Virginia Golfer Nov / Dec 2020 | Page 16

at c ( )

Next Up

Spotlighting the next generation of Virginia golfers

IVY LEAGUE STRONG

by CHRIS LANG
SOMETIMES THE PATH TO DIVISION I GOLF ISN ’ T A DIRECT ONE . Take Ben Choe , who is coming off a successful freshman season at Cornell University . Choe ’ s path included a pit stop in the Middle East and a strong academic senior year at Oakton High School that helped him earn a VSGA VIP-Scholarship Foundation Award . We caught up with Choe for this issue ’ s installment of Next Up .
BEN CHOE
AGE : 19 CLUB : VSGA uClub Fairfax COLLEGE : Cornell
VG : Tell us a little bit about your path to Cornell University . We understand you had some Division III offers but chose to try to walk on at Cornell after gaining admission on academic merit . Why was Cornell such an attractive option ? BC : Yes , I had a few offers from Division III schools , but I also applied to a couple of Division I schools with top academics , even though I knew I probably could not play golf . I was wait listed at Cornell and contemplated an offer to play for Tufts University . A couple of months later , I got a phone call from Cornell informing me that a wait list spot opened up for me if I wanted it . I was super excited to get the offer , but I knew that if I attended Cornell , I risked sacrificing a college golf career . Ultimately , I decided that the quality of my education
at Cornell would be worth the risk should I fail to make the team as a walk-on . I also was confident that with a summer of hard work , I had a good chance of making the team .
VG : How difficult was it to make the team as a walk-on ? What went into the qualifying process ? BC : One of the deciding factors of my decision to attend Cornell was the team ’ s walk-on policy . It included five competitive rounds with the team , and if you beat enough guys , you ’ d make the roster . I spoke with Coach ( Matt ) Baughan about this in May and decided to set aside my entire summer to prepare for these qualifying rounds . Those couple months were when my game improved significantly . I had a clear goal and was driven
by my singular focus of making the team . I even drove up early to play a few practice rounds at Cornell ’ s home course ( the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course ). My hard work ultimately paid off as I played well enough in the five qualifying rounds to not only make the roster , but to make the varsity travel team and compete in every tournament of the season .
VG : What aspects of your game improved the most during your freshman season at Cornell ? BC : My mental game improved the most during my freshman year . The pressure and nerves I experienced during the tryout rounds was incomparable to anything
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
14 V IRGINIA G OLFER | N OVEMBER / D ECEMBER 2020 vsga . org