Page 54 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Magazine Winter 2022

FEATURE

As for Yana, she spends a lot of time on the range and also
on the course perfecting her talents. It’s a process, but one
she thoroughly enjoys. And the results prove the process
is working because she wins, and wins a lot. “Winning, for
sure, because I’ve won a lot in my junior career,” Wilson
says, when asked what the first thing that comes to her
mind about her junior golf career is. “I have put in a lot of
hard work to get to where I am.”

Wilson practices with purpose and understands the impor-
tance of not just spending time mindlessly hitting balls. She
estimates she works on her game five or more hours a day in
addition to workouts and home school work. She relishes the
journey of improving. “I think you have to work smart first
because to improve you can’t just be hitting balls up there,
not knowing exactly what you’re doing or what to work on,”
Wilson says. “To win, you also have to learn so much about
golf and you have to learn all of it. It’s really tough. It’s not
exactly like you have to learn all of it at once, but over time,
you start to learn more and more about yourself. You also
have to stay tough mentally because that’s probably one of
the harder things to do on the golf course. Golf can be frus-
trating sometimes, but you have to keep your cool. I really
enjoy the work and this is what I want to be doing.”
Wilson has 118 career wins—and counting—including the
Joanne Winter Silver Belle Championship when she became
the youngest champion, at age 14, in the event’s 50-year his-
tory. She has also won the Sean Foley AJGA Championship
and the Notah Begay National Championship, which was
nationally televised on Golf Channel. But the Nevada state
high school title was a little extra special because of the
team dynamic. “I was just really happy that the team won,”
Wilson says. “Obviously, my goal was to win state as an
individual, but I was just really happy for the team and I’m
really happy to continue the winning streak for Coronado. I
love being part of a team, especially Coronado, because we
all have a relationship with each other and it’s really solid.
We’re probably going to be friends for a lifetime and I’ve
never been part of a team like that. The Junior Solheim Cup
was great but it was over in a few days. I have a whole sea-
son with Coronado and it’s really awesome to just be a part
of that.”

At the Junior Solheim Cup, Wilson halved her individual
match with Spain’s Cayetana Fernandez, but the United
States lost 13-11. “It was truly an honor when I was playing
for my country,” Wilson says. “I tried to not put too much
pressure on myself because I felt like if you put a lot of
Yana Wilson

52 LAS VEGAS GOLF & LEISURE WINTER 2022 www.lasvegasgolfandleisure.com