Growing up in South Korea, NAU freshman golfer Stephanie Kim first picked up the game when she used to follow her dad to the driving range and either use his clubs or her mom's.

"I was 8 years old and I followed my dad out there one day and I just kept playing," Kim said. "I never played in any tournaments or really even on a course, but I would just go the driving range with him everyday.

"I guess you could say I just fell in love with it right away."

You could also say she's come a very long way since then.

Kim moved from South Korea to California shortly after she first picked up the game and starting playing a little more.

However, when she moved from Orange County to Phoenix in eighth grade, the game took on a new meaning.

Kim started competing in junior tournaments and played prep golf for Phoenix Desert Vista.

In high school, Kim had a solid, but not brilliant career. She finished eighth at the Class 5A state championships as a senior after finishing fifth as a junior in 2007.

She earned city medalist honors three time, was a regional medalist twice and was ranked 103rd in her class by the Junior Golf Scoreboard.

After she completed her prep career, Kim started looking at colleges and picked NAU over University of California-Davis and Cal-Poly.

"I pretty much knew everyone on the team because they were almost all from the Valley," Kim said. "I also really liked the location. It was good to be away from Phoenix, but not too far away."

It's safe to say the marriage has worked for both sides.

Kim is incredibly happy in Flagstaff and the Lumberjacks are thrilled with their freshman.

Kim has had one of the best freshman seasons in Big Sky Conference history in any sport.

Earlier this week, Kim was not only named the league's freshman of the year, but she was also named the golfer of the year.

The ironic thing is that Kim says not that much is different between her game now and her game in high school, other than one big thing.

"I'm a lot more confident now," Kim said. "Everything's still pretty much the same, other than my confidence level."

And, that's what winning will do for a golfer.

Kim has posted tournament wins at the 2010 Wyoming Cowgirl Classic and the Grand Canyon Fall Invitational in 2009.

She hasn't finished worse than fourth place in any of the 10 tournaments she's competed in as a rookie.

"Stephanie has done amazing," senior teammate Megan Buck said. "It's hard to be a freshman. Not only are the golf tournaments different, but all the stresses of school and the schedule that I don't think a lot of girls expect.

"For her to come here and play so great is amazing. And it is great for our team to have a freshman that people might not expect to play very well now be winning tournaments and posting really low scores to help us out."

Kim also set a school record with a round of 68 at the Cowgirl Classic and has fired six rounds this season at 73 or better.

"I didn't expect to have this kind of season, but I'm glad that I did," Kim said. "I didn't even know there were awards like golfer of the year and freshman of the year."

Now, Kim will try to put one more feather in her cap.

Starting Monday, Kim will compete at the two-day Big Sky Conference Championships and try to bring a title back up to Flagstaff.

"There's going to be some pressure, but I can't focus on that," Kim said. "You just have to think about what you have to work on and keep working on it. That's my plan."

The tournament opens Monday at the Ocotillo Golf Resort in Chandler, the same course where Kim won the Cowgirl Classic.

Daniel Berk can be reached at dberk@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.