Patty Tavatanakit will be one of the top freshman in 2017-2018 according to head coach Carrie Forsyth.
Bruins Sign Patty Tavatanakit to NLI
November 09, 2016 | Women's Golf
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LOS ANGELES - UCLA head women's golf coach Carrie Forsyth has announced the signing of Patty Tavatanakit (Bangkok, Thailand) to a National Letter of Intent. Tavatanakit will join the Bruins for the 2017-2018 season.
"Patty comes to UCLA as one of our most decorated juniors in recent years," Forsyth said. "She is an incredibly talented and focused golfer, who will have an immediate impact on our roster for next season, as we look to replace the departing Bronte Law. I fully expect that Patty will be one of the best young freshmen in the class of 2017, and that she will contend for National Freshman of the Year honors."
Tavatanakit, the 2016 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year and Rolex Junior First Team All-American, won a pair of AJGA tournaments this season, claiming the Rolex Tournament of Champions and the Ping Invitational, while finishing in a tie for fifth at the Yani Tseng Invitational. Currently Golfweek's top-ranked junior girl, she participated in both the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and the U.S. Women's Amateur, reaching the round of 16 in both tournaments. Tavatanakit also made the round of 32 at the Australian Amateur Championship and tied for 42nd at the LPGA Tour's stop in Thailand. She helped the Asia-Pacific Team win the 2016 Patsy Hankins Trophy.
"Patty is talented and hard working," Forsyth added. "She hits a long ball and has made vast improvement around the green in the past year. Patty has also worked very hard on her mental game and she has seen great results."
In 2015, Tavatanakit won the Los Angeles Junior Open at Hillcrest Country Club and was runner-up at the IMG Junior World Golf Championship. A year prior to that, she won the Callaway Junior World Golf Championship, breaking the tournament's 54-hole record with a 23-under par 193.
"I love the team environment, especially the competitiveness of this team," Tavatanakit said of why she decided to attend UCLA. "This school offers the best campus for a student-athlete due to its excellence in academics and athletics. Coach Forsyth and (associate head coach) Alicia Um Holmes also influenced my decision."
Tavatanakit is a member of the Thailand Amateur Ladies Golf Association (TALGA). In 2016, she tied for fifth at the Queen Sirikit Cup after placing seventh the year prior. Tavatanakit was also a runner-up at the Thailand Ladies Amateur Championship. She was named the TALGA Player of the Year for the 2015-2016 season. Tavatanakit, who was a two-time TJGF Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015, attends Keerapat International School, which does not have a golf team.
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