Stepping Away From Golf Spurred Sakamoto to New Heights
Golf is a “home away from home” for Kallie Sakamoto ’22, the place she feels most peaceful and confident. But in her first year as a student-athlete at Aurora University — 2,000 miles from Washougal, Washington, where she was raised — she found herself deeply homesick.
When deciding where to go to college, Sakamoto had only one destination in mind: AU. It was the first and only school she visited. The golf facilities were a step above any of the other schools she had been considering, and she liked that the small class sizes would allow her to get to know her professors.
AU golf coach Justin Wyeth knew that Sakamoto was a talented golfer when he recruited her. But he didn’t expect instant dominance, or the challenges she would soon face.
From the start, Sakamoto demonstrated an unshakable poise on the green, said Wyeth. She maintained a relaxed presence and an uncanny ability to navigate her shots around the course. She was the team’s hardest worker, always listened to coaching, and like all great golfers had the mental resilience on the golf course to overcome bad shots and focus on winning.
In her first year, Sakamoto averaged a score of 79.5 over 10 rounds and was named a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championship medalist, Freshman of the Year, and Player of the Year.
But away from the golf course, Sakamoto felt overwhelmed by the demands of college and the challenges of living on her own. She yearned for home. Her schoolwork suffered and her GPA plummeted. She was stressed, unmotivated — and ready to quit.
One day, Sakamoto called her coach and asked to meet. Wyeth left work immediately. “I could just tell something was wrong,” he said.
Taking a Step Back
Sakamoto told him she was moving back to Washougal. She had her airline ticket booked and was ready to go. Wyeth spent hours listening and talking with her. He kept encouraging her: Don’t give up on your dream. Reconsider and refocus your approach to school, he told her, then see how you feel.
Sakamoto stayed. She gave up playing golf for a year — one of the hardest things she’s ever done — and concentrated on getting her grades back up.
“The first semester of sophomore year is when I reevaluated myself and who I am as a person,” she said. “I started organizing my thoughts and writing down the things that are important to me. There was a lot of growth that happened that year.”
Playing golf at a high level had been Sakamoto’s dream since she was a child. When she was a toddler, her dad bought her a set of toy golf clubs, then a junior set of clubs when she was 8 years old. She felt connected to her dad on the links. They would spend hours golfing together, never taking the game too seriously — they simply had fun as father and daughter.
Golf also served as a break from health problems. Sakamoto had heart trouble as a child and frequently suffered from bouts of pneumonia. While playing golf, all these troubles faded away. Eventually, as golf became second nature, Sakamoto’s love for the sport deepened. She won junior tournaments and began to develop confidence in her skills.
‘Greatest Golfer’ in AU History
When Sakamoto returned to the AU women’s golf team her junior year, she was again ranked the top player. She recalled feeling “in the moment,” in control of her body and shot, and amazed that she recovered her form so quickly. She won another Player of the Year award and was named a NACC Scholar-Athlete with a 3.1 cumulative GPA.
With each game, her confidence improved, and it showed.
“From the outside it looks like everything comes easy to her, but her work ethic is just insane,” said Wyeth. “She leads by example. She makes the other players better. They see it doesn’t come easy. They see she works at it. She’s probably the greatest golfer AU has ever had.”
In her AU career to date, Sakamoto has earned meet medalist honors at the NACC Women’s Golf Championship three times, was named NACC Player of the Year three times, and earned three All-NACC honors. Over 12 rounds this past fall, she posted a league-best 77.75 scoring average with top-five finishes in six of seven events played.
As for AU’s women’s golf team, they have won the NACC title six out of the past eight seasons, including this recent fall 2021 season with a commanding 80-stroke victory.
“If we lose, I’m not going to cry about it,” Sakamoto said. “But first place is always my mission. And when I see my team succeed, and I see the smiles on their faces, it makes me happy because we accomplished our goal.”
Sakamoto graduates this year with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. She plans to stay an extra year as part of AU’s Criminal Justice Plus One program to earn her master’s degree and play her last year of collegiate golf. Her goal is to work with youth in the juvenile justice system and help children in need.
“You have to know yourself, know how you’ll react to certain situations, and make sure that you’re mentally stable,” she said. “If you can’t handle the situation at the time, then you need to step back. That’s what I’ve learned.”