The Japanese word nyuukon means “to put your heart and soul into what you do.”

It is no surprise that the word is written on sophomore golfer Mari Chun’s ball markers to remind her to put her heart and soul into every shot.

Her freshman year on the team, however, was marked by a flurry of injuries, including tendonitis in her left Achilles’ heel and a sprained right ankle that occurred just days before the team’s first event of the season.

The injuries took a definite toll on her game. Despite two top-10 and two top-25 finishes, Chun finished the year averaging a disappointing 75.6 strokes per round.

“At the end of last year, I was not especially happy with my game,” Chun said. “I decided to stay home for the most part and work on my game. I practiced for about seven to eight hours a day and ended up winning a local tournament in the middle of the summer.”

Chun’s hard work proved invaluable on her journey back to form. By summer’s end, Chun defeated Amanda Blumenhurst — the collegiate player of the year — in the first round of match play in the USGA Women’s Amateur tournament.

“Defeating Amanda was a big win for me because it re-emphasized that perseverance and unwavering dreams will lead to success,” Chun said.

Entering this season, Chun approached the team as an experienced sophomore ready to erase the memories of last season. The first tournament of the season was the prestigious Topy Cup at the Tanagura Country Club in Japan. Stanford and Southern California were selected as the only schools to represent America in the field.

Chun, who is part Japanese, saw this as an opportunity to immerse herself in her Japanese heritage.

“I have always been fascinated with the Japanese culture and hope to become fluent in the language one day,” Chun said. “Japanese culture has always been a large part of my mother’s life, so I automatically became intrigued by the customs from an early age.”

Her Japanese language courses at Stanford also paid off.

“I really enjoyed talking to fellow Japanese collegiate competitors at the Topy Cup,” Chun said. “I was one of the few people [on the team] who knew some Japanese, so I was able to help my team communicate and interact with the rest of the Japanese teams.”

The Cardinal finished second to Southern California at the tournament, while Chun wrapped up third place individually, five strokes behind Southern California’s Veronica Felibert.

Despite the close loss, the team chemistry seemed to change for the better.

“Last year, the team dynamics changed because the team was still getting used to having freshman on the team,” Chun said. “This year we have been just one big family, looking out for each other and really taking care of each other. After the Topy Cup, we really bonded as a team and enjoyed each other’s company.”

A fire had also been lit in Chun, as she looked to carry her team to a much-needed victory.

“We were so close to winning the Topy Cup that the tournament left us anxious for another opportunity,” Chun said. “We established such a strong hunger for winning and performing at our best that we just waited patiently for our turn to show our potential.”

After a sixth-place finish at the Mason Rudolph’s Women’s Championship, the Cardinal women won the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, led by none other than Chun, who took top individual honors. The victory also redeemed the close loss to USC in Japan.

“Winning the Edean Ilhanfeldt tournament was really great, especially after struggling last year,” Chun said.

The Cardinal victory earned the squad Golfweek’s Team of the Week award, and Chun’s performance won her Player of the Week.

Last weekend, the Cardinal hosted the Stanford Invitational at the Stanford Golf Course. The field boasted nine ranked opponents, including top-ranked Georgia, No. 2 Duke, and former No. 3 UCLA.

A final-round collapse dropped the Cardinal from their second-round lead to fourth place in the tourney. Chun finished at 17th.

The women’s golf team will now have a break in action until the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge next February.

“I am going spend the break working on improving my game, and strengthening my mental approach and processes during the round,” Chun said.

In a game meant for individual laurels, Chun refers back to her team when asked about the future.

“I truly believe that we can do even better in the spring,” Chun said. “My teammates are just such wonderful people and great friends. I just could not ask for more from a team.”

After seeing what Chun can do on the course when healthy, other teams should definitely take caution.

“I expected more from myself, now I can see that I am ready to win tournaments,” Chun said. “As long as I put my heart and soul into the things I do, I will always be content and happy with myself.”