Xiaofei Chen '25 Recruiting Profile

Golf has captured my attention since I first picked up a club at seven years old. Part of that is that I love to be outside, but there is much more than that. Golf can be played at a high level for all my life.  It is a sport of perseverance, focus, dealing with pressure, and having a kind of mental toughness. That’s why I love every time I'm on the course.

Accordingly, golf has shaped major parts of my personality. For one, it has shaped my work ethic. To improve in this sport, you need to constantly work on your swing and game. What this translates to for me is practicing six or seven days a week for three hours. Even outside the course, I’m thinking about my swing, and what I could fix. All of this has shown through the success and constant improvement of my scores, which will continue throughout my college career.

Additionally, it has continued to hone my attention to detail. Even a few centimeters off can have devastating consequences. To succeed, I need to consistently focus on getting every shot, chip, and putt just right, by practicing the same technique thousands of times.

Finally, along with playing many other sports, such as soccer, basketball, and swimming, golf has continued to build my athleticism and competitive drive. Golf is deceptively physical, with hitting further and having the endurance to play 18 holes for multiple days being a major part of success. In addition, being competitive, and having the drive to push just that tiny bit further than my competitors, has allowed me to win multiple tournaments, such as WJGA and USKG events.

Outside the course, I apply the same mentality in academics and excel with a 4.0 GPA in multiple AP classes and a 1520 SAT. I also help in growing golf in the Seattle area by volunteering for First Tee – Greater Seattle by helping coach young golfers. I would love to see more people able to enjoy golf as I have.

In college, I hope to both continue to competitively golf as well as pursue an excellent education, of which I want to major in applied mathematics. I believe that my achievements in competitive golf as well as my rigorous high school course load have helped me prepare for a successful college career.