Asia Young plays her tee shot on the fourth hole during the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Okla. on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Ted Pio Roda/USGA)

There was a time a couple of years ago at Pacific Crest Middle School when Asia Young was missing weeks on end during the spring. She wasn’t skipping class or dealing with illnesses, though — she was on the golf course.

Over the past several years, golf has become the focal point of Young’s life. She passed up the typical teenage experience to devote more time to golf. She attends online school to help better meet the travel demands to not only compete, but win tournaments on the junior golf circuit.

“You can’t really do everything,” Young said. “You have to sacrifice a little bit. But being able to go across the country and compete, that has its own benefits.”

When Young was around 10 and a half years old, she decided to stop swimming competitively for Bend Swim Club and pick up a set of golf clubs. She attended a couple of golf camps at Awbrey Glen Golf Club near her house and began practicing on her own outside of the organized practices and participating in tournaments hosted by the Central Oregon Junior Golf Association.

She became hooked on the sport.

“I really liked to compete so that brought me into it,” Young said. “Every shot you never know what to expect. One shot could be the worst shot of your life and the next one could be your best. It is that constant of not knowing what is going to happen.”

Young would have just finished up her sophomore year at Summit, but instead she’s attending online school at Laurel Springs School so that she can travel to different parts of the country to compete. She played at some of the most prestigious courses throughout the years, including Farmindale, the site of the 2025 Ryder Cup, as well as playing at the Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C.

The past seven months have been a successful showing on the links for Young. Since late December, she has finished in the top-14 of five tournaments on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, including two individual wins.

Young won the three-day Arizona Silver Belle Championship at Briarwood County Club in Sun City West, Arizona, on Dec. 28. On April 10, she won the Callaway Junior tournament at Canebrake Club in Athens, Alabama.

On May 14, Young t eamed with Natalie Yen of West Linn and captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma.

“You can’t really expect to go out and win because everyone is so good, but I think we both went in with the mentality that we are a team and we are going to take it one hole at a time, one shot at a time, one day at a time and see how far we can get,” Young said. “And we ended up getting pretty far.”

Earlier this month, college coaches were able to start reaching out to recruit athletes. Young is hoping what she has been able to accomplish the past month ultimately leads to a golf scholarship.

“This year has been really good which has given me some confidence going into the summer,” Young said. “I think it is important to manage expectations because golf is so up and down. I still have to keep practicing, still have to work hard to keep going.”