Colorado University Athletics
The Road Less Traveled
April 19, 2017 | Women's Golf
At the ripe age of 12, Colorado women's golfer Brittany Fan began to acquire a true passion and gift for golf. However, most serious golfers begin their training between the ages of six and seven, so Fan was a few years behind. Growing up in Hawaii, her time was not at all like a walk on the beach.
"Starting golf at a double-digit age is considered very late," Fan says. "Only because golf is not something that can be rushed, it is a skill that develops over a long period of time. You cannot fake experience in this sport."
The odds were against Fan at the time and she fully recognized her handicap.
"I had to work twice as hard to get close to the same level as her competition," notes Fan.
At age 12, Fan dedicated six days a week to attend the KMR School of Golf in Kaneohe, Hawaii on top of juggling classes. To aspiring golfers, the name KMR means one thing: the highest training for golf in Hawaii.
To attend both the KMR School of Golf and high school, Fan recounts having to sacrifice her social life and even time for rest and relaxation.
" I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to accomplish so that made sacrificing my social life and free time less painful," says Fan.
When Fan was only a junior in high school while attending KMR, she had to make a decision that would have a profound impact on her future golf career. After countless discussions with her high school principal and advisor, Fan came to the executive decision to switch to homeschooling. However, the process of her choice appeared to be much more complicated than Fan had ever anticipated.
"I ended up having to sign a contract where I had to choose one of the two options laid before me: the first one was that I could take the first semester of my junior year off and come back and finish my senior year like a normal student, or I would take the rest of the time I had in high school off," says Fan.
Instantly, Fan knew the second option was what she had always wanted, but there was a catch which added more complications. If she were to take the year and a half left of high school to leave and play golf, she would be stripped of the ability to walk in her high school commencement, attend prom, and participate in her school's exclusive song contest.
For the majority of high school students, prom is one of the most important parts of your high school career, but for Fan, there was one thing more valuable to her at the time as she recalls her choice.
"The choice was obvious," Fan said. "But my mom had a very hard time adjusting to the fact that a 16 year old can make that decision and be willing to give up everything."
Fan knew that once the decision was made, there was no going back and changing her mind.
Before she made the final decision to leave high school, she recounts sitting in class daydreaming about the fact that she would soon be golfing and training instead of learning how to calculate the square root of 16 in pre-calc.
"I just wanted to keep getting better and better," says Fan.
With the final signature of the rather daunting contract, Fan felt confident in her decision and could hardly wait to start this new chapter of her golf career. For the duration of the year and a half, that is precisely what Fan did at the KMR School of Golf.
"KMR is not a school where everybody can get in," recalls Fan. "Coach Kevin M. Ralbovsky, was very selective and extremely competitive."
Those who attended KMR were not only asked to golf for countless hours a day, but the school required their athletes to participate in a series of cardio intensive workouts each day. Fan recalls having to repeatedly hit a sledgehammer against a large tire. Random? Absolutely not. Every single workout, down to the repetitions, had a special purpose intended to better the targeted golfer.
"The school taught me discipline and how to manage my life," Fan said.
Growing up in Hawaii playing golf was difficult because she would often play and practice with the same people everyday, which proved to be troublesome in the development of her skills.
"In order to be the best, you need to play with the best," says Fan.
Brittany and her family decided to fly her to the mainland of Hawaii once every month where serious golfers went to play. Though each trip was a financial burden on Fan's pocket book, she knew that it was absolutely worth the sacrifice to in order to become the best golfer of her ability.
Fan notes that the KMR School of Golf was completely different than being on the varsity golf team in high school.
"I ate, slept, and played golf," says Fan.
Before Fan came to begin her collegiate golf career at the University of Colorado, she took a 'one year break' which is legal in NCAA terms. Therefore, she entered CU with the class of 2014. In that one year, Fan worked diligently at her golf game while taking online classes to transfer into CU.
"The main purpose of me taking that one year break was to train longer hours and travel more without having the restrictions of school," says Fan.
Often times, Fan is asked why she decided to go to chilly Colorado from sunny Hawaii.
After visiting many different colleges across the country, Fan was overwhelmed with the wide variety of state of the art training facilities, valued education systems, and beautiful campuses.
