Sherri Steinhauer built an incredible professional golf resumé over her 25-year LPGA Tour career. She won two major championships, the 1992 du Marier Classic in Canada and the 2006 Women’s British Open. She also won two additional British Opens in 1998 and 1999 before it was classified as an LPGA major. She made four Solheim Cups for the United States, being a part of three winning teams. She even was involved in the largest playoff in LPGA Tour history alongside legends like Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak.
The journey to professional golf all started for Steinhauer at six-years-old. Growing up in Madison, Wis. as a part of a golf family, she was excited to jump into golf from watching her four older brothers play.
“It all started when I was about six-years-old, and my mom asked me if I wanted to stay home with a babysitter or go with the family and over to the golf course,” said Steinhauer. “And I wanted to go with the family. So that’s how I initially got into it. But then just watching my brothers play got me pretty excited about the game.”
It evolved pretty quickly from that, Steinhauer remembers saying shortly after playing a state-wide tournament that she wanted to go pro. But she also knew she had to work backward a bit from that goal. If she wanted to go pro she would have to play in college, and if she were to play in college, she would have to play high school golf.
A competitive high school golf environment, filled with great players just drove Steinhauer more. It was clear she was a strong enough player to play major college golf. The question was where it would be.
Steinhauer knew early on she wanted to play college golf somewhere in the South, where she could compete year-round. Growing up in frigid Wisconsin, she never had that experience. She decided on The University of Texas.
“I played there for four years. We had great teams and that was a really big test because I had to see if I could play golf all year round,” said Steinhauer.
At this point in our conversation, Steinhauer pulled out a book her mom kept with all of her stats to confirm how many tournaments she won in college. The answer was five. But Steinhauer isn’t one to play up her accomplishments too much.
“That was pretty decent. Showed that I could, you know, when playing against other players from all over the country,” said Steinhauer.
The Longhorns also experienced team success, winning the Southwest Conference Championship in 1984. The next year, Steinhauer was a first-team All American, and made the decision to turn pro shortly after.
Steinhauer went to qualifying school in the fall of 1985, and described it as one of the strangest experiences of her career.
“You know, here it is. This is what I’ve been working for my whole life,” remembered Steinhauer. “You can’t even describe qualifying school. It’s just so nerve wracking…But the one thing that, you know, going into it is everybody is nervous. Everybody is crazy nervous.”
Steinhauer clearly fought through those nerves well, as she tied for first place and earned her Tour card. The following season, she would be a rookie on the LPGA Tour.
To Be Continued.
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