SDSU Professors Love of Golf and Free Babysitting Inspires His Pro Golfer Daughter

The Joh family (Tiffany and Gun with Oak Joh in the background) braves the rain during a trip to Australia 

Gun-Ho Joh arrived at San Diego State University to teach accounting in 1988, but it wasn’t until 1992 that Jim Williamson, a colleague at the Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy at the Fowler College of Business, took him golfing for the first time at the Mission Bay Golf Course. 

In 1999, Gun was still golfing and so was his daughter, Tiffany. “During the summer, my dad would drop me off at the Pro Kids First Tee, which is a free golf program for juniors,” said Tiffany, who was 12 when she took up the sport. “The course was 10 minutes away from the SDSU campus. I think it was his way of getting free babysitting.” 

LPGA golfer, Tiffany Joh holds a photo of her parents, Oak and Gun Joh

That “free babysitting” helped Tiffany to find her passion and career, as she is now a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. Tiffany is known to many of the tour’s fans for her great sense of humor, both on the tour and through her social media outlets. 

As a professor, education was, and still is, extremely important to Gun and to his wife, Oak Joh, who is known as “Mama Joh” to fans of the LPGA. Though Tiffany earned a golf scholarship to UCLA, she would not make education her career and she turned pro shortly after she graduated in 2009. This suits Gun just fine. 

“I learned that freedom is important not only in education but in all areas and I wanted to let my son and daughter to have the freedom to enjoy what they like and what they wanted to learn,” said Gun, who is now an emeritus professor at SDSU. “We were very lucky to find the Pro Kid program in San Diego. It lets the kids study and learn what they wanted. Tiff learned how to make friends, play with them, and how to treat them through the Pro Kid's golf program.”

Tiffany Joh is joined by her father, SDSU accounting professor, Gun Joh, on the beach

Gun’s hands-off approach has resonated with and inspired Tiffany. “My dad was never a helicopter parent and I’m incredibly grateful for that,” she said. “He’s inspired me to work hard, but to never make the game more important than it is. I always tell people the strongest part of my golf game is my attitude and that is 100% from my dad. “