May 21, 2010
By Leigh Torbin
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF junior women's golfer Katie Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn.) was the proud recipient of the Dinah Shore Trophy Award on Friday night at the National Golf Coaches Association's annual awards banquet.
A part of the Dinah Shore Scholarship Fund, the trophy is a cooperative effort between The LPGA Foundation, the Friends of Golf (FOG), and the Nabisco Dinah Shore, one of the LPGA's four major championships and the largest contributor to the Dinah Shore Scholarship Fund.
A selection committee of The LPGA Foundation chooses the Dinah Shore Trophy Award recipient from nominations submitted by the NGCA. Nominees for the award must: have an overall grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale; have played in at least 50-percent of her team's scheduled events; maintained a scoring average of 78 or less; and demonstrated leadership skills and/or extraordinary community affairs work. Detlefsen excelled in all categories.
After earning over a year's worth of Advanced Placement credits from the prestigious Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Detlefsen graduated from UCF in just two years with a 4.0 GPA with a bachelor's degree in advertising/public relations. She has maintained that perfect 4.0 mark through her first full year of graduate school where she is presently working on a master's degree in mass communications. She was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year last month. As a first team all-district selection yesterday, Detlefsen is presently a candidate for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America At Large team which will be announced on June 10.
On the course, the native Minnesotan had a tremendous improvement in 2009-10 where her 77.28 stroke average was well ahead of her 79.17 from 2008-09 and 80.65 from 2007-08. For her efforts, Detlefsen was rewarded with a spot on the Conference USA third team, one of three Knights to be so honored. Detlefsen had the first five par-or-better rounds of her career this past year and two top 10 finishes after having just one during her first two years combined. Detlefsen's 218 at the FIU/Pat Bradley Invitational in October tied for the fourth-best par-72 54-hole tournament score in school history. She also had a top 20 finish in February's Hurricane Invitational as the Knights claimed their first team title since 2002. She was UCF's top finisher at both the UCF Challenge and the Tiger/Wave Classic.
Detlefsen boasts a lengthy list of noble community projects that she has involved herself with around Florida and her native Minnesota. Detlefsen has addressed many elementary and middle school students about the importance of academics and athletics. Detlefsen has been involved with several canned food drives and even constructed centerpieces for the Second Harvest Food Bank's 2009 Thanksgiving dinner. She has volunteered for the Central Florida Children's Home and the New Life Church of God's community Christmas gifting efforts where she shopped for Orlando children in need. She served as an unpaid intern at the Orlando-based House For Hope, a home for hurting teenagers where she assisted with the house's public relations efforts while also serving as a volunteer tutor.
She is presently a member of UCF's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the New Life Church of God SCSO (Serving Christ Serving Others) College Group, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the UCF College Republicans and the Fellowship of Christian Graduate Students.
Detlefsen received the award during the NGCA Banquet following the conclusion of today's NCAA Women's Division I Championship at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C., an event won by Purdue by a single stroke over USC. The event was held at the club's Nicklaus Clubhouse Banquet Room.
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