Shasta Climbing Her Own WAPL Mountain

First-Timer Averyhardt Advances To Second Round With Win Over Runas

By David Shefter, USGA

Erin, Wis. – All day, Shasta Averyhardt didn’t think about it. Not when she got to the first tee for her first-round match against Demi Frances Runas. Not when she held a 4-up lead with four to play.

Averyhardt just kept muttering to herself as she walked the Erin Hills Golf Course to stay in the moment. Don’t flash forward. Don’t flash backwards. Stay positive.

Last summer, Averyhardt owned a 3-up lead with five to play against Laura Bavaird in the final match of the Michigan State Women’s Amateur at Egypt Valley Country Club in Ada. Averyhardt watched her advantage trimmed to one at the final hole. Faced with a 2-foot putt to win the championship, she missed, and Bavaird holed a 25-footer for birdie on the first extra hole to take the title.

Shasta Averyhardt has advanced to the second round of match play in her first-ever WAPL. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

That was the last match Averyhardt played until Wednesday’s first-rounder at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. The 6-foot-1, 22-year-old from Flint, Mich., had a near-flawless round, making 13 pars, a bogey and a birdie in a 4-and-3 victory over the 16-year-old Runas of Torrance, Calif. The only signs of a hiccup came late when she missed a 5-foot birdie try at the par-5 14th that would have ended the match. At No. 15, she had two putts from 6 feet to win and she eased up on the birdie attempt before being conceded the tap-in.

“Today I was telling myself not to get frustrated,” said Averyhardt, who is competing in her first USGA championship. “If I hit a bad shot it’s OK. Anything can happen. I was trying to be consistent. Par is good out here.”

Averyhardt just recently completed her eligibility at Jackson (Miss.) State, a Historically Black College/University, where she was a four-time Southwestern Athletic Conference champion. She will graduate this December with an accounting degree.

Bear in mind that Jackson State is hardly a college golf power. On campus, Averyhardt said the sport ranks just two spots from the bottom, barely ahead of tennis and bowling.

“I don’t even know if my school knows I am here,” she said. “I know my coach (Eddie Payton) knows I am [here]. It’s OK. It doesn’t matter as long as I keep advancing.”

Averyhardt finished her college career with nine victories, but never played at the NCAA regionals, where she was grouped against some of the best in the college game. Part of her struggles centered around school since finals always occurred right before the competition.

“It was very hard,” said Averyhardt of going from finals to a major competition. “It takes away from practice. It’s hard to go to regionals without practice and expect to play well.

“When I look at [the other players], I don’t see anything different than what I do.”

Averyhardt took to golf at the age of 8, but didn’t become competitive until six years ago. Her father, Greg, didn’t want her to play basketball because at 6-1, coaches would always put her at center and she would constantly get pushed and banged around. An accomplished high school volleyball player, Averyhardt looked at playing that sport in college until she realized there wasn’t much of a post-college future in the game.

Prior to her senior year of high school, Averyhardt transferred from Flint High to Grand Blanc High, which had an accomplished girls’ golf team that would win the state title. Schools such as Eastern Michigan recruited Averyhardt, but she wanted a warmer climate.

“I wanted the sun to beam on me,” she said.

So along with her father, they used the PING College Guide to send out tapes and resumes to dozens of schools.

Barry University, a NCAA Division II school in Florida, was interested, as was Jackson State, which offered a full-ride scholarship. While Barry might have had better facilities, Jackston State was Division I and Averyhardt wanted to compete against the best.

Four years later, thanks to help from swing coaches Rick Kent and now Bill Baldwin, Averyhardt hopes she can eventually become the first African-American to play the LPGA Tour since LaRee Sugg left that circuit in 2001. Tiger Woods is the only African-American on the PGA Tour.

A key component is finances. Greg Averyhardt estimated he’s spent some $200,000 over the past six years supporting his daughter’s golf dream. His plan this fall is to find local businessmen willing to sponsor Shasta when she makes an attempt to qualify for Duramed Futures Tour in November.

“It’s not easy to go into the black community and get money,” said Greg Averyhardt, who is in the process of creating a Web site for his daughter and is following her progress this week at the WAPL. “It’s right now with the downturn in the economy. It’s something I know I am going to have to do this fall.”

Meanwhile, Shasta, who was a first alternate for this championship two years ago, just continues to play. A good showing at the WAPL could open a Pandora’s box of opportunities.

“I was determined to make it here (WAPL) this year,” said Averyhardt. “I wanted to show my face.”

A few more wins and Averyhardt’s face might get recognition beyond the Flint city limits.

David Shefter is a USGA New Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.