Turlock Christian senior golfer Kathleen Rojas is not too bashful to admit that she thrives under the pressure. It doesn’t matter the circumstance. Even if it’s the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament, which is the biggest collection of high school girls golfers from Sacramento to Merced, she welcomes the weight of it all.
It was the Masters that drew an assistant from the San Jose State women’s golf team to watch Rojas. She wasn’t bothered by the special attention, once again coming close to moving on to the NorCal Championships.
Despite the day’s shortcoming, Rojas earned a college offer after all. On Tuesday, she made it official by inking her name with the Spartans of Division I on a partial scholarship, as she plans to have a public signing sometime this week.
“It’s a relief to know that I’m going to play in college,” Rojas said. “At this point, I know for sure I’m playing college golf. I’m so thrilled. I can’t describe how happy I am.”
Though Turlock Christian has produced golfers who went on to compete at the junior college level and have earned walk-on status at Cal State Stanislaus, Rojas became only the second scholarship player under coach Jeff Cederlind. Five years ago, Joey Fair signed with Division II’s Hawaii Hilo.
Rojas earned her college scholarship without ever being on a high school girls golf team. That’s because Turlock Christian doesn’t boast one, so she has spent four years on the Eagles’ boys team while playing individually during the last two postseasons of girls golf.
In the last two Masters tournaments, Rojas failed to advance on by just under three strokes on both occasions.
But San Jose State was still impressed, enough to give her a scholarship. Cederlind, the TC coach, said this is a proud moment in his school’s golf history, considering the Eagles don’t have a girls program.
“It’s really exciting to see her move on,” Cederlind said of Rojas, who was also being recruited by UC Davis. “Competing against the boys all four years have toughen her up.”
To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.
