Golfer Sara Brown ruled the links at MSU for four seasons. Now, the MSU graduate is getting all sorts of recognition for her excellence.
Brown was named to the National Golf Coaches Association’s 2008 Women’s Golf All-American team on May 23.
All-American Brown leaves MSU golf on top
“I’m very honored to win because it means that I’m looked at as one of the best golfers in the country,” Brown said. “I just go out and play golf because that’s what I love to do and I’m grateful for the recognition.”
Brown is MSU’s all-time scoring leader with a 75.27 stroke average and was named to the All-Big Ten first team for three straight seasons. As a senior, she was ranked as high as No. 21 in the nation by Golfstat.com and No. 24 by the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
MSU women’s golf head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said those accolades make Brown the most accomplished female golfer in school history.
“Her bio is incredible,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “All of her awards speak volumes for who she is as a person and as a student-athlete at MSU.”
Brown received many awards for her stellar play, but she’s also been recognized for her hard work in the classroom.
This year, Brown was named to the Academic All-Big Ten team for the third season and the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Women’s At-Large Academic All-District IV Second Team.
“Sometimes it can be tough to manage golf and school, but academics are very important to me,” she said. “Our coach helped us remember that we are students first and athletes second.”
Before Brown began racking up her impressive resume, the Tucson, Ariz., native had to make a tough decision regarding which school to attend.
“I came on a recruiting visit and met coach and knew she was going to be a great coach for me,” Brown said.
Brown’s leadership on and off the course came into focus as soon as she arrived, as she wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion, Slobodnik-Stoll said.
“Sara knew what MSU golf was about,” she said. “She embraced the morals and values that we hold true and she let the other kids know what the program was about.”
Since graduating, Brown has taken her game to the pros. She’s now competing in the LPGA’s developmental tour, where she’ll travel the country and compete against young pros for the duration of the summer.
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“I’m really excited to get out there and start a new phase in my life,” she said.
“We’ll see how it goes from here.”
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