Former MSU golfer Laura Keuny hits the ball off the fairway during the Mary Fossum Invitational at Forest Akers West Golf Course on Sept. 13, 2009. The Spartans came in first in the Invitational at 11 over par and Keuny finished three over par.
Most 3-year-old girls tend to have pretty typical goals for their future. Some want to be ballerinas, others want to be movie stars and some dream of being a princess.
Laura Kueny, who just finished her college career as the most prolific women’s golfer in MSU history, had a bit of a different plan for herself at a very young age.
“I started playing golf when I was three and a half,” Kueny said. “I have just loved it my whole life, and I don’t picture myself doing anything else.”
With her father working as the head golf professional at Lincoln Golf Club in Muskegon, Mich., Kueny grew up around the game she loves. At first, golf was just something she did for fun, but Kueny said she started to take her game a little more seriously as she entered middle school.
Her father and golf pro Jim Kueny said it didn’t take much encouragement from him or his wife, Karen for Laura to take an interest in golf.
“We introduced her to the game and just kind of let her take it at her own pace,” Jim Kueny said. “I think you have to be careful pushing kids these days, but she just took off with it.”
Jim Kueny said the first time he noticed his daughter was more than an average golfer came after she finished second in her age group at the 1999 Optimist International Junior Championship in Florida. At the time, Laura was 11 years old and shooting lower scores than competitors much older than her.
“When you compared her against the other girls she was playing against, she was kind of in a league of her own,” Jim Kueny said. “We kind of had an inkling even when she was just a teenager that there might be something special there.”
The best ever
As it turns out, Laura Kueny’s father wasn’t the only one to notice her special talent at an early age.
Before she was twice named Miss Golf in Michigan while at Whitehall High School in Whitehall, Mich., Kueny was grabbing the attention of college coaches.
MSU women’s golf head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said she first heard about the two-time state champion when she still was in junior high, and even then it was obvious she had something other girls did not.
“Laura’s just a great athlete. She was maybe the best athlete to come from Whitehall,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “When you watched her play any type of sport, she’s good at it, and that is a great indication of how special she is.”
After four years of leading the Whitehall girl’s golf team, Kueny decided to play for Slobodnik-Stoll at MSU, where she made an immediate impact. During her freshman season, her score was counted in 11 of the 12 events in which she participated, meaning she had one of the team’s top scores. The following season, she earned the first of her three consecutive first-team All-Big Ten selections.
But as good as her first two years were, the best was yet to come.
In her third season as a Spartan, Kueny reached the NCAA Championships and followed that with a senior campaign in which she shot the lowest average in school history (73.85), won the 2010 Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year award and made the All-American second team. All of Kueny’s records and awards put her on the short list of the best women’s golfers to come through MSU.
“The greatest thing about coaching is just the progression that every athlete goes through,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “When Laura first came here as a freshman — just watching how she has transformed and grown. It’s just been a pleasure watching her progress.”
As the top golfer on the team, Slobodnik-Stoll said Kueny automatically assumed a leadership role throughout her career, whether she liked it or not. Known for being quiet and shy, she was described by Slobodnik-Stoll as more of the lead by example type.
“She really just goes about her business and does what she needs to do,” said Caroline Powers, a freshman on the MSU women’s golf team. “That’s a really good thing for us younger players to see and try to copy.”
Powers and Kueny grew close this season because Kueny said she saw a little bit of herself in Powers and remembered what it was like to be a freshman at a big school. Having a player of Kueny’s caliber to learn from as Powers begins her college career is something she said is very important.
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“She’s just so good,” Powers said of Kueny. “It was really helpful for me as a freshman to look up to someone like that.”
Moving on
Now that she has completed her illustrious career as a Spartan, Laura Kueny is preparing for the future.
She already has qualified for the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open, which will be held July 8-11 in Oakmont, Pa. But before that, she will compete at the World University Golf Championship next week in Antequera, Spain.
Although Kueny said she is excited to fulfill her dreams and start her professional career, she said her time at MSU “went
too fast.”
“It’s been great. I absolutely loved my four years here,” Kueny said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities and great experiences here. I’m sad it’s over.”
However, Kueny said the next step in her career is what she has been working for since her days of dominating junior golf tournaments. No longer having to worry about school, she said she has put the majority of her time into practicing for the longer roughs and quicker greens of the LPGA Tour.
Just as she pictured it years ago, it is time for Kueny to do nothing but golf.
“I’ve never had a job before. My parents always let me treat golf as a job,” Kueny said. “Now it really is my job and it’s awesome. I always kind of ask myself, ‘Why me? Why do I have it this good?’ I’ve just been very grateful for what God has given me and the opportunity I have.”
