Shelby Walls had never golfed competitively prior to her freshman year at Hahnville. She proved a quick study.
Walls qualified for the LHSAA state golf championship tournament in each of her four years as a player with the Tigers, a run that helped catapult her to earn a scholarship to continue to play the sport at Loyola University in New Orleans. She made that official at St. Charles Parish Public Schools’ recent spring signing day ceremony.
Not bad for someone that took the game up simply because she needed a new hobby.
“I danced for the nine years prior to that, but six days a week of dancing … I decided I didn’t want to do that anymore,” Walls said. “So my Dad told me, ‘Well, you have to do something.’”
Her mother then chimed in with the suggestion to take up golf. Though Walls said her mother was not a golfer herself, she had encouraged her other daughters to take up the sport, in part because she knew it could potentially lead to scholarship opportunities and was an activity one could continue for the majority of life.
Smart call.
That said, as one might expect, there was a learning curve, even if Walls’ was briefer than most.
“I never, ever thought I’d get a scholarship when I first started. I wasn’t good at all,” she said. “I give a lot of credit to my coaches because they kept telling me, ‘you can do this. Keep at it. You won’t be that good immediately, but you have potential to do really well.’”
Immediately or not, it didn’t take long. Walls earned All-District second team honors at the end of her freshman year.
“That’s when it clicked for me that I could get really good,” she said.
[pullquote]“It’s challenging. It’s not quite like any other sport. You’re constantly seeking what you can fix.” — Shelby Walls[/pullquote]Putting is her forte, something she said stuck out to her soon-to-be coach at Loyola during her showcase session during recruiting.
“He kept commenting on how many putts I’d made,” she said. “That I seem to be really good from this certain distance.”
Walls finished 18th overall in her division in two of the past three years at the state championship. A top 20 finish in the state is strong, and Walls felt she could have done even better.
“We were all adjusting to the wind conditions. I felt like on the back nine, I had the hang of it, then the next day I did even better,” she said.
That it’s a game of adjustments is a major part of why Walls has developed a passion for golf.
“It’s challenging,” she said. “It’s not quite like any other sport. You’re constantly seeking what you can fix, leaning on your coaches, then fighting things out for yourself … the mental part is so significant, it’s not just about the physical. If it’s raining, the ball rolls slower. With the wind, you have to use this club or hit this a certain way so it goes this way. The game changes constantly.”
Among her other activities at Hahnville, she was an editor of the yearbook and a member of the Advanced Honor Society, Beta Club and National Honor Society.
She plans to study forensic science as her major at Loyola, noting she’s always had great interest in police work as well as science, so it was a natural fit for her to merge the two together.
“In chemistry class, my teacher Miss Rome had a listing called ‘The Poisoner’s Handbook’ about the start of forensics and forensic science. I thought, OK, this might be for me,” Walls said. “I had wanted to be a doctor or physician’s assistant for awhile … this fit both sides of what I’m interested in.”
Shelby Walls
- Began playing competitive golf as a freshman and finished her career with two top 20 finishes at state.
- Considers putting the strength of her game.
- Will be attending Loyola-New Orleans on athletic scholarship.
- Took up the sport as a way to keep busy after walking away from dancing, which she did for nine years.
Be the first to comment