Natalie Yen, Takes Own Path To American Junior Golf Rise

WEST LINN, Oregon - Natalie Yen has taken a different path when it comes to golfing in her high school career.

It has paid off by playing on the American Junior Golf Association schedule, along with junior golf and women’s amateur events instead of on a local high school team.

Yen, who is from West Linn, is homeschooled and has committed to playing golf at Texas A&M University in the fall of 2025. Her home course is Arrowhead Golf Club where she has played since 2018. Her golf journey began at Willamette Valley Country Club where she played for her first seven years.

Yen had quite the year in 2024. She was a Captain's Pick for the Junior Solheim Cup, won the AJGA HGV Annika Invitational in January, and was a Rolex All-American for the second year in a row. She also finished as the co-runner-up of the AJGA Junior at The Mission Club.

Instead of playing for a high school team along with Oregon Junior Golf events, Yen and her family wanted to up the competition level after growing up playing the junior golf events.

After playing a lot of OJG events in 2020 they decided to make a change. In 2020 she played in 19 tournaments OJG events (Girls 12-14 division), winning 18 with the only loss coming at the Oregon Junior Amateur where she lost to Jacinda Lee in the finals in the girls 12-18 intermediate division.

Natalie Yen won 16 of 17 (12-14 girls) U.S. Kids golf events on the Portland, Oregon tour in 2020.

“After that summer we decided that she needed to move up in competition level,” Natalie Yen’s dad Albert Yen said. “It was difficult getting the opportunity to even play in national tournaments because she had no ranking, no PBE stars for AJGA, basically she was shut out of national opportunities.

“It was the summer of 2021 where she got in off a waitlist for the Bubba Conlee National. We went to that tournament on short notice and Natalie ended up winning the tournament. That made her exempt on AJGA and while there have been ups and downs we have mostly focused on playing at the national level since that time.”

At the Junior Solheim Cup Yen had 2.5 points in three matches. Natalie and Anna Fang tied in the morning fourball against Paris Appendino and Alice Kong. In the afternoon foursomes Natalie and Jude Lee won against Benedicte Brent-Buchholz and Lily Reitter. In singles, Natalie won against Alice Kong 3&1.

“The AJGA plays a lot of their major events in other parts of the country, and so it was a great opportunity for me to see different areas and potentially places where I would want to go and spend my college years,” Natalie Yen said. “Plus I got to meet and get to know other players that I would have never met had I stayed just in Oregon or the Pacific Northwest.”

Yen also played in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Asia Young and made it to the Round of 32 at Oak Hills Country Club in May.

Playing the AJGA, junior golf, and Women’s Amateur events has meant being on the road for over 100 days each of the last two years.

Her schedule includes playing in junior golf events like the USGA Girls' Junior, The Dye Invitational, The Kathy Whitworth Invitational, The Elite Invitational, and the Bubba Conlee National. She also plays in Women's Amateur events like the Ladies National Amateur and California Women's Championship.

“In truth, in all of Natalie’s recruiting, she has never been asked about high school golf. Texas A&M was Natalie’s first choice school, so she is really happy about the opportunity,” Albert Yen said. “The SEC schools are regularly present at AJGA invitationals.”

The longer yardages played on the AJGA schedule provide a realistic length that Yen will see at the next level.

“When Natalie plays AJGA events the yardage is usually over 6200 yards,” Albert Yen said. “When she plays LPGA or Epson tour events the yardage is around 6500. Collegiate events are usually around that yardage also. So in preparation for college golf, it’s good for her to play the longer yardage.”

When she won the AJGA Annika Invitational in January she got to meet Annika Sorenstam, a pinch me moment.

“Annika Sorenstam has been one of my golfing and personal role models since I started playing, so meeting her and spending some time talking with her and learning from her was an amazing experience,” Natalie Yen said. “She has so much knowledge about the game and how to manage yourself on the course, but also how to be a custodian of the game and share it with a wider audience off the course.”