Kamehameha alum and Colorado golfer gets back on course

Colorado senior golfer Brittany Fan has the same goals she had as a junior.

The difference between now and last season, which didn’t turn out so well, is those goals aren’t expectations.

“Goals are something you can work toward,” Fan said Tuesday. “Expectations are something that when they don’t get met, you get frustrated and you start to question why do you even practice and put in all this time.”

It was those expectations entering her junior year with the Buffs that derailed her season for a bit. Her scoring average went up from her sophomore season and she failed to finish in the top three in any tournament.

Returning home for the annual Pac-12 preview on the Big Island last October, Fan finished at 17-over 236 and in 47th place. That was 14 shots and 35 places worse than how she did as a sophomore.

“(The struggles) started in the summer and just kind of carried over into my fall season,” said Fan, a 2013 Kamehameha alumna. “I tightened up maybe a few technique things, but the biggest change with me is my mental aspect of the game. I’ve changed the entire way I looked at the game.”

Fan returns to Hawaii this weekend for the same tournament that starts Monday on the Big Island. Refocused, re-energized and surrounded by a highly competitive team ranked No. 11, Fan is confident she can turn around her fortunes from a year ago.

“It’s my senior year and I’ve gained a lot of experience and I feel great right now,” Fan said. “I’m the only senior on the team, so that’s exciting, and I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress.”

Ever since Fan followed her brother, Michael, to one of his practices as a 12-year-old, golf has become her passion.

She admits she’s been obsessive over it at times. As a junior at Kamehameha, she elected to finish high school taking online classes so she could practice every day.

A routine day of golf was practicing from 9 in the morning until 7 at night.

Her brother, who played at Air Force, and her father were both very supportive of her decision. It took her some time, however, to convince mom.

“I think there was a little bit of both excitement and shock,” Fan recalled about telling her family. “My mom kept asking me every day if I was sure I wanted to do this. She’d ask if I have any regrets and every day I kept telling her the same thing. I was 100 percent sure I wanted to do this.”

Although she had some opportunities to turn professional, Fan felt college was the best way to go.

She chose Colorado because of the coaching staff and set the school record for the best scoring average by a freshman at 74.87.

She had two top-10 finishes as a sophomore and finished the season with a team-best 28 rounds in the 70s.

Although she hit a roadblock her junior, she has started off this year with back-to-back top-20 finishes entering a tournament she usually does well in.

“I’ve played it five times in my career and enjoyed it for the most part,” she said.

Ten of the 12 Pac-12 teams will compete in the tournament along with Hawaii.

Other Hawaii high school graduates competing for Pac-12 teams include UCLA’s Mariel Galdiano (Punahou), USC’s Allisen Corpuz (Punahou) and Oregon State’s Mari Nishiura (Mililani).