Pretty cool, even for a jaded media veteran, to walk into the clubhouse of one of his home clubs (OK, so I'm spoiled with two) and say to the owner: "How good is that? Your daughter shot 68 at Glendale Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg and she's leading the CN Canadian Women's Tour event as an amateur?"
While Simoro Golf Links near Barrie, Ont., may be a regular golf course, Dave Sherlock and his daughter Stephanie are pretty special. Dave, who was a heck of a junior hockey player in Oakville, Ont., got a scholarship to Northeastern University in Boston in 1972. Always capable of putting the puck in the net from anywhere, he decided to play in Germany and stayed there 14 years.
Talking to a former teammate (we'll call him "Heavy" to preserve his identity. OK, so it's Bill Bryant, a former teammate), Dave's stats aren't bad. In 89 games at Northeastern, he had 72 goals and 100 assists (172 points) and zero penalty minutes. Yikes! He also coached for nine seasons in Germany, where he met wife Angela. Steph was born there. A serendipitous series of events led to them having ownership positions in a course or two in Florida and Ontario.
As I and my usual group of fellow degenerates-Buddha Mike, Duggie and Cheesie-were on Simoro's 10th tee a week ago Sunday, Steph was coming down 18, playing three or four balls into the green. On Friday, she was glued to the clubhouse TV, cheering for Germany in their Euro 2008 match. Heck, I recall when she drove the beverage cart. I almost had to stop myself from yelling, "Hey, Steph, four Canadians over here!" when I saw her playing in last year's CN Canadian Women's Open.
Our usual men's night festivities on Tuesday were gloriously overshadowed by Stephanie's heroics. A 75 in the second round put her into a three-way playoff. She reached the fourth playoff hole, a par 5, in two and two-putted for the victory. She's won five NCAA tournaments as a sophomore at the University of Denver and is the defending Canadian Amateur champ.
With her national teammate Sue Kim having won the first two events on the countrywide tour, Steph made it a clean sweep so far for our amateurs.
Who says our amateur program is second rate? Look for Steph and Sue at the Women's Open at Ottawa Hunt, Aug. 14-17.