest single-round score in UT history at 65.
Yang was the top UT scorer at the conference championships each of her four years on the squad. In the first two seasons of her collegiate career she placed second, followed by a 10th-place ranking as a junior, and tied for third her senior year.
???The best thing about my amateur and collegiate career has been my consistent performance,??? Yang said. ???When I went to my first LPGA Qualifying School, I had no second guessing. I knew I would make it.???
Retamoza, from Aguascalientes, Mexico, came to Tennessee in 2002 and graduated four years later with a degree in finance. She earned exempt status for the 2008 LPGA season by placing fourth on the Duramed FUTURES Tour season-ending money list. During her time on the FUTURES Tour, Retamoza recorded six top-10 finishes, including a win at the Alliance Bank Golf Classic, and three runner-up placements. Now a card-carrying member of the LPGA, she will spend her rookie season learning and enjoying herself.
???I???m not really sure what to expect of this year,??? Retamoza said. ???I want to learn as much as I can and enjoy the process. It will be such a great experience that I want to live every single detail to the fullest. My dream is to be happy and to play the best golf I can.???
As a member of the Orange and White squad, Retamoza played in 128 rounds, averaging 74.47 strokes per round. She accumulated three individual titles throughout her career, including one at Tennessee???s home tournament, the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships, in 2004. Her name appears numerous times in the UT annals, most notably on the lists for career finishes in the top 10 (second with 17) and career rounds of par or under (second with 35).
???College was a very important part of my life,??? Retamoza said. ???Not only in golf, but in every single aspect of my life. I learned so much about myself that I couldn???t imagine myself right now without my life in Tennessee.
???Coach Pavon was, and is a very big part of who I am right now,??? Retamoza said. ???She made me realize that golf isn???t only a sport, but a way to live your life. She was one of my biggest supporters and one of my best advisors in everything. I remember we had bad and good days, but the good days always came out on top. She is a great golf coach, but most of all a great life coach.???
Retamoza is one of eight All-Americans from Rocky Top, earning the distinction in 2003 and 2005. She was also a prominent player in conference action, as she was named the SEC Freshman of Year in 2003 and the player of the year in 2005, in addition to three All-conference nods. Retamoza followed Yang as the top UT scorer in the 2003 and 2004 SEC Championship Tournaments. As a freshman, she finished second. In 2004, she tied for first before losing in a playoff.
???My golf career has been full of opportunities and experiences,??? Retamoza said. ???It has been a long process, but everything in it has been worth it. Sometimes a dream seems very far away, but with sacrifices and desire, everything can come true.???
According to Pavon, Yang and Retamoza came to Tennessee as dedicated and gifted freshmen. With a mix of hard work and natural talent, they became successful in their chosen careers.
???Both of these players have a lot of natural talent,??? Pavon said. ???Which is always a big help, but they also both had high goals and are very self-motivated. It takes both physical and mental greatness to reach the level they have reached. Also, both players were very good students and very grown up in college. That has probably helped them in such a tough career.???
Yang and Retamoza both excelled in the classroom as well as on the course. Yang earned two GTE Academic All-America awards, which is now known as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award. She was an NGCA Academic All-American and on the SEC Honor Roll three times. Retamoza was an NGCA Academic All-American in 2004 and is the only Lady Vol golfer to be named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a distinction she earned in 2005. She was also on the conference???s honor roll on three occasions.
???I think our players are very excited for Violeta and Young-A and are very proud of them,??? Pavon said. ???Many of our athletes have played with one or both of them, so I think it really helps the current players to measure themselves against those who have ???made it??? and see where they are good enough and where they might have to improve. I also think it gives them confidence in knowing that what they are working on day in and day out could help them reach their dreams of the LPGA Tour.???
More information on Yang and Retamoza can be found on the LPGA???s Web site, www.LPGA.com.
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