Lucy Stevens: Born to Play

Women’s golf has come to Adelphi. Started in the fall of 2014, the sport joined a growing array of women’s teams on campus. On last year’s small squad, one player stood out—Lucy Stevens. A first-year transfer student, Stevens helped the Panthers make a strong debut. She finished fifth out of 21 at last spring’s Northeast-10 championship and racked up some individual titles at tournaments along the way.

Stevens, who grew up in Indiana, is serious about her golf, but refreshingly modest and affable in describing her love for the game and her achievements on the green.

Asked about how she became interested in golf, Stevens said, with a laugh, “Well my mom was a [golf] pro.” Stevens described her mom, who didn’t attend college and didn’t pick up a golf club until she was 24, as a “great mentor.” She said too that she has been fortunate to find excellent coaches and role models, including her Adelphi coach, Ann Obermeyer.

Stevens played other sports growing up, but golf stood out as her favorite. “I was really into basketball, and every basketball court looks exactly the same whether you’re in Indiana or New York,” she said. “But every golf course is so special and so unique and you’re outside and it’s just awesome. I think it’s the most unique sport out there.”

In addition to the pure joy of playing golf, Stevens finds the game has prepared her for her life beyond the green. “There’s something always waiting around the corner,” she said. “Say you’re having a really bad hole, but you have seventeen more. Or vice versa, you have a couple more holes, and you have to keep that positivity going so it can happen on the next one…That’s kind of like life—day by day you never know what can happen tomorrow.”