Story courtesy of James Tabafunda:  Northwest Asian Weekly

Kristin Tan is a well-rounded teenage girl. As a golfer, she has the talent, mental discipline and support team necessary for professional success. She continues to improve in a sport known for its talented female teen players—Michelle Wie, for example.

But more important to her parents, the 14-year-old golfer has improved who she is as a person. Through her involvement with The First Tee of Greater Seattle (FTGS) over the last four years, she has become a leader and mentor to other young girls who have just started learning golf. She herself played golf for the first time at age 7, with encouragement from her mother, Andrea. Tan recalls she found it “somewhat boring.” A year later, however, she discovered tournaments, which were much more exciting, and changed her mind.

When she was 10, her father, Harvey, registered her in FTGS’s programs. By age 11, she could already drive the ball almost 235 yards with one swing.

Tan credits FTGS for helping nurture her maturity and confidence by promoting life skills and character development through the game of golf. She says, “Just being around all kinds of different people and playing (golf) with all kinds of different people, (confidence) just grows.” In last year’s AAA Metro golf championship, she came in second place. “That was meaningful because I shot one of my best scores (69) ever,” said Tan with pride.

Last month, after an intensive selection process held at Kansas State University, Tan became FTGS’s first representative—one of only 60 total chosen—to play in the 2007 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course in California. Teaming up with PGA champion Bob Gilder, they finished the second round on Sept. 2 with a total score of 141, just missing the cut to qualify for the tournament’s final round the next day.

Tan and Playing Partners at Pebble Beach

“She has been setting goals on the golf course continuously, whether it was at the Wal-Mart Open or whether it was being able to play with her high school team or whether it was to qualify for state,” said Kimberly Brown, assistant director of FTGS. “I mean, this is a habit of excellence by her.”

Now back home in South Seattle, she lights up with a smile and speaks with youthful excitement about her Pebble Beach experience. She cherishes meeting several of the game’s leading professionals, including the No. 1 woman golfer in the world, Lorena Ochoa, and receiving a Wal-Mart First Tee Open plaque. Her favorite keepsake: a picture she took with Ochoa, the athlete she most respects.

Tan is on her way to becoming a role model herself. Golf, she says, teaches her that integrity and honesty really count. “That’s what the sport is (about),” she asserts. Integrity and honesty are two of the “Nine Core Values” FTGS encourages its 1,000 young members to uphold in their daily lives. The others are confidence, perseverance, courtesy, judgment, sportsmanship, responsibility and respect. Tan’s other achievements include placing second in the Filipino Community of Seattle’s Spelling Bee when she was 7 years old. “And then, when I was 8, I won it,” adds Tan. She is also a Paul Robeson Scholar-Athlete Award recipient “for basketball involvement and having a 4.0 GPA.”

Tan is a sophomore at Holy Names Academy. Her favorite subject is Scripture literature. “I feel it (the Bible) really helps us know about our present, like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” she said. She added that English is also a favorite subject and hopes to someday major in journalism. As for golf, she said, “I’d just like to see how far I can get in the game. I’m hoping to get a golf scholarship and play Division I NCAA golf at a major university.”