Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Seretharan Small, but Brings Big Game from Malaysia
3/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- When Sarfina Seretharan joined the Marshall women's golf team 14 months ago, she had no idea what to expect. After all, you could have counted the Malaysian teenager's previous trips to the United States on one hand.
What she surely couldn't have expected, however, was that she would wait almost those 14 months to play her first tournament for the Herd. Now that she has, Seretharan has arrived in more ways than one.
In her college debut earlier this month at the Kiawah Island Classic, Seretharan finished in a tie for 34th -- with a 10-over-par 226 for 54 holes -- among a 216-player field.
"I would love to win a tournament, and possibly play postseason -- is that how you say it?" Seretharan said, when asked about goals and expectations.
And maybe she gets there. After all, the 4-foot-11 Seretharan's favorite quote is from Shakespeare:
"And though she be but little, she is fierce."
Translated?
"She is the `Mighty Mouse' of our team," Herd Coach Tiffany Prats said.
Before getting there -- or even to Kiawah, however -- Seretharan had to get on the course, period. That was a problem.
After only a few weeks after she enrolled in January 2015, Seretharan was awkwardly on crutches, having torn the ACL in her right knee while in training for the 2015 spring season.
"The first week of February, in the weight room, I was stepping onto a box to do pullups," Seretharan said. "And after I stepped off, it just popped. I had surgery March 6 (2015).
"I honestly thought I could play in July last year, but I was still taking it really slow. I was going to the range, hitting balls, but not playing a full round of 18. When I came back here in the summer (in August), we gave it a go, but it didn't quite cooperate yet."
At Kiawah, she shot 78-74-74. Seretharan was thrilled, she said, but not awed by the size of the field or her debut. After all, she started playing golf in her native Kuala Lumpur at age 10. In 2015, she was named Malaysia's top female golfer under 18.
"It felt amazing, just to be back," the 19-year-old Seretharan said. "It was so good, just to be able to play competitively again. It's a totally different feeling. You get this rush when you step onto that first tee box and you're just like, so focused, and all you want to do is play well for yourself and the team.
"I was excited, but then I wasn't playing my best in that first round. But then Coach Tiffany and our assistant coach, Brooke (Bellomy) came up to me and said, `It's your first round back, don't give yourself up for it, you still have two rounds to go.' They told me to just be patient.
"The difference (the final two rounds) was I started hitting the ball a lot better, and we played a different course the second day and third day. After my first round, Coach Tiffany came up to me on the range and she tweaked my ball position a little and I guess that did the trick. I started hitting it so much better."
As for those debut butterflies?
"Yes, I'm not going to lie," Seretharan said, smiling. "It was maybe 3-4 holes."
Prats, the Herd's second-year coach, headed west on her first recruiting trip after her Marshall hire in July 2014.
"Sarfina was the first recruit that I signed for Marshall," Prats said. "I had heard about Sarfina though a friend who happened to be her swing coach (Shane Gillespie). By chance she was playing at the Junior Worlds in San Diego. For two days, I watched as she smiled her way around the course and hit shots around the greens that were just unbelievable.
"She isn't the longest hitter but she can score from just about anywhere. Her demeanor on the course was outstanding as she didn't seem to be fazed by anything. After the conclusion of the event we were able to sit down and have a conversation and I knew she was the exact player I wanted to bring to Marshall as we started to change our culture -- a player that was genuine and had the desire to take her game to the LPGA Tour.
"She wanted to pursue her degree while elevating her game to the next level and she was willing to put in the work to make all of this happen."
That San Diego event was only the second trip to America for Seretharan. The previous visit was for a Florida training camp. Besides Marshall, her only other collegiate golf offer came from North Carolina State.
"In California, Coach Tiffany was there, and she came up after our round and we talked about Marshall, what she wanted to do here. I liked what she said and so we kept in touch and now I'm here. When we met, our golf program here was still very new with her. She had just gotten the job and she was trying to turn our program around, building new bridges. I wanted that new opportunity, part of building something."
Seretharan got her first taste of where she wants to go -- the LPGA Tour -- at age 15 in October 2012. She was the youngest amateur to qualify for the tour's annual stop in her native land -- the $1.9 million Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur Country Club.
In the no-cut event of 70 players won by Inbee Park, Seretharan finished at 13-over 330 ... but it was about more than the score to her.
"I did not play my best, but it was a great opportunity and I'm so grateful to have been able to play it," Seretharan said. "I learned so much playing with the best players in the world."
Seretharan said she considered turning pro after she finished high school, but decided another route would be better for her.
"We don't play high school golf (in Malaysia), but I played for the national team (2010-12)," she said. "I traveled a lot, played quite a few tournaments overseas. I played for the juniors (national team), and then the national team.
"It did cross my mind at one point to (go pro), but then I thought it's better to have an education as well, something to fall back on. So, I talked to my parents, and they said, `Go to school, finish your education, get a degree.' Over here, you get to study a major that you choose, and then you also get to play the sport you love."
The MU major she chose is psychology.
"I would like to be a professional golfer, but if that doesn't work out, then I want to be a sports psychologist," Seretharan said. "I want to work behind the scenes, with other athletes"
She said she thinks having a background in competitive athletics would help in that field "for sure." But she has a lot of fairways to traverse before she starts thinking that way.
"I looked for Sarfina to make an immediate impact on our program after she joined us in January 2015," Prats said, "and when she tore her ACL it was devastating to a young girl who moved all the way around the world to compete in the sport she loved so much.
"The long road to recovery started after surgery. Sarfina was still all smiles, but the road was not a smooth one -- covered with bumps along the way. After surgery, the key for her was learning her new normal as she worked her way back to the game she loved so much."
Seretharan brings an impressive golf resume to the Herd. In 2012, she won the Nick Faldo Series Malaysia. She played in the 2014 Malaysian Games, a year in which she also won the Melaka Amateur Open.
Next up for Seretharan and the Herd are March 20-22 and 25-27 tournaments in the Orlando, Fla., area.
"I'm not the longest hitter, but I'm pretty straight," Seretharan said when asked for a scouting report on her game. "I'm not usually a long hitter, but I'm pretty straight off the tee. My short game, I've got good touch. I'm very creative, and that definitely helps."
Prats is expecting big things from the 4-11 golfer.
"Sarfina put on a great showing for us at Kiawah," the Herd coach said. "You could see her confidence build with each round. She embodies everything I would like to see in our program -- a student-athlete who gets things done in the classroom, works extremely hard on her game, inspires her teammates and is just an all-around great person."