But when it came to having to make a final decision, " It really came down to the coaches, they have a lot of experience and they both played professionally and I got along very well with them," says Fan.
In addition to the coaching staff, Fan would often ask herself which school would allow her to play to her complete potential and help her to fully develop her skill set. Within one week of visiting Colorado, Fan felt more than confident when she chose to play golf at the University of Colorado.
Looking back, graduating high school at the age of 17 is not something you hear everyday, but Fan believed this was the best route to take in order to secure her chances of being the best golfer she could be.
When Fan began her time at CU in August of 2014, the transition from being home schooled, to traveling for a year, to playing golf at a university was quite an adjustment for her.
"At first there were a lot of distractions," Fan said. "It was very difficult at first to have to practice my golf game, have team workouts, then plan more workouts outside of that, plus manage school work at the same time."
Fan laughs as she comes up with her own personalized description for college, "Basically you do everything on your own in college, that your parents used to do for you."
Fan is subtly referring to her mom, Sharon Zambo-Fan, washing her clothes, cooking delectable Hawaiian meals, and driving her to class.
"All of a sudden, my schedule was flipped," Fan recounts, as she notes that for the duration of her life she was used to spending the majority of her day golfing, and a small amount of her day doing homework.
Now, at least half of her day consists of attending class and doing homework, which has been quite the adjustment.
As Fan's junior year of college is coming to an end, she still carries the same positive mindset as she did the first day of her freshman year three years ago: opportunity not obligation.
"I was never forced to golf, or practice or do extra workouts. Nobody ever had to tell me to do it. I wanted to do it from inner passion and desire to want to be the best. " I don't think a lot of people would want to give up what I gave up- socially, for golf...I think that is a very difficult thing to do," says Fan.
Though Fan is living her dream playing golf at a Pac-12 school, she notes that it is important to remind herself why playing golf is so important to her and to never take her life for granted.
"I play for golf for three reasons: 1.) I do it for myself- self gratification. 2.) I do it for all of the people who have helped me along the way. 3.) I do it because I want to inspire others, and I want to create this idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough and you are fueled from within," says Fan.
Fan constantly reminds herself that success is not a straight line, but with hard work and dedication, she can and will accomplish anything she puts her mind to. Though Fan may be spending the majority of her time in Hawaii this summer, you have a better chance finding her on the course then the beach.
"Starting golf at a double-digit age is considered very late," Fan says. "Only because golf is not something that can be rushed, it is a skill that develops over a long period of time. You cannot fake experience in this sport."
The odds were against Fan at the time and she fully recognized her handicap.
"I had to work twice as hard to get close to the same level as her competition," notes Fan.
At age 12, Fan dedicated six days a week to attend the KMR School of Golf in Kaneohe, Hawaii on top of juggling classes. To aspiring golfers, the name KMR means one thing: the highest training for golf in Hawaii.
To attend both the KMR School of Golf and high school, Fan recounts having to sacrifice her social life and even time for rest and relaxation.
" I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to accomplish so that made sacrificing my social life and free time less painful," says Fan.
When Fan was only a junior in high school while attending KMR, she had to make a decision that would have a profound impact on her future golf career. After countless discussions with her high school principal and advisor, Fan came to the executive decision to switch to homeschooling. However, the process of her choice appeared to be much more complicated than Fan had ever anticipated.
"I ended up having to sign a contract where I had to choose one of the two options laid before me: the first one was that I could take the first semester of my junior year off and come back and finish my senior year like a normal student, or I would take the rest of the time I had in high school off," says Fan.
Instantly, Fan knew the second option was what she had always wanted, but there was a catch which added more complications. If she were to take the year and a half left of high school to leave and play golf, she would be stripped of the ability to walk in her high school commencement, attend prom, and participate in her school's exclusive song contest.
For the majority of high school students, prom is one of the most important parts of your high school career, but for Fan, there was one thing more valuable to her at the time as she recalls her choice.
"The choice was obvious," Fan said. "But my mom had a very hard time adjusting to the fact that a 16 year old can make that decision and be willing to give up everything."
Fan knew that once the decision was made, there was no going back and changing her mind.
Before she made the final decision to leave high school, she recounts sitting in class daydreaming about the fact that she would soon be golfing and training instead of learning how to calculate the square root of 16 in pre-calc.
