Junior Sophie Hausmann — Idaho’s German golf virtuoso and the 2017-18 Big Sky MVP — strolled down the 18th fairway at Boulder Creek Golf Course in Nevada during the conference tournament. Her head coach, Lisa Johnson, assured her earlier of the team’s eight-stroke buffer, so to Hausmann, there wasn’t much pressure.
It was just another hole, one of many in her storied golf career and one of countless more to come.
She plopped her second shot onto the middle of the green, then lined up about a 10-foot birdie putt.
Kerplunk.
Her 3-under 68 wasn’t even her best round in the championship — she tied her own tournament record in round two with a 7-under 65 — but it did supplement her record-shattering three-round performance and provided a bit of extra confidence.
“The day before I had a short birdie putt and missed it,” Hausmann said. “I was thinking, ‘just please make it.’ I got a great read downhill, so, ‘okay, just roll it in.’ That was nice to get another birdie there.”
Breaking from the stereotypical golf persona, she and her team broke out into an enthusiastic clamor.
Hausmann now owned Big Sky Tournament medalist honors for the second time in her career and the Vandals sprinted past favorite Sacramento State for their second championship in three years.
Her second and third rounds were eye-catching to say the least. Usually, it’s professionals on the LPGA tour who card such low marks and she knows it’s not her ceiling.
“I’ve been at 7-under quite often so I was wanting to get the 8-or-9-under,” Hausmann said. “I had a couple of good opportunities to do it. So, I probably should have. But whatever, 7-under, hey, I’m not going to complain about that.”
One could say she’s made steps in the right direction. That’s been the story of her career.
Since she left Nottuln, Germany — her “Moscow-sized” hometown just west of Münster — in 2015, her poise, comfortability and professional vision have only sharpened. They were there while she competed in amateur tournaments around Europe throughout the years leading up to her collegiate career, but not quite as cultivated as today.
From the age of 12 on, Hausmann has encompassed the golfer identity. By the time she began to be recruited, she had already experienced international play. She competed as a teenager for the Dusseldorf club team, where she tested herself against top-level competition at courses around Germany and the United Kingdom.
She took a leap of faith across the ocean and was welcomed by Johnson, who had discovered her through a recruiting service and got in touch with her based on a newfound will to scout European players.
“I didn’t see her play in the European Girls’ Junior Championships, but I watched a lot of the players she was competing directly against in European events,” Johnson said. “So, I felt comfortable enough to offer her a scholarship.”
Unsurprisingly, the word “Idaho” was unfamiliar to her before she came in contact with Johnson. She had been to Florida and California, but never to the Northwest. But considering the support she’s been offered, along with the four-season Idaho weather she fancies, she’s found a second home 5,000 miles away from her native country.
“I’d never been anywhere like this, honestly I didn’t know Idaho was a state so I had to look it up,” Hausmann said as she laughed. “Everyone did their best to make that transition as easy as possible for me. I was kind of scared about the English and academics, which turned out to not be as hard as what I was concerned about.”
She’s grown to love the “chilled-out, relaxed” culture in America and not once has she regretted making the international transition.
Part of that shift has been to augment her strength and course mentality. She is undeniably an athlete — being a red belt, black tag in taekwondo while enjoying soccer, tennis and skiing — but she said she didn’t have much experience in physical training before arriving at Idaho.
Three years in, Johnson estimates she’s tacked on about 30 yards off the tee and 15 with her irons.
“I definitely hit it further,” Hausmann said. “And that’s my favorite part (of the game).”
Aside from her now-250-260-yard bombs from the box, Hausmann’s mental bettering has been another one of the steps in her “path in the right direction.”
Short game and proficient putting fall within that category, but she also said she’s matured — she’s learned to disallow stress or frustration from the “minor things” and instead places that energy into self-renovation.
Through her heightened mental training, Hausmann has also stifled her “ticks,” or, her in-play superstitions. Among them was her tendency to perfectly align and fasten her glove strap. She also ensured her ball-markers weren’t mixed together and had her anklet twisted with the knot facing out for good luck.
“Lisa would tell me, ‘Girl get off!’” Hausmann said. “There’s a few but now it’s not too bad. It was way worse.”
She performs well under pressure, and there’s no lack of it. She’s a first-team all-conference player, player of the year, multi-medalist and ranked on GolfStat’s head-to-head. Also, there isn’t much of a break. During the off-season, she continues to perform in amateur worldwide competitions to gain the necessary preparation for Q-school — professional qualifying — which is the most important stepping stone between collegiate and LPGA careers.
Along with that, she’s also had off and on nagging from a back muscle sprain she suffered as a freshman. But she’s been able to stymie the stressors, which, according to Johnson, has been a blessing for the team.
“She’s really shown that she’s capable of (performing under pressure) and doesn’t need help through that process which has been really beneficial for our program,” Johnson said. “Not only has she been able to win, but also it allows me to put more emphasis on other players who need to get a solid three or four strokes better.”
Now, Hausmann is gunning for the pros. With her steadily-improving all-around game, mental solidity on the links and strict commitment to her goal, it could become reality.
“(Going pro) is a challenge, and it doesn’t always happen those first couple of years … You have to be committed long-term,” Johnson said. “She has what it takes.”
Colton Clark can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @coltonclark95