It has been a long road for former Iowa State Cyclone Shelley Finnestad in route to the Lady Professional Golfer’s Association U.S. Open. The 1993 Big 8 champion has gone from her hometown nine-hole Boone golf course to playing with the game’s elite over the Fourth of July weekend in Kohler, Wisconsin.

“[Coach Julie Manning] had a lot of patience with me my freshman year, because I was shooting in the 50s,” Finnestad said. “She really worked on my swing and eventually I got some better numbers. I certainly matured the most while I was [at ISU.] It was the first time I had any formal instruction, so I got a chance to work on my swing and short game. If I would’ve gone anywhere else the coach would’ve just said good-bye, and I would’ve graduated and that would’ve been it.”

While in high school, Finnestad was among the top five golfers in the state, but she did not capture any major crown of note.

“Shelly’s is a story that we sight to a lot of incoming players,” Manning said. “She is from a small town, had never spent much time on a driving range or had never really practiced much; she had just played. When she got here, she couldn’t believe that we would practice for two hours and then still go out and play a round. We’ll probably never know what she truly meant to Iowa State golf. She showed people that a person from the north could compete at the top and win.”

During Finnestad’s junior year at ISU, she was extremely consistent — often breaking 80. Her senior year, she was shooting between 74-76.

“There have been golfers here that may have had as much talent as Shelly, but not the desire,” Manning said. “Her best golf is still in front of her. I can’t think of anybody stopping her from reaching her goal.”

Finnestad qualified for the U.S. Open by tying for 16th at the LPCA in Detroit. Over 250 women were vying for one of the 24 qualifying spots. Nearly a thousand women nationwide competed in the 10 qualifying tournaments with just 144 making the Open field.

“I want to stay as close to even par as much as possible,” Finnestad said. “I have to really concentrate and take it shot by shot, because I have a tendency to look ahead to the 17th or 18th hole while playing the 15th.

“I should have a certain advantage there because I usually score about the same whether it is an easy course or a hard one, and from what I understand, this is an extremely hard course. I just need to have a lot of patience.”

During the tournament in Michigan, Finnestad shot a 73. The cut off score was 74.

“I finished my round at 2 and I thought it might be good enough, so I had to wait in agony until nearly 7 until everyone else finished,” Finnestad said. “It was really close; the last two golfers had to go to a playoff in order to get in.”

Finnestad, a 1994 graduate of ISU, is currently playing on the Futures tour. It is considered the male equivalent to the NIKE tour, but is not sanctioned by the LGPA, where the NIKE is by the PGA. Finnestad spends up to eight months on the road throughout the year following tour stops living in hotels and out of her car. She has been living in Orlando for the past four years, but will be moving to Phoenix this year.

Currently Finnestad is not heavily sponsored, and at times she has had to work or take out loans in order to pursue her love of golf.

“When I got out of college I gave myself five years to make it to the LPGA,” Finnestad said. “I had to get used to having no money and living on the road. Now that I’m so close, I have to reevaluate my plan. Instead of quitting, I want to keep going. I just have to continue to improve faster than the rest of the field.”

Last year, Finnestad made it to the final tournament of qualifying school in October but failed to make the cut. She will attempt to re-qualify for the same tournament in August.

At ISU, not only did Finnestad become the school’s first women’s conference champion in golf, but she is the single season stroke average leader for the Cyclones at 77.4 set in her senior campaign. During her last year at ISU, she also played for Theresa Becker’s women’s basketball team.