With her small frame and cute smile, Shantelle Laurel may look like an ordinary Grade 7 student.

But don’t let her looks fool you. Once the bell of the PAREF Woodrose School in Muntinlupa City rings for dismissal at 2:50 p.m., she gets into the zone and transforms into a serious athlete who looks poised to become the country’s next golf superstar.

The 12-year-old Laurel admitted that balancing school and golf is never easy. In fact, she would always draw curious stare everytime she mentions that she is a student-athlete who is into a sport that is often played by older people.

“Whenever I tell a parent that I play golf, that I’m a student-athlete, they always ask me how I am handling it while attending school. They always ask me ‘is it hard?’” Laurel said in a conversation with DAILY TRIBUNE at their house inside Ayala Alabang Village recently.

Laurel’s sacrifice in balancing golf and her studies had paid off. Just last week, she emerged victorious in the dependent girls’ category of the FVR Memorial Cup at the Alabang Country Club.

Prior to that, she finished third in the JGFP Interschool Golf Tournament and powered PAREF Woodrose to the developmental division-middle school category title in 2023 before winning the Class A division crown of the Woodrose Golf Tournament last April.

“Golf is really a fun sport and you can make a lot of friends while playing it,” she said, adding that more than winning she’s truly enjoying her golf journey.

“It’s very addicting.”

Athletic roots

Excelling in golf didn’t come as a surprise for Laurel.

She said her older brother, Santino, also played baseball for De La Salle University before transitioning into golf. With that, she followed her footsteps and played softball for the National Capital Region in the Palarong Pambansa before picking up a golf club and making that smooth swing from the tee box.

“I already played in the Palarong Pambansa,” Laurel said.

“But there’s a difference between softball and golf. Since softball is a team sport, if somebody commits a mistake, not everybody will be blamed because it’s a team sport. But for golf, if you make a mistake, there’s nobody to blame but yourself.”

“But committing a mistake is just normal. You will eventually learn a lot from it.”

Laurel said when she got into golf, the first thing she did was to adjust her swing.

“As I’ve said, there’s a lot of difference, but there’s a similarity as well because of the swing,” she said.

“Transitioning into golf was a little bit hard at first because I had to adjust the swing I used to do when I was still playing softball.”

On the other hand, her twin sister, Sofie, plays as a goalkeeper for their school’s football team.

Laurel said while other kids would usually hang out in malls or make videos to post on TikTok, she would rather be at the golf course to perfect her swings and make new friends.

“While a lot of people like to go out and party, I normally spend my time playing golf. Instead of going out to parties, I like to spend my time with golf so I can get better at it in the driving range,” Laurel said.

“When I get invited to parties and I have a tournament the next day, instead of going, I just practice so I can get ready for the next day.”

“After school, I would change clothes inside the car on the way to the golf course. I would do my homework either in the car or when I have free time before or after golf.”

Big dreams

Laurel said all her hard work and sacrifices are anchored on her goal of becoming a golf superstar. Her target is to play college in the United States, where she will hone her skills to develop into the next Tiger Woods, Nelly Korda, Bianca Pagdanganan or Yuka Saso.

In this country where golf had taken a backseat to spectator sports like basketball and volleyball, Laurel believes that her ticket to success is in the US, similar to Rhianne Malixi, who is donning the jersey of the Duke Blue Devils in the Division I of the US NCAA.

“I’m aiming to study in the United States to play professional golf there. I haven’t really planned on what school I want to go to there, but definitely somewhere in the US,” Laurel said.

“Maybe one day I can also compete in other countries.”

Aside from competing in the Ladies Professional Golf Association, Laurel also hopes to don the national colors in major athletic events like the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and the Olympics.

“Maybe one day I can compete in the Olympics like Bianca Pagdanganan and Dotty Ardina,” Laurel said, stressing that she is grateful to her parents for helping her reach her dreams — on and off the fairway.

“I’m very thankful for my parents because they support me and they help me to become more confident. They go to all of my tournaments, and I’m really happy because not all kids have supportive parents like mine,” Laurel said.

Yes, Laurel may be young, but she already knows what she wants and how to achieve it.

Success beckons this small girl with big dreams.