ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - Sophia Anderson wasn't even all that fond of golf at first.
It was just another activity the College of Saint Benedict junior participated in as a middle schooler in Albany.
That all changed, though, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"My dad (Steve) has always been a big golfer and he got my older sister and I into it as kids," Anderson recalled. "So I started at a pretty young age. I did summer junior camps and I'd golf with my siblings. It was fun, but it wasn't my favorite sport or anything like that.
"Then COVID hit, and one of my teammates on the middle school team and I were at the golf course all the time," she continued. "It was the only thing open and it was a way for us to get outside and do something. We were golfing constantly and we both improved so much. By the time we started our freshmen seasons the following spring, we each made the varsity. That was when the switch flipped for me. It became a sport I really enjoyed doing more and more."
And success followed. Anderson qualified for the Class 2A state tournament twice as an individual, finishing 13th overall as a senior in the spring of 2024 – the same season she earned Academic All-State honors.
She looked around at other schools when making her collegiate choice but ultimately decided on CSB – a school at which her family has a long history. Her mother Lisa – a freelance photographer – graduated in 1990 and sister Lauren in 2018. Her older brother Neal attended Saint John's, graduating in 2020.
"I grew up going to campus," said Anderson, who also played three years of volleyball at Albany. "I was always there for youth basketball and volleyball camps. But originally, it was one of the last places I wanted to visit. I thought maybe I wanted to branch out and get a little further away from home. But I did a visit with the golf team and fell in love with the place all over again. The sense of community here is so strong that I felt very much at home right away.
"I knew it was the place for me."
Anderson made an immediate impact, seeing action in seven events during her first year on campus in 2024-25 and averaging 85.8 strokes-per-round. That average dropped to 81.3 as a sophomore a year ago when she recorded two top 10 finishes, including placing second overall at the CSB Invitational.
She's continued to look strong this fall, leading her team with a sixth-place finish at the CSB Invite Sept. 5-6, tying for second on the team as the Bennies won the Fall D3 Classic hosted by Gustavus Sept. 12-13 and finishing second on the team again at the St. Kate's Fall Invite this past weekend.
"She's grown every year," said
Mark Krueger, who took over as CSB's head coach this season after spending the past two as an assistant. "Not only as a player, but as a leader. Her consistency on the course has gotten so much better and she's making a huge difference when it comes to our team scores."
Her leadership role has expanded a lot this season. Anderson is one of five upperclassmen on the roster, which means she is among the players younger teammates look to for guidance.
"It's definitely a little different," she said. "But it's a role I take seriously. I know I'm one of our more experienced golfers and there's a little more pressure and responsibility that comes with that. The younger girls are looking up to me and I want to make sure I set a good example."
Krueger said she's succeeding.
"She loves to play and that commitment rubs off on everyone around her," he said. "She played some high-level tournaments this summer in an effort to get better, and that demonstrates the expectation of what we want our program to be. We want all our players to keep taking the next step and she's done that."
She's done it both on and off the course. A double major in physics and math, Anderson was a WGCA All-American Scholar two seasons ago and an Academic All-MIAC selection last year. This past summer, she completed a research project with physics professor Sarah Yost at the Saint John's Observatory.
"Math is something I've always enjoyed ever since I can remember," said Anderson, whose father (a former baseball standout at Concordia-Moorhead) owns The Apothecary pharmacy in Sartell and whose oldest brother Nolan is a firefighter in St. Cloud.
"Then I took a physics class in high school and I really enjoyed that too. So that got me thinking of possible careers like engineering. I just really like calculations and working on the problem-solving aspect of things."
Those are skills she tries to apply on the golf course as well.
"I've always felt like I have the potential to play well, but in the past, I'd go through stretches where I'd run into trouble – mental blocks and things like that," she said. "But this past offseason, I really tried to work on my consistency. To not let it get to me if I have a tough shot or a tough hole. I put in a lot of work and I think the results are starting to show.
"I've made a big jump, even from last spring to now. I feel really good about where my game is at."
