Three-time All-American Yu-Sang Hou to return to Arizona golf for super senior year

Arizona women’s golfer Yu-Sang Hou will return to Tucson for a fifth year, giving head coach Laura Ianello a wealth of experience to build around heading into this fall.

Hou, a three-time All-American, is the lone remaining member of Arizona’s 2018 national championship team. The Taipei, Taiwan native helped lead the Wildcats to two more NCAA Championship semifinals appearances in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

Hou will enter the fall as a ‘super senior’ after receiving an extra year of eligibility due to the 2019-20 season ending prematurely due to Covid-19.

Hou is coming off a career-best 71.72 season scoring average. She posted a career-low 66 in the final round of 2021 NCAA Regionals.

At NCAA Championships this May, she led Arizona in scoring at 6-over and won both of her points in quarterfinals and semifinals of match play.

Hou’s play has sometimes been overshadowed by her younger sister Vivian, who was at one point the No. 1 ranked amateur golfer in the world.

Vivian, a rising junior, is coming off a runner-up finish at the U.S. Women’s Amateur on Sunday, where she fell to Kentucky’s Jensen Castle.

Vivian’s participation in the amateur championship indicates she has no immediate intention of declaring pro, either.

If both Hou sisters return to campus, Arizona could very well find itself back in women’s golf’s Final Four for a fourth consecutive time next spring.

The Wildcats return everyone from the spring roster and add four more international golfers: UNC Charlotte grad transfer and incoming freshmen Ellinor Sudow (Sweden), Lilas Pinthier (France), Carolina Melgrati (Italy) and Caitlin Whitehead (England).