ON TOUR: Kelly Shon displays her form as she follows through on a shot during her career with the Princeton University women’s golf team. Shon, a 2014 Princeton alum who was a four-time All Ivy league honoree and the 2013 Ivy individual champion, is currently competing as a rookie on the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tour.
(Photo provided courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Kelly Shon graduated from Princeton University in June 2014 with a degree in sociology but her education was just beginning on another front as she went from college to the Symetra Tour, the development circuit for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

For Shon, a four-time All Ivy league honoree and the 2013 Ivy individual champion during her stellar career with the Tiger women’s golf program, competing as a pro was an eye-opening experience, on and off the course.

“The challenge on the golf course was expected; I was coming off of four years of college where golf was not as big a part of my life as it was for the girls at the other colleges,” said Shon.

“Off the course, it was a dramatically different life being on the road. In college, I was surrounded by friends and could just walk down the hall when I wanted to talk to somebody. My life was more balanced, I missed that. My primary goal first and foremost was to learn.”

Utilizing her customary work ethic, Shon put her nose to the grindstone. “I went from playing 27 holes a week to playing 18 holes seven days a week and sometimes playing two rounds in a day,” explained Shon. “It is golf all the time.”

While Shon struggled on the Symetra tour, rarely earning enough to cover her expenses, she came through last December, earning her LPGA tour card as she tied for ninth in a 90-hole qualifying tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., needing a top-20 finish to make the LPGA.

“I remember that the week prior I didn’t play well,” said  Shon, who fired 4-under 68s in the last two rounds to move up from 24th place.

“I was a little bummed I was hoping to be more prepared. It was a tough fight, I told myself that it is a long journey and to keep fighting. I was definitely better off with the experience, if nothing else, just being more familiar with the players. It didn’t sink in at first, it is surreal.”

Shon had a surreal experience in her first LPGA event, tying for 11th at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic in early February.

“It was exciting, being around people I had looked up to all my life and now I was playing in the same tournament,” said Shon.

“I didn’t know what to expect; the only times I had been in against a top field like that was in the U.S. Open and the Canadian Open. The first nine holes were tough. I was hitting the ball well but the putts weren’t going in and then I started making putts. Once I got the ball rolling, things went well. I knew at the end that I could have shot a few shots better, it was a confidence builder knowing that I can compete.”

After missing the cut in five of her next eight events with a top finish of T62, Shon returned to New Jersey for the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway and looked right at home as she tied for third.

“It was the same weekend as Princeton reunions, it was so coincidental that it was an hour away,” said Shon.

“I was familiar with the course but I hadn’t played well the last time I had played there.”

Entering the final round three shots off the lead in a tie for third place, Shon felt some butterflies as she teed off.

“The first hole of the final day was tough, I don’t think I have ever been so nervous, my hands were shaking on the green,” recalled Shon, who was just one shot off the lead through 14 holes before ending up in third.

“Once I got over the first hole, I settled down and it was just golf. All day I was in it, it was awesome going against players who have won multiple tournaments. It was unbelievable; it was a confirmation of how I played in the Bahamas. I was starting to think that was a fluke, when it happens again it is validation.”

Over the summer, Shon has experienced the ups and downs that can come with being a rookie at the highest level, missing the cut in two of the five events since the ShopRite tournament with a top finish of T52.

“I have not been playing that well the last few months, my swing is all over the place,” said the 5’5 Shon, a native of Port Washington, N.Y. who is currently based in Queens.

“I don’t have a coach. We play so frequently that I don’t have time to make adjustments. I will keep playing through it. With my level of experience in the game, I feel like I am catching up. It is the best female golfers in the world. At times I am still mesmerized by them and some of the shots they make. I am working hard on the off days and the off weeks. I am going to try to get in and learn as much as I can so I will have that experience for next year.”

Having earned $136,297 through July 26 to rank 74th in the CME Globe Points Standings, Shon is planning to stay on the LPGA tour for a while.

“I thought, and the people around me thought, I wouldn’t be able to do this for years,” said Shon.

“It is not due to skill or ability but I am a curious person and I like to try different things. I can’t settle on one thing. But I am having so much fun with this, I can see myself doing this for years.”