PHOTO COURTESY UTRGV ATHLETICS
Philosophy major Rachel Yu is a redshirt senior for the UTRGV Women’s Golf Team. She began her athletic career at UTRGV in 2018. Prior to playing at UTRGV, she played for Texas A&M International during the 2016-2017 season. During the 2019-2020 fall season, she opened with a three-round score of 236 at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of golf?
A: “I think just, for me, golf really reflects life, and so there’s a lot of things that can happen. You can do everything right in, like, your pre-shot and it can still not go the way you want it … like, you hit a sprinkler head and you go out of bounds. You lose your golf ball and take a penalty. And, it’s very much, like, you can do everything right and things don’t pan out. So, my favorite aspect of golf is learning how to adapt and being flexible in working with opportunities you have and overcoming the challenges you face.”
Q: How do you think golf has bettered you?
A: “It’s really shaped my whole personality. I feel like maybe my patience that I can have with myself and others comes from learning how to play in the competitive environment. Sometimes, a round of golf will take six hours and it’s only supposed to take four, which is already long enough. So, definitely the patience aspect of it and, just, I definitely learned how to think and problem solve, which is another big aspect of being a competitive golfer.”
Q: What do you think makes you good at golf?
A: “I think it’s the type of problem solving and overall my intelligence. I am physically gifted to play, like, pound for pound. I hit it pretty far for my size. So, I mean, that always helps. But, I really do think that I can outsmart the field. Not just in terms of like, arrogance, like, ‘Oh, I’m smarter than you.’ But, it’s the difference of knowing, like, ‘Hey, it’s blowing 17 miles an hour, not 12.’ That makes a difference in being able to recognize certain things. So definitely my golf IQ.”
Q: If you could live in any place in the world, where would it be?
A: “Lowkey, as much as like, there’s been problems that have come out of Europe, with like colonization, it is also the epicenter of continental philosophy, which is what I’m super interested in. I think being there and just the type of mindset that comes from being in Europe, or in modern Europe, I think would be an interesting experience.”
—Compiled by Karina Rodriguez
