SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University women's golf coach Brad Rickel has signed Lou Daniella (Dania) Uy (pronounced Oo-E) to a national letter-of-intent, the highest ranked player Rickel has signed.
She is a native of Antipolo, Philippines, which is located 16 miles east of Manila, and attended St. Paul College, Pasig, which is fully internationally accredited in grades 9-12.
Uy is currently ranked second in the Junior Golf Scoreboard, sixth by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and eighth in the recruiting class by Golfweek.
This past season she played in two professional tournaments as an amateur, the Philippine Open where she shot 80-78-75 and in the Thailand Ladies Open where she finished 11th with rounds of 68-74-75.
Her most impressive tournament, however, was her second-place finish at the Callaway Junior Worlds in San Diego, Calif., the most prestigious tournament on the junior circuit that, as its name suggests, draws the best players from around the world. She shot rounds of 72-72-70-72 for a 2-under par 286 at the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course - North Course.
Uy also captured first in the AJGA Junior Challenge played at Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif., with rounds of 72-70-69 for a 212 and a one-shot victory. She finished second in the Philippine Junior Amateur with rounds of 75-77-76-77.
In 2012 she won the TrueVision World Junior World Championship for 13-14-year-olds, placed second in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship and took third in the Jakarta Junior World tournament.
"She is an amazing player, very polished. She's as good as they come in all facets of the game; great attitude toward golf and as polished a golfer at this age of anybody I've ever seen," said Rickel. "She's the highest ranked player we've ever had. When you watch her play she looks older than she is and she looks completely in control not only physically but also with her emotions and management of her golf game.
"When you see someone that's so good at something it's hard to put a finger on it because it looks easy; sometimes it looks easy for her. She doesn't overpower anything, she's just good. At the end of the day she beats you on the scorecard," Rickel said of his only signee for next season.
Rickel thinks Uy's presence will "elevate everybody around her. She'll have a large learning curve coming to the United States to play golf and all that comes with that. She not only is good enough to be in our top five I think she'll be competing to be an All-American."
"Victoria (assistant coach Fallgren) and I saw her playing in the United States. She was here last summer for about six weeks and we happened to stumble onto her at a golf tournament. By the time she got to Junior Worlds we clearly knew who she was and it was very obvious watching her to see how in control she is," Rickel said of the good fortune.
"The addition of Dania makes our program deeper than it's ever been. With the addition of her as a freshman we are going to feel like we're as good as anybody from top to bottom. It should be a fun four years having her in our program," he said.
