Jenny Suh the Cornerstone of Tide Program
5/23/2006 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.
Cornerstone: according to Webster, an indispensable and fundamental basis. A starting point, the foundation upon which all other pieces are built upon.
Every successful program and every successful coach has one of these. An athlete who started it all, that helped build a program and carried it on their shoulders to greater heights than it has known before. Their success attracts fan interest, media attention and most importantly, other star athletes.
For the Alabama women’s golf program, that cornerstone is junior Jenny Suh. Her incredible abilities and outstanding performances in this, her first season at the Capstone, have vaulted her into the upper echelon of women’s golfers in school history and have put the program on the map nationally after a long hiatus.
That Suh should have attained that status so quickly at Alabama should come as no surprise to the women’s golf fan. She was one of the best young golfers in the nation under Furman head coach Mic Potter, having led her Lady Paladins to conference titles and NCAA Championship appearances twice in her first two seasons of intercollegiate golf.
But for Suh, Potter and teams from Furman and Alabama, the women’s college golf world as they knew it changed last June when Potter accepted the job at UA after 23 years of unprecedented success with the Lady Paladins.
“I was at summer school and I thought he was just meeting with me to talk about my game,” Suh said. “I had no idea that this was coming.”
The announcement of Potter’s choice put Suh in a dilemma. Changing schools under any circumstance is a difficult decision for any student or student-athlete. Friends are left behind, familiar places and names are no longer there, not to mention considerations like distance from family and academic needs.
Finishing her career under Potter, though, trumped those concerns. What little doubt remained was erased during a visit to campus with former Furman and current Alabama teammate Sarah Sturm last summer.
“I was recruited to Furman, but I came to play for Mic,” Suh said. “I couldn’t imagine playing golf without him as my coach. When I came to visit the campus, I was just blown away. I was quiet, which is unusual for me, but inside I was just wowed by the facilities and the equipment. After working with less at Furman, it made me see what life was like on the other side.”
Following the decision to transfer and all of the things to do to make the move, Suh came into her junior season recognized as one of the best in college golf. The prestigious Golfweek listed her on the pre-season top 10 among individual stars, and her arrival in Tuscaloosa was expected to make an immediate impact on the program.
Nobody could have predicted just how immediate and how complete that impact has been.
The debut of the trio of former Furman stars was nothing short of spectacular. In a dramatic, come-from-behind final round at the team’s own UA Ann Rhoads Intercollegiate, the new Tide unit overtook Augusta State to capture a team title in the first outing of the season.
Along with the victory, two things became apparent: the Tide would be a contender in every event it played, and Suh would be the team’s leader.
Indeed, Suh has been a model of consistency in her initial season at Alabama. In her junior season, the two-time All-American led the team at nine of the 10 events the team competed in. She finished in the top 10 in nine events, with an 11th-place finish in her only non top-10 placing. Suh won her third collegiate medal with a win at the ACC/SEC Challenge in the fall and posted a runner-up finish at the Derby Invitational in the following event.
Her outstanding efforts placed her on the fast track to some of the best statistics of any player in school history. Suh’s stroke average, at 73.07, easily best on the team, has put her in position to shatter the school’s single-season stroke average, set by Sarah Johnston in 2001 with a 74.53 mark.
“Jenny is just such a consistent golfer,” Potter says. “She never beats herself and she puts pressure on everyone else because she just doesn’t make many mistakes. You can always count on her to do what it takes.”
More importantly, the Fairfax, Va., native has demonstrated a trait that seperates good players from the great ones: the ability to perform at her best in the biggest of events.
Suh had already shown her ability to do just that, having already won one Southern Conference title as a sophomore after finishing second as a true freshman, as well as top-five finishes in each of her first two NCAA regional appearances.
The statistics for Suh tell the story. Her career stroke average, already impressive at 73.76, becomes even more astounding when the stakes are high. In conference tournament, NCAA regional and NCAA Championship play, Suh averages an incredible 72.92, including six top-five finishes at these events against the best competition in the nation.
“I just try to become even more focused when it comes to big events,” Suh said. “I work hard in practice, but I’ll admit that I get more hyped up for the post season. I want to lead my team and help this program and those are the best places to do that.”
Nothing could demonstrate this ability more than Suh’s performance at this year’s NCAA regional in Greensboro, N.C. Leading a team that was a long-shot at best, Suh put the Tide on her shoulders for 36 holes and cemented just the second berth in an NCAA Championship in school history with some clutch play down the stretch.
Suh shot out of the gates in regional play, carding consecutive rounds under par. She fired a 69, tying a season low for 18 holes, in the first day. Going into the second round of the event at the top of the individual leaderboard, Suh tallied another round below par after posting a two-under 70, holding on to her lead.
For the first time this season, though, the final round did not go Suh’s way. Her driver was erratic and putts weren’t falling for the junior who had carried the Tide to the brink of qualifying for an NCAA Championship, only to have come up short on the final day.
“My driver cost me a lot of strokes that day,” Suh said. “I just had to grind it out and find a way. I didn’t want to let my team down.”
It was here that many athletes would have folded. With a few holes to play and an unlikely performance from Suh, it looked as if the Tide’s dreams were vanishing. But that’s when Suh, like all other true superstars, reached back to find that extra something.
Desperately needing a lift, Suh responded down the back stretch, draining two birdies and knocking down a huge putt on the 18th to give her team a chance. After the final team standings were posted, the Tide knew it would need to win a playoff to advance.
Once again, Suh stepped up to the challenge. After three of her teammates came through with par putts, some in dramatic fashion, one Virginia player and Suh remained on the course. The UVA player missed a par putt, leaving Suh a five foot putt with a sneaky break.
If she made it, Alabama would advance. Missing it would mean another playoff hole. Suh chose to end it there.
“Mic came up to me and gave me some advice on that last putt,” Suh said. “He doesn’t usually give putting advice, but when he does, it is usually pretty good. So I listened. I just visualized it and knocked it down. I had decided I didn’t want another playoff hole, so I wanted to end it right there.”
Suh stepped to the ball and calmly buried the putt and the Cavaliers hopes of unseating the upstart Crimson Tide. Her new team was going to the NCAA Championship for the first time in nearly two decades.
The fruits of those efforts will be seen this week, when Suh and her Alabama teammates travel to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the 2006 NCAA Championship. For Suh, it will be her third nationals appearance in three seasons.
But for the Alabama women’s golf program, the trip is momentous, establishing Alabama as a force to be reckoned with in the talent-laden SEC. Clearly, the Tide will be a presence on the national scene for years to come.
If that prediction comes to pass, someday Tide fans will look back to the season, and the player, that started it all. When that happens, it won’t be necessary to look any further than Suh and her performance at the 18th hole in the 2006 NCAA East regional.
No building can stand without a strong foundation. With a cornerstone like Suh already in place at Alabama, there is no telling what great things can be built in the coming years.
