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Hannah Yun is an amazing golf prodigy who
has already accomplished many things at a very young age.
Although relatively short, she is a very long hitter, capable
of 300+ yard drives. She was one of the top junior golfers
in the country, where she trained at the Leadbetter Academy
in Florida. She completed her high school education there,
with a 4.0 grade point average, when she was only 15 years
old. After that, she applied for college and was accepted
at the University of Florida, where she became one of the
youngest college students in the country. She also played
on their golf team, and was named to the All SEC first team.
But Yun was impatient, and felt that college
was only hindering her golf game. She played as an amateur
on the Futures Tour in the summer of 2008, when she was just
16 years old, and did quite well. So, she quit college during
her sophomore year and applied to the Futures Tour for a special
exemption to allow her to play on tour full time as a pro.
Normally, the tour will not allow anyone younger than 17 to
become professional on that tour, and the player is required
to turn 18 sometime during the year she plays.
The Futures Tour accepted her application,
and allowed Yun to join in 2009 even though she would not
be 18 before the end of the year. She turned pro after her
third event that year, and played 15 events total, where her
best finish was a tie for 4th. She ended up 50th on the money
list.
The LPGA denied Yun the right to compete at
the 2009 Qualifying School due to her age, so she continued
on the Futures Tour in 2010. That year her best finish was
15th, so she returned yet again to the Futures Tour in 2011
in her continuing efforts to qualify for the big tour.
Yun struggled a bit on the Futures Tour in
2011, even taking some time off during the summer to try to
regroup. She was not able to get a card for the LPGA, finishing
50th on tour. She went to Q-School in the Fall and played
well, finishing tied for 15th to earn full membership on the
LPGA for 2012.
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