Junior golfer Margaux Sheehan made the journey from the Land of the Midnight Sun to the Golden State mostly for the weather.

Now the Alaskan native can play more than three months a year for the Sacramento State women’s golf team.

Earlier in the year, Sheehan was named the Big Sky Conference player of the week, twice.

“It’s an honor to know that you’re playing well especially among everyone in your conference,” Sheehan said, “It’s really nice to have some confidence going into the spring season especially for the conference championships.”

Aside from being named the player of the week, she is also ranked No. 2 in the Big Sky conference and recently set a 54-hole school record, shooting a 217 at the Lady Aztec Classic.

Sheehan, who started golfing when she was 12, got off to a late start with her competitive career, but is making up for lost time with record setting play.

Unlike most athletes who get exposure through participating in their sports in high school, Sheehan did not have the same opportunity.

Growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, where the cold climate was a disadvantage for her, she still played as much golf as she could. She was only able to play three to four months out of the year and could not play during the winter.

She was interested in golf mainly because of her big sister whom she began taking junior lessons with.

“Everything she did I wanted to do so I took lessons with her,” said Sheehan, who was also influenced by her father’s love of the game.

While she took lessons she did not play competitively until she was 16. She played in junior tournaments during the summers.

Sheehan was swayed by the California weather and ended up coming to play for Sac State in 2003.

“I remember going to my first college tournament, and I had no idea how it worked,” Sheehan said. ” I got there and I was like, ‘What do we do?'”

The transition was not easy for Sheehan, but her sharp learning curve has allowed her to do well.

She is one of the longest players in the Big Sky in distance and has improved a lot over last season.

Coach Adam Pohll, who is amazed at the improvement he sees in Sheehan, said that the only thing she needs to work on now is consistency.

“She is more mentally tough which is the exact opposite of last year and her putting and short game have also improved,” Pohll said.

In past years Sheehan has not done well in the Big Sky Championships.

The first year an illness prevented her from playing and she was only able to compete one out of the three days. Last year a shoulder injury forced her to perform at a level lower than what she had hoped to achieve.

Sheehan, who said she is looking forward to this year, is likely to win this year’s Big Sky Championships. Not only does she have the advantage of playing on a familiar course, but she also has the confidence and experience that she didn’t have in past years.

“I feel I can shoot really low there. Especially as a team we shoot low there,” Sheehan said. “I think as a team we are going to be one of the top contenders for the Big Sky.”

“We expect her to win the Big Sky Championship,” Pohll said.

“We will see how it goes the rest of this year and next year. Being from Alaska I never thought it would be possible to get to this level,” Sheehan said. “I would like to see what happens.”

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Krystina Uribe can be reached at [email protected]