Stephanie Sherlock says she’s learned a lot about life on the links.
“Golf has taught me everything from honesty to respect to patience,” says Sherlock, a sophomore business major and a standout on the Pioneers women’s golf team. “I think golf is kind of like life: There are many ups and downs. In a way, it’s going to be difficult and frustrating, but if you work hard good things will happen.”
Evidently Sherlock has worked hard enough, because she has seen plenty of good things happen in her young career.
She entered DU with a bang, winning three tournaments in her first season and was named to the Duramed Futures Tour National Golf Coaches Association Division I All-America second team and Golfweek All-America third team.
Sherlock, who was born in Germany but has lived in Ontario, Canada, for the past 10 years, won her first career Sun Belt Conference championship her freshman year by three strokes and led the Pioneers with a scoring average of 72.84.
It was no big surprise to those who knew Sherlock. Before coming to DU, in Canada she was a three-time team most valuable player for her high school and was the top-ranked junior Canadian golfer in 2005. In 2006, she earned membership on the Canadian National Women’s team, the highest honor for a female golfer in Canada. And she was named Canadian junior player of the year in 2005.
“Stephanie is one of the premier players in collegiate women’s golf,” says Sammie Chergo, the Pioneers women’s golf head coach. “She has such fun playing the game and that, combined with a great competitive spirit and smart game management, really sets her apart.”
Sherlock says she’s most proud of taking home the Canadian National Women’s Amateur Championship in 2007, making the NCAA All America second team the same year and earning membership on her national team for three years.
Sherlock picked up her first club at age 8.
“My father worked at a golf course, so he got me started,” she says. “I wouldn’t really call it golf, though, because I would just hit the ball and run after it.”
She began entering tournaments about four years later and admits she started enjoying the improvements she saw in her game.
“I enjoy the challenge; it’s probably the most difficult sport I have ever tried to play,” she says. “I also enjoy all the people you meet and all the places I get to travel.”
She attributes her success to her parents even though neither of them golf competitively.
“They’ve done everything in their power to help me not just in golf but in life,” she says. “They’ve put me with the right coaches, supported me, traveled with me, everything.”
[Editor’s note: Sherlock shot a career-low 7-under par 65 on April 23, setting a conference record with a 54-hole score of 208 for a 10-shot individual victory, leading the Pioneers women’s golf team to their fifth-consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championship.]