From the June Issue of Kansas City Sports and Fitness Magazine
By Steve Wilson, Park University Sports Information Director

Complete Story Spread (p. 18-19) (PDF)

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Spend a few minutes with Park University’s Plern Promboobpa and you’ll learn the meaning of true appreciation. Appreciation for the game of golf, for her University and for her teammates, who have helped her feel at home in just her third year in the United States.

Three years ago, Promboobpa was in her native Thailand, where golf is a very different game. She came to the Kansas City area in 2007, though, and played her first team golf as a senior at Blue Springs South High School on a borrowed set of clubs.

“I didn’t have my own golf clubs when I came to the United States,” Promboobpa explained. “I couldn’t bring them. I was really limited in how much I could bring on a flight, so I had to borrow clubs from Lakewood Oaks Golf Course (where she works currently).

“They fit perfectly,” she said with a grin.

The fit must have been pretty good, on the way to individual championships at the conference and district levels before a fourth-place finish at the state tournament, but the team concept – not individual accolades – is what has impressed Promboobpa the most about high school and collegiate golf in the United States.

“I never had a team before I came to the United States,” she said. “Golfers are more friendly, here, and I think that’s a part of it. In Thailand, there are no teams, so no one really appreciates what you do on the golf course except for your family and yourself. Here, when you win, you get in the newspaper and your teammates really appreciate what you do when you play well.”

The most controversial and memorable part of her high school golf career came in the final tournament, when during the final round of her senior season state appearance, Promboobpa was assessed a two-stroke penalty for slow play, a was the result of helping another player find her ball after an errant shot.

“I was helping another player find her ball, and after she found it, I went and played my shot,” she explained. “Our group was taking too long, and the tournament director decided it was me slowing down play. So they decided I would get the slow-play penalty.”

Shortly after her state championship appearance, Promboobpa began to think about the next level, including where she would continue her career at the collegiate level. Her high school coach, Mike McGown, began helping his No. 1 player look for a collegiate home, and after a lengthy search, Park University came to the front of the list – a list that also included local rival Avila University and NCAA Division I Missouri State University.

“Park offered me the most out of the experience playing college golf,” Promboobpa said. “Here, it’s really about being a part of a team and I’ve had the opportunity to play as our No.1 player two years in a row. Not many freshmen and sophomores can say that.”

Promboobpa had big shoes to fill when she stepped into the No. 1 position for the Pirates, following Ashley Nicks, who for the past two seasons has been an assistant coach during Promboobpa’s initial years with the program. Nicks has since departed for a professional teaching opportunity, but Promboobpa credits a lot of her success to the Pirates’ former No. 1.

Nicks was the only coaching constant through Promboobpa’s first two years, beginning her career under former head coach Kelly DeFeo before Mike Mueller took the program’s helm last fall.

“Ashley and Coach (Mueller) calm me down on the golf course,” Promboobpa said. “I’m a really focused player, and a lot of times, people say it looks like I’m not having fun because I don’t smile. I’m just focused, but sometimes I put too much pressure on myself. That’s where my coaches have been really good at helping me to settle down.

“It was also good to have Coach Kelly (DeFeo) my first year. She was like mom to me, and that really helped me in my first year at Park,” Promboobpa said. “Both of my coaches at Park have been professionals and know what it takes to get us to where we need to be.”

That coaching has helped Promboobpa to the halfway point of her career at Park, which has included 11 top 10 finishes in 15 events, including three individual championships, all in her sophomore season. As the team’s No. 1 player, Promboobpa has also helped lead Park to 15 Top 10 finishes, including a pair of team titles.

Promboobpa’s first individual victory came in the 2009 fall opener when she took gold at the Graceland University Invitational in Lamoni, Iowa.

She made history with the victory, but it won’t be remembered for any of the 76 shots taken in regulation to tie for first place. On the first playoff hole, Promboobpa chipped in for birdie to claim the tournament title, becoming the first Pirate to win a playoff hole from off of the green to win a championship.

“I just cried,” Promboobpa remembered. “I just cried and tossed my club down on the ground. I jumped to coach and gave him a hug because I didn’t expect it to go in. It was a downhill chip and I had picked the right club (a pitching wedge) and I just trusted it. I knew it was going to be really close but I was like, ‘there’s no way that’s going in,’ and then it just dropped.”

She went on to win two more events as a sophomore, but again, Promboobpa reminds us that it’s not about the individual accolades. In fact, it’s not necessarily about Promboobpa and her teammates, for the Pirates’ No. 1 junior-to-be.

“My goal is to make nationals, because I want to pay back the school,” Promboobpa stated. “The school supports me with a scholarship and support as a family, and I feel like I owe it to Park to do my best and make it. I’ve missed by just a few strokes both years, but I really want to go as a team. The only way to do that is by winning, and everyone who makes nationals is an elite player or team. That’s where I want to see us go, together.”

So what’s left after Park University for its No. 1 player? More golf, of course.

“I want to turn professional,” Promboobpa stated. “I’m working on it right now, actually, trying to qualify for tournaments to get my name out there. Mostly, I want to stay in golf, and obviously, I want to play professionally. But, I mainly just want to be involved.”

It took a little more nudging to get the names of the tournaments she’s trying to qualify for, and they’re no Saturday afternoon scrambles, either. Promboobpa will attempt, this summer, to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, as well as the U.S. Women’s Open Championship.

“She’s playing in tournaments this summer that will give her experience to become a better player not only for us, at Park, but also for her goals down the road,” explained her head coach, Mike Mueller. “She’s focused and knows she has work to do, so it will be fun to watch.”

Promboobpa and the 2010 Park University Pirates concluded the 2009-10 season last month in Alton, Ill., placing seventh at the American Midwest Conference/Unaffiliated NAIA National Tournament Qualifier, finishing third among AMC rivals at the tournament, which was played at Spencer T. Olin Golf Club.