LA COSTA ---- The fun never seems to stop for Tiffany Joh.
The former Rancho Bernardo High golfer learned on Tuesday that she received a sponsors exemption into the Kia Classic and will be making her professional LPGA debut at the tournament scheduled for March 25-28 at La Costa Resort and Spa.
Good times for the longtime San Diego County resident.
"It's just really exciting," Joh said at a press conference at the resort. "I hope I can get out there and gain some experience. I hope I can play well for San Diego. But at the same time just getting into the event is so overwhelming."
Joh, 23, was a four-time All-American at UCLA and a two-time champion of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. In November, she won the Futures Tour qualifying tournament to earn a spot on the LPGA's developmental tour.
Beyond that, though, Joh has embraced the social networking revolution with a blog and series of You Tube videos that highlight her bubbly, engaging and occasionally wacky personality.
"I guess this sounds really bad, but I kind of have a cyber-life," Joh said.
"I'm probably more outgoing online than I am in person.
"One of the cart guys came up and he was like, 'Dude, I totally saw your song on You Tube.' And I was like, 'Oh, that wasn't me.' "
That is about how Joh felt about her golf game last summer when, following a string of missed cuts, she began to cry as she drove to a tour stop with her mother, Oak, who then found herself reduced to tears, too.
"I can't see you do this to yourself," Joh said her mother told her.
There were lighter moments, too, while touring with her mother, a frequent foil in her blog. Joh said their different music tastes leave them facing off over whether to play Lady Gaga or Simon & Garfunkel.
Unfortunately, the slump came to define Joh's first summer as a professional golfer. Joh missed five of eight cuts and banked just under $2,000. He best finish was a tie for 35th. The experience, while dispiriting, was illuminating.
Sort of like passing a bridge over troubled water.
"It's very humbling, but at the same time it's very empowering," she said, "knowing you can still hang in there when the game's slapping you in the face."
The figurative pummeling she endured left Joh a more patient player.
"It was kind of a learn-as-you-go kind of thing," she said. "It wasn't pull out all the stops and make sure your game is rolling on all cylinders. The Duramed Futures Tour teaches you that you have to try and play with what you have. I'm at the point right now where I was freaking out and now I'm kind of toning it back a little bit, not listening to too much Lady Gaga. She gets me really hyper."
Another former North County prep golfer got some good news on Tuesday, as Del Mar's Kaitlin Drolson finished second in a pre-qualifier tournament at La Costa.
Drolson finished with a 78, second to Allison Lee's 77, to earn a spot in the March 22 qualifying tournament for the Kia Classic.
Former Carlsbad High golfer Rachel Morris tied for third with a 79, just missing out on the qualifying tournament.
"It was very challenging," said Drolson, a Torrey Pines High graduate. "The scores were really high. The course was around 6,600 yards but it probably played 7,000 with the wind. It was so bad. I played pretty good considering the conditions."
The top two finishers at the qualifying tournament will earn spots in the 144-player Kia Classic field.
Drolson, who was part of Torrey Pines' 2004 state title team, is a sophomore at Pepperdine.
"It's a completely (different) level," Drolson said, "from juniors into college into professional golf. That's my goal, to get around (professional golf) and experience it."
