Sept. 29, 2015
Every Tuesday, the Nevada athletic communications department will post a feature story as part of its Wolf Pack Weekly series. These stories will provide fans with an inside look at the Wolf Pack, and will focus on athletes on the field, in the classroom or in the community.
By Tara Park
Special to NevadaWolfPack.com
RENO, Nev. - Many student-athletes describe their teammates as family at the University of Nevada, but Caryn Khoo and Celyn Khoo from the women's golf team can say that literally.
Caryn and Celyn - natives of New Zealand - are one of five pairs of siblings on the same team at Nevada. They've been members of head coach Kathleen Takaishi's team together for two seasons now.
The Khoo sisterhood is strong on and off the golf course. Some siblings would not be able to be teammates or even attend the same school, but Caryn and Celyn thrive with one another's presence.
"When things weren't going so well, I thought about what would I do if Celyn wasn't here - I probably would have left, just dropped it," Caryn said. "It's nice having someone here, someone close when I needed it."
Caryn is the older of the two, and the only senior on the team. Celyn on the other hand is a sophomore, still in the midst of establishing her own identity-other than being Caryn's little sister.
Although Caryn is quick to agree that the team initially saw her as such, she has proven to be her own person. In fact, besides golf, the Khoo sisters have many differences.
"It's hard to explain; there's nothing in common. [Celyn] eats different food, she sleeps at different times, everything is different apart from golf" Caryn said.
Caryn is an art major interested in doing graphic design after college, where as Celyn is an ecohydrology major. The two also have nuances in personality as Celyn also claims to be more extroverted than her counterpart.
"I picked my major because I want to be the difference in this world," Celyn said. "We have different majors, but in a way we're the same because we're both creative."
On the links, however, the two sisters are finding equal success with the Wolf Pack. Caryn boasts a team-best 75.0 stroke average after Nevada's first tournament of the season - a 15th place showing at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic - while just yesterday Celyn fired rounds of 74 and 71 to lead the Nevada to fourth place after two rounds at the Rose City Collegiate.
Both the Khoo sisters looked prone to be a staple of the Wolf Pack's lineup this season, and it all came to be due to some friendly family recruiting.
After Caryn had finishes two seasons with the Wolf Pack, it came time for Celyn to make a decision on what college to attend after graduating from Pakuranga Secondary school in Auckland. Eventually, her decision was greatly influenced by what Caryn had to say about her first two seasons in Nevada.
Celyn mentions the success the women's golf program as being a primary reason to join the Wolf Pack, but there also was a strong appeal of being able to keep the family together.
To say the family is together is a bit of an understatement. Caryn and Celyn are so close they are roommates. Even when Celyn lived in the dorms last year she was over at Caryn's place frequently. Neither sister feels they fight or get on each other's nerves very often. Which goes back to how they are able to then be such good teammates.
"Just being in the presence of each other is reassuring," Celyn said. "It makes it a fun environment, and we just forget about all that other stuff."
Since Caryn is a senior, this is the Khoo sisters' last year as teammates at Nevada. After this season it will be up to Celyn to represent the Khoos on the golf course.
"It's going to carry our name through six years," Celyn said.
Fans can follow the Khoo sisters and the Wolf Pack women's golf team with live stats available at this link.
Wolf Pack Weekly Archives
Aug. 25 - Shane Cannon, Football
Sept. 1 - Hannah Wuensche, Soccer
Sept. 8 - Lyndsey Anderson, Volleyball
Sept. 15 - Tucker Melcher, Football
Sept. 22 - Meagan Wood, Cross Country
