Even before she could walk, golf was ingrained into Julia Imai’s life.

A junior, Imai grew up on the golf course, tagging along with her brother and father as they practiced at the driving range. Imai became more enthralled with the sport as years went by, and took up the sport competitively when she was 10. As well as playing on the girls varsity golf team at the high school, Imai trains at KOHR Golf Center and participates in nationwide tournaments year-round. Imai’s coaches attribute her success to her hard work, determination and dedication to the sport.

Bill McInerney, Imai’s coach at KOHR, coached her brother and has been working with Imai throughout her golf career. He said he remembers that even at such a young age, he could spot Imai’s interest in the sport.

“Even when Julia was a newborn baby, she would always come to the practices. Then when she got old enough to hit balls, I would go over to her and help her out. She has been around the academy since she was born,” McInerney said.

Throughout her years golfing, Imai has participated in the yearly Pepsi Little People’s golf tournament, an international junior golf tournament in Quincy, Illinois. Imai was five when she first competed and said it was not long before she began to take them more seriously.

“I didn’t really have any expectations when I first started playing competitively; my dad would caddy for me. It was more about having a good time and having fun. And because of that, I think I saw a lot of success early – I won a lot of tournaments in the beginning and it motivated me to keep going,” Imai said.

This past summer, after qualifying in early 2022, Imai participated in the IMG World Championships in Florida. Andrew Losey, one of Imai’s coaches at KOHR since March 2022, said that while Imai was happy with her performance, her dedication to the game was clearly demonstrated through her post-match reflection.

“She reflected that she needed to be hitting the ball a little bit longer and needed her short game to be better. She quickly got to work on those things which definitely helped us continue down the right track with her plan for improvement for the next several months and into the winter,” Losey said.

Imai practices year-round with summer being her busiest season including six to eight weeks of back-to-back tournaments. Despite being busy and stressful at times, she said these tournaments are key to her game and critical for her future ambitions.

“Playing in a tournament is where I can really show off what I can do. That’s my time to perform and to show that I’ve made progress and that I can play really well. And that’s motivating, but it is also motivating because I want to play collegiate golf. These are the times where coaches are looking at you and watching you, so playing in these tournaments is key for that,” Imai said.

In his past year working with Imai, Losey said that he has seen her grow as both a person and athlete. He said that she has developed and strengthened her game in all aspects and she has really grown in terms of her willingness to try new things and her ability to adapt to obstacles that may come her way during a match.

“I remember one time we were working on a high shot during practice and then the next day we went out on course and she was in a situation where she needed that high shot. I was right behind her watching and I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder if she’s gonna do it.’ She then pulled it off, and it was great. This was a testament to how she goes about things – even though she’s a junior golfer, she goes about things like she’s a professional,” Losey said.

After spending the majority of her life on the golf course, Imai said the sport has taught her a lot and the lessons that she has learned from the game often transcend the green of the golf course.

“My coach has always told me that you have to be patient on the course; you have to take things one shot at a time,” Imai said. “That’s translated into my life, because having patience is really important, just being in the present, taking things one step at a time and not getting too ahead of yourself.”