A Ram Choi is one heck of a golfer.

In her first month as a Viking, the 19-year-old University of Washington transfer tied the PSU school record for a single-round score with a 67 at the OSU Invitational, then shot a 218 for 54 holes to win the Rose City Collegiate tournament and was Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Oct. 3. Choi's 74.91 scoring average leads all Viking golfers after four fall tournaments.

All that came after qualifying for - and playing in - an LPGA Tour event last summer.     

What most don't yet know about the Seoul, Korea native who moved with her family to Surrey, BC (just outside Vancouver) when she was five, is that she plays seven musical instruments and recently began taking instruction in the Korean martial art Taekwondo. Oh, and that she earned a four-point her senior year at Frasier Heights Secondary (“nothing under 90,” she said proudly).    

At age of three, her parents, Min Ja Choi and Do Hwan Choi, had a small violin in her hands. She was taught using the internationally famous Suzuki Method, developed in Japan for especially young students. It involves initially playing by ear, learning notes later.    

Introducing their daughter early to music was natural. Choi's mother majored in composition and taught piano in Seoul. She reported that her dad, manager of computer programing for a Vancouver, BC firm, “has a great voice.”     

At six, she started on the piano… and became acquainted with her favorite overall composer, Frederick Chopin. Looking ahead to secondary school, she added flute to her list, since violin and piano aren't staples of many high school marching bands.     

“When I got to high school, I could read music, so they said 'we need a drummer, so you can be our drummer',” Choi said. She took private drumming lessons in order to do it. And, during high school, she added trumpet, saxophone and guitar.      

She's only been studying classical guitar for about 18 months, but it's her favorite instrument.     

The guitar can make a lot of different sounds.  She can play a wide range of music.     

“With most instruments, there are only one or two ways to make a sound.  With a guitar, you can strum it, hit it, pick it and create lots of different sounds,” she said.      

Choi is a person with lots of energy. With a full plate of music, studying and friends, she also did what her peers were doing in grade school. She took up soccer. She loved the sport and excelled at it. Today, Choi stands 5'3” and her parents feared she'd be too small for soccer.       

So, a friend of her mother's offered to teach her golf… which she instantly hated.     

She started inside hitting chip shots into a net.     

“I didn't like golf. It was like they were forcing me. Every time they'd take me, I'd be like 'I don't want to go'.  None of my peers were playing golf,” she said.      

She liked soccer more. “There was more running around in soccer. In golf you're just standing around. I was impatient.”     

That was before her first outing on a full-sized, par 72 golf course. “I shot a 91 on 18 holes, so I thought maybe I should play golf.” It was only six months after she'd reluctantly taken up the sport.     

She describes her life at that point as “hectic… I had a lot of stuff I needed to do… soccer, swimming, golf, studying”.      

At 15, she started playing in golf tournaments. That ended her soccer career.    

“I was playing at the highest level of soccer I could play where I was, but I missed a lot of soccer tryouts because of golf tournaments. So quitting soccer just happened,” she recalled.  

When she was 16, she was winning junior tournaments in Washington and came to the attention of the University of Washington golf coach, who surprised her with an offer of a full ride.    

“I was surprised to get such a big scholarship offer. It made me even more determined to do well. I started winning some big tournaments, but that offer came before then,” she said. Choi did talk with a number of other college coaches (PSU head coach Kathleen Takaishi wasn't among them), but “UW was a good school, they had a good golf program and it was close to home.”     

The Husky campus was a little too close to home, it turned out.     

“I found it too easy to run home if something went wrong. If I didn't want to do something, I could just go home. When I had stress, I could just leave,” she said. She had high personal expectations academically as well and was finding college academics a little more challenging that she'd expected... adding to her stress.      

She decided she needed to be a little further away from home. Choi was aware of the Vikings because high school friends had been recruited by PSU. Also, one of her friends ended up at Northern Arizona “and I knew they were big competitors of PSU.”     

An Arizona teaching professional working with Choi mentioned to Takaishi that Choi might be interested in transferring.     

“I had watched her play a couple of times, but she wasn't interest in PSU at the time. When I heard A Ram was looking to transfer, I said I'd definitely be interested. She's a very good golfer.  Her strength is ball striking and her accuracy. She hits it solidly, hits lots of fairways and lots of greens.  We're working on her short game.  It was nice getting her as a sophomore. She'll help the team out,” Takaishi said.     

Knowing PSU was interested, Choi contacted Takaishi. “I didn't send resumes to any other schools. PSU was about the right distance. I could still go home (but not as easily), and my parents could still watch me play.  They've supported me in all my decisions. They've tried to come to all my tournaments. My dad registers me for some of the summer tournaments when I'm too busy and he caddies for me whenever he can (he travels a lot in his job).”      

After three months Choi couldn't be happier: “It's the best decision I've made so far.”     

Choi is majoring in Arts and Letters and has an eye on an LPGA playing career.  When that's over, or if that dream gets derailed, “I'd go back and get a degree in teaching. I'd teach high school… math, music and maybe coach golf.”     

She continues with her violin and piano. When she went home over Thanksgiving, she helped out her old high school band instructor with the band.      

Taekwondo is a recent addition to her very full life. “I like it because it's disciplined. It's a good physical outlet.  I helps me get the stress out… and it's fun,” she said.     

Her goal over the next three years is to “grow as a person… be more of an individual, rather than relying on my parents all the time. I want to grow my confidence on the golf course. I can get down on myself. I have to have higher self-esteem.”     

Playing in the one or two position at PSU rather than four or five at Washington has helped in that department, she said.     

Choi is a special player, said Takaishi. “She's fitting in well with the team. Her team feels really good about her. They're making her feel special. She's really fun to be around. She has a playful personality, is shy and quiet until you get to know her. Then, she has a fun personality.    

And that's a mutual sentiment. “I really like my new teammates. They're all very supportive of each other. There's no competing between us,” she said.    

“I want to make history for this school… there are so many histories… I'm really glad I transferred and I want to thank our coach for helping me be a better person and golfer,” Choi said.   

And Choi is one of the reasons Takaishi is optimistic about PSU's chance to climb back atop the Big Sky Conference this year.    

“This team is deep. There's a lot of talent on this team,” she said. Practice resumes for Choi and her teammates the week of Jan. 2 with tournament play beginning again in February.