It’s been a week University of Colorado golfer Alex Stewart won’t soon forget.
On Monday, the sophomore turned 20 years old. And, as a surprise, her mom, dad and two sisters traveled to New Orleans to celebrate the big day, which fell during the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate tournament. And to cap things off, Stewart came up with a little surprise of her own, winning a college event for the first time — and against one of the best women’s fields of the season.
“That was pretty awesome,” Stewart said in a phone interview with COgolf.org. “The tournament had such a good field. I guess that was one of the best tournaments to do it in.”
That Stewart had the right stuff wasn’t any major surprise, though. After all, she ranks No. 7 among all the world’s women’s amateurs, according to amateurgolf.com. Still, she proved she’s worthy by beating many of college golf’s top women’s players in posting the victory in the Big Easy.
Among those in the Sugar Bowl field were six of the top 20 women’s college golfers in the nation, according to Golfweek, including No. 1-ranked Lindy Duncan of Duke.
Stewart, who’s in her first season at CU after transferring from NCAA runner-up Purdue, played her last 11 holes in 5 under par and shot a 67. That was enough for her to overcome an eight-stroke deficit on the final day and win by one. (Stewart is pictured above in a photo taken by Tulane University officials.)
It was just the sixth college individual title ever won by a CU women’s player, and coach Anne Kelly said it was the best field a Buff player has ever won against.
“Alex is a great player, and she was a great player when she got here,” Kelly said. “She came back for the spring season ready to play, and (assistant coach Brent Franklin) and I said she was right on the verge. She was in the zone and broke through, which was very exciting to see.”
But Stewart admits she had “no idea” where she stood on the leaderboard coming down the stretch.
“As a player you don’t quite know how you’re doing unless you ask your coach or someone,” Kelly noted. “I was just trying to stay out of her way. When she got off the 18th green I said, ‘Alex, I think you just won.’ And a big smile came across her face.”
Stewart’s performance helped the Buffs beat three of the top four teams in the nation and finish second in the tournament, behind only Duke. That showing helped moved CU up to No. 14 in the most recent Golfstat rankings — the highest in the history of the program.
“That was a real confidence booster for everyone on the team,” Stewart said.
Stewart’s presence has helped take CU from being a strong team to one that can compete effectively with just about any opponent in the country. Stewart joins seniors Emily Talley and Jessica Wallace in leading a CU team that hopes to qualify for the NCAA Championship finals for the first time ever.
Stewart joining the Buffs marked the second very fortuitous addition to the CU roster via transfer in recent years. Wallace transferred to CU from Pepperdine in 2010 after finishing 21st individually in the NCAA Championships. Then Stewart made a similar decision, leaving 2011 NCAA runner-up Purdue to become a Buff.
Stewart grew up in Elk Grove, near Sacramento, Calif., before moving to Arizona when she was 17. She was homeschooled and didn’t play high school golf, but was a very highly recruited golfer by virtue of her performance on the AJGA circuit and in other competition. The 2009 U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team member committed early to Purdue, a team that would go on to win the 2010 NCAA title.
Stewart said she considered CU “a little” during the recruiting process, but wanted to go to a higher-ranked program. And though she played seven tournaments last season for Purdue, she opted to transfer.
“It wasn’t the right fit,” she said of the Boilermakers. “And it was far from home, and I wanted to transfer somewhere closer.”
But there are a lot of quality women’s teams in the western U.S. What made her choose CU?
She said the decision was mainly based on conversations she had with Talley and Wallace, who Stewart knew from junior golf.
“They had a lot of good things to say” about CU, Stewart said. “And I knew I could trust their opinion.”
So after asking Wallace — via Facebook — about the transfer process, Stewart switched to CU, with the move being announced less than two weeks after the 2011 NCAA Championships, in which Stewart didn’t compete for Purdue.
And what Stewart did during tournaments last summer only made Kelly and the Buffs more optimistic about their prospects for this season. Stewart finished second in the prestigious Women’s Trans-National and third in the Canadian Women’s Amateur.
In addition to posting three top-10 individual finishes this season for CU, Stewart had very strong performances at tournaments outside of college in January. She placed fourth in the South Atlantic Amateur and went to the semifinals of the Jones-Doherty Women’s Amateur.
“I watched her as a junior (player) and I was impressed then, and she gets better and better,” Kelly said. “She’s a hard worker and is dedicated to becoming the best player she can be. She has the ability to take it to the LPGA Tour if that’s what she wants.”
And Stewart does want to be a professional tour player. But in the meantime, she has some big aspirations for the remainder of her college career.
“My goal is to play in nationals and win as an individual and as a team,” she said.
