Although Schreiber prides itself on athletic accomplishments, hearing about a former student succeed at a professional level is rare. No, Kelly Shon (‘10) is not in the NBA or the NFL, but she is a Schreiber graduate who qualified for the LPGA Tour, and she is ranked among the top 100 female golfers.
Thus far in 2015, Shon has competed in nine LPGA Tour events, with her best performance coming most recently between Feb. 5-8 where she placed in 11th place, winning $21,651.
Shon became a member of the boys golf team in eighth grade, before coming to Schreiber.
During her five year career on the team, Shon helped the team win three straight conference titles.
Shon placed second in the 2010 Nassau County boys high school tournament and qualified for the 2010 New York State boys championship tournament. Because of the lack of female golfers on Long Island, the majority of golf teams are officially listed as “boys golf teams.” However, girls are allowed to be members of these teams. In this way, Shon was able to participate in the boys golf tournaments while at Schreiber.
Shon won the 2009 American Junior Golf Association Aldila Junior Open and the 2010 AJGA event at Kingsmill in Virginia during her time at Schreiber.
Upon graduating, Shon became a member of the Princeton golf team and won multiple honors.
During her freshman year at Princeton, Shon won the first-team All-Ivy League, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open and came within one shot of making the cut.
The next season, in 2011-2012, Shon qualified for the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship.
The next season, Shon was the Ivy League Player of the Year, an NCAA Championship qualifier, and had the highest finish at the NCAA finals in Princeton and Ivy history, tying for 37th at +10 in the tournament held at Georgia.
During her final year at Princeton (2013-2014), she was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, qualified for the first-team All-Ivy League, and placed second in the Ivy League Championship.
After accomplishing so much in her high school and collegiate play, expectations are high for Shon. Being that it is only her rookie year on the Tour, Shon looks to improve with every swing.
Her inspiration for the game came from her mother, Kae. Starting at the age of 12, Shon fell in love with the game and has not looked back.
From her high school days, training has always been a top priority. After each match for the Vikings, Shon would go back to the course, win or lose, and work on chips, puts, and drives. Anything that could be done to improve her game, Shon did. Coach Doughty often uses Shon’s tactics as a way to improve her current team.
“We often used to hear about how good Kelly Shon is and how good the team was when she was on it. I think a couple of us, including myself honestly, got a little annoyed and used it as motivation to show everyone how good our team really is. I think it is safe to say that this motivation paid off and worked,” said senior Eric Schissel.