TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Michelle Estill was only a teenager, she quickly began making a name for herself on the golf course. Although she did not play competitively much growing up, casual rounds with her family at local public courses like Coronado and McCormick Ranch caused word to spread about the power behind the future LPGA Rookie of the Year's swing.
"I started getting phone calls from people around the Valley who would say, 'Have you seen Michelle Estill hit a golf ball?' said former head coach Linda Vollstedt, who led the Sun Devils to an unprecedented six NCAA titles in the 1990's alone.
"And I would say, 'Who is Michelle Estill?'"
These days she is an assistant coach for the Arizona State women's golf team. Back then, respectable golfers from the area, such as the legendary Arch Watkins, would tell "Coach V" that she needed to see Estill hit a golf ball as soon as possible. Rumor was that Estill could hit farther than any other woman they had seen. What those people did not know was the Scottsdale native would rather have been somewhere other than on a golf course.
"I'm not sure I had a love for golf," Estill said. "I kind of knew I could do it when I was a kid but I didn't want to do it as a kid. I just kind of had this talent. That sounds terrible (laughing). My dad always said I had God-given talent, but I liked other things."
Estill instead enjoyed playing more team-oriented games such as basketball, softball and volleyball. In fact, Estill first attended Mesa Community College on a basketball scholarship before deciding to drop out and get a job.
That full-time occupation was working as a range rat at the Coronado Golf Course. That lasted until another legend in the golf community gave Estill some advice. Ann Votik told the hard-driving Estill to consider going back to school and playing collegiate golf. After that, it didn't take long for Estill to decide where she would try to enroll in school.
"She walks into my office one day and tells me who she is," Vollstedt said. "I said, 'Oh, I've been wanting to meet you.'"
After the daunting list of tasks Vollstedt laid out for her be able to even enroll at Arizona State, Estill went back to work. She would take classes at Scottsdale Community College on Tuesday and Thursday, work the beverage cart five days a week and also work nights at the driving range.
"I really thought I'd never see her again because (the list) was quite extensive and I knew she had to work alongside it," Vollstedt said. "And so a year later, she walks into my office. I'm sitting there thinking, 'How can I not give this kid a chance when she's done everything I've asked her to do? She must really want to have the opportunity to get an education and compete.' She knew she wasn't of the caliber of some of the players that I had, and I did too, but I thought well we'll just give her a chance.
"And that's how it all kind of started."
The maroon-and-gold opportunity given to Estill was enough for her to improve her overall game dramatically and earn a spot on the traveling roster in just a short time. Although she always excelled on the golf course, her casual style of play made her somewhat of an outcast to her new teammates.
"We were a group of players that had all played our whole lives," said current head coach and former teammate Missy Farr-Kaye. "All we had ever done was play golf -- she was kind of an outsider and she felt like that until she clicked with everybody and everybody could see how talented she was. What she accomplished in a short time was really, highly unusual and quite extraordinary."
In her one season competing on the Sun Devil women's golf team, Estill played herself into the NCAA Championship runner-up in 1986. Estill claims her second-place finish was "pure luck" and she hadn't scored better than 80 in a round before enrolling at ASU. She also credits the six-time national champion Vollstedt for coaching Estill through her dramatic transformation on the course.
On the morning of the NCAA Championship held at Ohio State, Estill was having trouble with her chipping accuracy. Vollstedt saw her star golfer's frustration and decided to intervene.
"She was really struggling getting chipping out of this really long rough and I was watching the balls go everywhere," Vollstedt said. "I gave her a few tips as to how she might hit out of that long rough and being the great athlete that she was, she picked it up just like that."
"She gives me a little tip and boom, I finished second," Estill said.
The bond formed between the player and coach has expanded into a lifelong friendship with Estill leaning on the advice of Vollstedt and "following blindly." The first time Estill would heed advice from her coach was not long after her college playing career was over.
Estill was set on taking a job she was offered out of college and erasing some of the student debt she had racked up. The allure of playing professional golf in the LPGA was not as great to Estill as the chance to move on with her business management degree and start her career. That was until Vollstedt said four simple words:
"Well, you should try."
After Vollstedt reset her compass, Estill went to Q School to qualify for the LPGA Tour. After missing the cut on her first attempt, Estill and another teammate went to Europe to play competitively. Upon her arrival back in the States, the game simplified for Estill, and thus she began her 17-year LPGA career.
"I got on Tour and I took a $25,000 line of credit out because I didn't want to take money," Estill said. "I got down to my last $2,500 and I won. I had $2,500 left in the bank. I was already getting ready to start looking for a job -- then 16 years later I retired."
After working as a PING sales representative following her professional career, Estill's journey has come full circle and is at the stage of her life where she wants to give back. The ultra-competitive and athletic Estill is now in a role she never thought she would be in.
Following her runner-up performance in 1986, while serving as Vollstedt's assistant and finishing her degree, Estill made it clear she was not interested in a future as one of the leaders of a golf program.
