Sunny Park: A Bright Future
18 Apr 2007
From the moment she had her first swing she was hooked. And then the dreams started. Now, after a stunning victory in last month’s Australian Amateur championship, Sunny Park is living the first part of that dream she had seven years ago.
“My mum took me to one of those indoor golf ranges, I think it was actually a converted squash court, and I can’t explain it, but I just loved it,” the 21- year-old said. “Since then all I have wanted to do is play golf for a living.”
Later this year she’ll be doing just that and first stop on Sunny’s amazing adventure is, hopefully, Q-School in Japan.
“It’s very difficult to get into, but if I don’t get in there I will go to the US and play in the Futures over there. I am definitely heading overseas because my ultimate goal is to make the US Tour and play against the world’s best.”
Sunny’s dream started when she had that first swing aged 14. A year later she was playing off 13 at Bankstown Golf Club. Since then it has been steady progress and a swag of titles along the way. At age 16 she moved to the NSW Lakes Club and promptly took home the club championship – no doubt raising a few eyebrows among the more senior lady members.
Other achievements include runner up at the Australian Amateur in 2005, 4th at the Dunes Medal, the NSW Junior Champion of Champions title, the overall winner of the Harvey Norman week of Golf, a member of the NSW Institute of Sport and representing her country at the Queen Sirikit Cup in 2006.
It sounds simple, easy even, when you read all the titles she has collected but you get the sense that anything Sunny Park has achieved has been through hard work and a stack of talent, topped up with a heap of quiet determination.
You couldn’t find a better example of this when she talks about her incredible come from behind victory against Australia’s number one amateur, Emma Bennett at last month’s Australian Championships.
Trailing five down after just seventeen holes, Sunny managed to turn it around and finally grab the lead on the 35th hole. She then secured the victory on the second play-off hole. After an exhausting 38 holes and all the emotion such a battle brings you’d think the release of all the pressure would have you dancing until the wee hours.
“I didn’t really go up, I didn’t really party, I was just straight into my routine, going to the gym and then I took a few days off but I guess I was just doing what I had to do. I didn’t start golf to win this title and then stop.”
And that’s the way she’s always been. With such a single-minded attitude she found life at school awkward. While all the other girls were giggling in the corners and poring over the latest soapie cliff hanger, Sunny was dreaming her own version of Home and Away.
She quit Asquith Girls in Year 11, and headed to TAFE. Once that was completed, she found for the first time in her life she had no assignments, no deadlines to meet. A time when most teenagers would be tempted to fritter the hours away. Not Sunny.
“I had so much time and I didn’t want to waste it. I don’t like wasting time. It would have been so easy for me to relax and go out with friends and spend time doing that but I never did that and it shows now. I set myself little goals like waking up early in the morning and going for a run or going to the gym. I know what I want.”
While her goals and ambitions of glory are clear, Sunny hopes to never forget her humble beginnings. She came to Australia from Korea as a two year old and lives in Parramatta with her Mum, Hyun and 23-year-old sister, Jenny.
“My mum is the only one that supports me so it’s my Mum and my sister and we are not well off or anything and they have been very supportive of my golf. Obviously if I could help them out that would be better because I have something I love and if I could make something of myself then that is one way I could repay them.”
It’s this love of family that Sunny realises will be her biggest stumbling block to a happy life on the tour. Last year she took herself overseas for seven weeks to see what it would be like. She stayed with Cherie Byrnes and left feeling a little bit overawed.
“I just thought to myself I don’t know if I can do this it is so hard out there, grinding away, playing in a place where they don’t even speak English, but I’m realistic. I want to be honest with myself and I don’t want to set things that are ridiculous. I don’t mind putting hard work in, that has always been part of what I do.”
And no doubt, Sunny hopes, part of what she’ll be doing for a long time yet.
Photo – Anthony Powter