"I just wanted to keep getting better and better," says Fan.
With the final signature of the rather daunting contract, Fan felt confident in her decision and could hardly wait to start this new chapter of her golf career. For the duration of the year and a half, that is precisely what Fan did at the KMR School of Golf.
"KMR is not a school where everybody can get in," recalls Fan. "Coach Kevin M. Ralbovsky, was very selective and extremely competitive."
Those who attended KMR were not only asked to golf for countless hours a day, but the school required their athletes to participate in a series of cardio intensive workouts each day. Fan recalls having to repeatedly hit a sledgehammer against a large tire. Random? Absolutely not. Every single workout, down to the repetitions, had a special purpose intended to better the targeted golfer.
"The school taught me discipline and how to manage my life," Fan said.
Growing up in Hawaii playing golf was difficult because she would often play and practice with the same people everyday, which proved to be troublesome in the development of her skills.
"In order to be the best, you need to play with the best," says Fan.
Brittany and her family decided to fly her to the mainland of Hawaii once every month where serious golfers went to play. Though each trip was a financial burden on Fan's pocket book, she knew that it was absolutely worth the sacrifice to in order to become the best golfer of her ability.
Fan notes that the KMR School of Golf was completely different than being on the varsity golf team in high school.
"I ate, slept, and played golf," says Fan.
Before Fan came to begin her collegiate golf career at the University of Colorado, she took a 'one year break' which is legal in NCAA terms. Therefore, she entered CU with the class of 2014. In that one year, Fan worked diligently at her golf game while taking online classes to transfer into CU.
"The main purpose of me taking that one year break was to train longer hours and travel more without having the restrictions of school," says Fan.
Often times, Fan is asked why she decided to go to chilly Colorado from sunny Hawaii.
After visiting many different colleges across the country, Fan was overwhelmed with the wide variety of state of the art training facilities, valued education systems, and beautiful campuses.
But when it came to having to make a final decision, " It really came down to the coaches, they have a lot of experience and they both played professionally and I got along very well with them," says Fan.
In addition to the coaching staff, Fan would often ask herself which school would allow her to play to her complete potential and help her to fully develop her skill set. Within one week of visiting Colorado, Fan felt more than confident when she chose to play golf at the University of Colorado.
Looking back, graduating high school at the age of 17 is not something you hear everyday, but Fan believed this was the best route to take in order to secure her chances of being the best golfer she could be.
When Fan began her time at CU in August of 2014, the transition from being home schooled, to traveling for a year, to playing golf at a university was quite an adjustment for her.
"At first there were a lot of distractions," Fan said. "It was very difficult at first to have to practice my golf game, have team workouts, then plan more workouts outside of that, plus manage school work at the same time."
Fan laughs as she comes up with her own personalized description for college, "Basically you do everything on your own in college, that your parents used to do for you."
Fan is subtly referring to her mom, Sharon Zambo-Fan, washing her clothes, cooking delectable Hawaiian meals, and driving her to class.
"All of a sudden, my schedule was flipped," Fan recounts, as she notes that for the duration of her life she was used to spending the majority of her day golfing, and a small amount of her day doing homework.
Now, at least half of her day consists of attending class and doing homework, which has been quite the adjustment.
As Fan's junior year of college is coming to an end, she still carries the same positive mindset as she did the first day of her freshman year three years ago: opportunity not obligation.
"I was never forced to golf, or practice or do extra workouts. Nobody ever had to tell me to do it. I wanted to do it from inner passion and desire to want to be the best. " I don't think a lot of people would want to give up what I gave up- socially, for golf...I think that is a very difficult thing to do," says Fan.
Though Fan is living her dream playing golf at a Pac-12 school, she notes that it is important to remind herself why playing golf is so important to her and to never take her life for granted.
"I play for golf for three reasons: 1.) I do it for myself- self gratification. 2.) I do it for all of the people who have helped me along the way. 3.) I do it because I want to inspire others, and I want to create this idea that anything is possible if you work hard enough and you are fueled from within," says Fan.
Fan constantly reminds herself that success is not a straight line, but with hard work and dedication, she can and will accomplish anything she puts her mind to. Though Fan may be spending the majority of her time in Hawaii this summer, you have a better chance finding her on the course then the beach.
Players Mentioned
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