"I always told Coach V that you couldn't offer me a million dollars to be a coach," Estill said.
All it took to change her mind was four simple words.
"I started getting phone calls from people around the Valley who would say, 'Have you seen Michelle Estill hit a golf ball?' said former head coach Linda Vollstedt, who led the Sun Devils to an unprecedented six NCAA titles in the 1990's alone.
"And I would say, 'Who is Michelle Estill?'"
These days she is an assistant coach for the Arizona State women's golf team. Back then, respectable golfers from the area, such as the legendary Arch Watkins, would tell "Coach V" that she needed to see Estill hit a golf ball as soon as possible. Rumor was that Estill could hit farther than any other woman they had seen. What those people did not know was the Scottsdale native would rather have been somewhere other than on a golf course.
"I'm not sure I had a love for golf," Estill said. "I kind of knew I could do it when I was a kid but I didn't want to do it as a kid. I just kind of had this talent. That sounds terrible (laughing). My dad always said I had God-given talent, but I liked other things."
Estill instead enjoyed playing more team-oriented games such as basketball, softball and volleyball. In fact, Estill first attended Mesa Community College on a basketball scholarship before deciding to drop out and get a job.
That full-time occupation was working as a range rat at the Coronado Golf Course. That lasted until another legend in the golf community gave Estill some advice. Ann Votik told the hard-driving Estill to consider going back to school and playing collegiate golf. After that, it didn't take long for Estill to decide where she would try to enroll in school.
"She walks into my office one day and tells me who she is," Vollstedt said. "I said, 'Oh, I've been wanting to meet you.'"
After the daunting list of tasks Vollstedt laid out for her be able to even enroll at Arizona State, Estill went back to work. She would take classes at Scottsdale Community College on Tuesday and Thursday, work the beverage cart five days a week and also work nights at the driving range.
"I really thought I'd never see her again because (the list) was quite extensive and I knew she had to work alongside it," Vollstedt said. "And so a year later, she walks into my office. I'm sitting there thinking, 'How can I not give this kid a chance when she's done everything I've asked her to do? She must really want to have the opportunity to get an education and compete.' She knew she wasn't of the caliber of some of the players that I had, and I did too, but I thought well we'll just give her a chance.
"And that's how it all kind of started."
The maroon-and-gold opportunity given to Estill was enough for her to improve her overall game dramatically and earn a spot on the traveling roster in just a short time. Although she always excelled on the golf course, her casual style of play made her somewhat of an outcast to her new teammates.
"We were a group of players that had all played our whole lives," said current head coach and former teammate Missy Farr-Kaye. "All we had ever done was play golf -- she was kind of an outsider and she felt like that until she clicked with everybody and everybody could see how talented she was. What she accomplished in a short time was really, highly unusual and quite extraordinary."
In her one season competing on the Sun Devil women's golf team, Estill played herself into the NCAA Championship runner-up in 1986. Estill claims her second-place finish was "pure luck" and she hadn't scored better than 80 in a round before enrolling at ASU. She also credits the six-time national champion Vollstedt for coaching Estill through her dramatic transformation on the course.
On the morning of the NCAA Championship held at Ohio State, Estill was having trouble with her chipping accuracy. Vollstedt saw her star golfer's frustration and decided to intervene.
"She was really struggling getting chipping out of this really long rough and I was watching the balls go everywhere," Vollstedt said. "I gave her a few tips as to how she might hit out of that long rough and being the great athlete that she was, she picked it up just like that."
"She gives me a little tip and boom, I finished second," Estill said.
The bond formed between the player and coach has expanded into a lifelong friendship with Estill leaning on the advice of Vollstedt and "following blindly." The first time Estill would heed advice from her coach was not long after her college playing career was over.
Estill was set on taking a job she was offered out of college and erasing some of the student debt she had racked up. The allure of playing professional golf in the LPGA was not as great to Estill as the chance to move on with her business management degree and start her career. That was until Vollstedt said four simple words:
"Well, you should try."
After Vollstedt reset her compass, Estill went to Q School to qualify for the LPGA Tour. After missing the cut on her first attempt, Estill and another teammate went to Europe to play competitively. Upon her arrival back in the States, the game simplified for Estill, and thus she began her 17-year LPGA career.
"I got on Tour and I took a $25,000 line of credit out because I didn't want to take money," Estill said. "I got down to my last $2,500 and I won. I had $2,500 left in the bank. I was already getting ready to start looking for a job -- then 16 years later I retired."
After working as a PING sales representative following her professional career, Estill's journey has come full circle and is at the stage of her life where she wants to give back. The ultra-competitive and athletic Estill is now in a role she never thought she would be in.
Following her runner-up performance in 1986, while serving as Vollstedt's assistant and finishing her degree, Estill made it clear she was not interested in a future as one of the leaders of a golf program.
"I always told Coach V that you couldn't offer me a million dollars to be a coach," Estill said.
All it took to change her mind was four simple words.