Sturm Happy to Deal With Increased Expectations
5/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
After qualifying for the NCAA Championship for just the second time in school history, we would like to introduce you to the team that has put itself in the record books as one of the best ever at Alabama. These five players, under a brand new head coach, came from nowhere to shock the field in Greensboro, N.C. at last weekend’s NCAA regional with an eighth place finish. The finale was highlighted with a dramatic sudden-death playoff against Virginia for the last spot in the 2006 NCAA Championship, with the Tide prevailing by a single stroke. We will introduce you to each of the five players that will compete for the national championship next week, May 23-26, in Columbus, Ohio.
In just her second season of intercollegiate golf, sophomore Sarah Sturm has had to deal with more than her share of change. A new school, a new team and a new set of expectations have been among the obstacles she has faced in her young career.
Thankfully for the Alabama women’s golf team, her game has helped change one more thing... her team’s success rate. And for anyone who knows Sturm, that change can only be for the better.
The series of changes began just about a year ago, in mid-June 2005, at Furman University, where Sturm was preparing for her second season with the Lady Paladins. While competing at a summer tournament, she fielded a call from her head coach Mic Potter, who had news that would change her golf career, and her life, from that moment.
“I got the call from Mic, and I honestly thought he was just checking in to see how I had played,” Sturm said. “Then he told me. I had been leading the tournament I was at after the first day, but the next day I went out and shot an 83. That news just tore me up.”
It was a similar story across the line for Potter’s Furman team, as each attempted to grapple with the notion that their highly successful mentor would be leaving the program to head to greener pastures at Alabama.
For Sturm, though, her emotions soon gave way to contemplation. What if, she, like her coach, might be able to move on to bigger and better things in college golf? What if she could join Potter at the Capstone?
As usual, Sturm turned to her coach for guidance. But this time, his advice had very little to do with golf.
“Mic told me that there was no way to make a decision without seeing the campus,” Sturm said. “He also told me that I had to make this decision for myself and do what was best for me.”
Last summer, Sturm and Furman and future Alabama teammate Jenny Suh each made the trip to Tuscaloosa to see for themselves what life in the SEC might look like. For Sturm, the chance for something different seemed like something she might be willing to try.
“I was just blown away by the facilities and the campus,” Sturm said. “Also, I’m all about taking chances and doing new things and I’m kind of spontaneous, so this choice seemed like it could be new adventure for me.”
Still, the decision was a momentous one, and Sturm struggled with it for much of the summer.
“It was a really tough decision, with a lot of soul searching,” Sturm said. “It took a lot of time to finally make it. I remember bouncing back and forth from Furman to Alabama and back. But looking back, I couldn’t be happier with my final choice.”
Even after making that decision, more hard work awaited Sturm at her new school, more than even she anticipated. Sturm, who played the number five slot for her Furman team as a true freshman, would likely be the number two player on her new team after Suh decided to transfer to Alabama as well.
With the move, the former freshman understudy would have to become a veteran contributor on a new team, at a new school and with an entirely new group of teammates. From playing the last spot on the team in the Southern Conference, Sturm was now the second player on an SEC team. The soon-to-be sophomore knew that collegiate golf as she knew it would be different.
“They count on my score every tournament,” Sturm said. “When I am out there shooting lights out, I’m thrilled to come in and post my score. And when I’m shooting poor, I wish that they could count my score. I’m expected to play up to par, right behind Jenny, sometimes ahead of her, each and every round.”
How has Sturm responded to the pressure? The results speak for themselves.
After a freshman season in which she tallied just two top-25 performances, Sturm carded five this season, including her best career performance at the Lady Gator Classic in the spring schedule. Her stroke average as a freshman, though respectable at 79.2, dropped to an excellent 77.13 in her sophomore campaign.
More importantly, though, Sturm has been a steady presence in the lineup each and every tournament, finishing outside of the top 50 just twice in 10 events. In addition, she has helped her new teammates at Alabama adjust to Potter and in the process, helped cement the bonds that have helped propel her new team to its first Championship appearance in nearly two decades.
“The bonding we had as a team this year was unbelievable,” Sturm said. “We have such a diverse group this year. I loved my team at Furman, but we didn’t have the closeness on that team that we have on this year’s Alabama team. “
Much of what Sturm has accomplished is due to her willingness to take on new challenges and a maturity beyond her years.
“Sarah is just such a mature person,” teammate Jenny Suh said. “Even though she is younger than me, she just seems so much more mature than most people her age.”
That maturity has blossomed due to Sturm’s beyond-her-years approach to golf, and life off the course. Thankfully, that approach merges seamlessly with that of Potter, her coach and mentor.
“I really believe that in order to play great golf, you have to be happy outside of golf,” Sturm explained. “You have to have balance in your life, and when you do, that shows on the course. I am so lucky to have a coach like Mic, who understands that.”
With the scores she has posted this season, it is obvious that Sturm has found her balance at the Capstone. After leaving the school she was recruited to, the sorority she had pledged, and the life that she had built, Sturm has rededicated herself to her new life at Alabama, as well as her golf game in the SEC.
“I made the decision to transfer because of golf,” Sturm said. “So I decided that since I was doing that, I needed to rededicate myself to golf and put that above my other priorities. I still need to find my balance, but for the next three years, my focus will be on improving my game.”
It hasn’t all been easy, but judging by the way she has dealt with the changes in her life thus far and her mature approach to her game and her time off the course, the days ahead should continue to be bright for Sturm.
“There are some good days out there and some bad days, both on and off the course,” Sturm said. “I think it’s just how you bounce back from the bad ones that count.”
So far, the bad ones have been few and far between for Sturm and her Alabama teammates. Hopefully, those good days will continue at this week’s NCAA Championship. Even if they don’t, her teammates can count on Sturm to have a positive attitude regardless of the situation.
“Sarah is a great teammate,” Suh said. “She never gets down, never complains and is just excited to be a part of the program. She takes nothing for granted.”
After seeing Sturm play for just one season, Alabama fans should never take her for granted either.
