When Sheila Haynes took up golf, she had no idea that her new hobby would become her passion.
After more than 30 years, dozens of tournaments, countless priceless memories and lasting friendships, Haynes still loves the sport and aims to continue to get better.
Haynes was named the Mississippi Golf Association (MGA) female player of the year for 2018.
However, if you ask her about her accomplishments in the sport, she will bring up names like Sissy Gallagher and Lou Hart and numerous other women she looks up to.
Haynes was born and raised in Jackson in a house just off Northside Drive near Broadmoor Baptist Church.
She lived there with her family until she went to college on a basketball scholarship at Mississippi University for Women. She later transferred to Mississippi State University, where she earned her degree in marketing.
Following graduation, she worked at the Courthouse Racquet Club for 10 years on Lakeland Drive. When Northeast Club opened, she began working there.
Haynes had never swung a club until she met her husband, Jack. She got into the sport in her 20s and hasn’t looked back.
“I grew up playing tennis, softball and basketball,” Haynes said. “When I met Jack, he was a golfer, so he introduced me to it. I started playing, and I loved it.”
At the time, she juggled playing both tennis and golf. But as her love for golf grew, she put tennis on the back burner for 20 years. She has recently picked tennis up again.
“My knees aren’t doing too good,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just doing tennis for fun. Golf is my number one,” she said.
Jack first convinced her to give it a shot at a couple’s scramble game at a club he was a member at near Clinton.
“I had never played. It was really fun,” she said. “We played in those on Friday nights.”
She began playing against other women at the club.
“The other women wouldn’t hit it as far as me, but they would beat me like a drum,” Haynes said.
Her competitive nature propelled her to keep trying and get better.
“I’m so competitive, so I wanted to get better. My husband is a really great teacher. He helped me a lot,” Haynes said.
Over time, she started to get better and better.
“When I first started playing, my handicap was probably about a 14. Over the years, it’s gotten lower and lower because I kept playing,” she said. “I don’t like to get beat by anybody, so I just kept trying harder to get better. I quit tennis to concentrate on golf.”
She started playing a lot of city tournaments and then state tournaments. She and her husband have competed in a few tournaments together.
“Not many, and that may be how we’ve stayed married so long,” she joked.
In her first state amateur tournament, she recalls playing against a woman who she suspected to be much older than her.
“She beat me like a drum, because she was so consistent,” Haynes said. “I learned that it’s not about how far you hit it, but that it’s important to keep on practicing and get better at your short game.”
Despite her athletic background, Haynes said golf is the hardest sport she has ever played.
“Everything I do, I want to be good at it,” she said. “Golf, to me, is one of the hardest sports because it is definitely individual. If you and I go play tennis and you’re a lot better than me, then it’s not fun for you and it’s not going to be fun for me.
“In golf, even if I’m better than you then we can still go out and play together. In an individual sport like that. I’m not necessarily trying to beat you, I’m just trying to play the best I can,” she said.
Golf has also been much harder to learn, Haynes said.
“I feel like even after playing for 20-something years, I still learn something new each year and get a little bit better,” she said. “Plus, the equipment has gotten better, so that helps too.”
What keeps the game interesting for Haynes is that even playing on the same course can bring such a different game from day to day.
“What’s fun about golf is that you can go out each day of a tournament, same course, same weather and can shoot completely different,” Haynes said. “Some days you can just have the feel of making the putts, and some days you just don’t. Plus, it’s so mental. It’s a crazy game because you can play really good one day and terrible the next day.”
The game is definitely a mental one, according to Haynes.
“You hit a shot then you walk to your ball, which is 200 yards down the fairway. So, you have all that time to think about your second shot before you get there,” Haynes said.
Her handicap is 2.8, which means she shoots an average of two to three over par. A player’s handicap is based on their home course. Haynes’ home course is Reunion.
“One day I may shoot even, one day I may shoot six or seven over,” Haynes said.
This past year was the first for MGA to present a female player of the year award.
The award is given based on a point system.
“You get a certain amount of points for winning a tournament, a number of points for coming in second,” Haynes said. “The more tournaments you play in, if you do well, you get more points.”
Last year was a good one for Haynes.
“It just so happened that last year I played pretty good,” Haynes said. “My points just added up, and I ended up getting enough points to get the player of the year.”
Haynes loves the game, but also the places and courses she has been exposed to through the sport over the years.
Reunion is her home course, so she counts it among her favorites. Her ultimate dream is to play on the course where the Master’s is played.
“That’s what is so great about golf is that all the courses are so different and so beautiful, and the views are awesome. It’s just fun to play different areas like that,” Haynes said.
She recalls the days when she would sometimes be the youngest woman on the course when she would go to play in the early days of her picking up the sport.
Now, she is passionate about encouraging younger people to fall in love with golf like she did.
“The women I played around in my 20s, they’re gone now. There are not a lot of new golfers coming up,” she said.
“If we don’t help with these junior golfers, golf in Mississippi is going to die,” Haynes added. “There are so many sports for girls to get involved in now. Some of the girls don’t like it because it is more of an individual sport. A lot of times you have to practice by yourself. So, you’ve really got to love it. We’ve got a lot of great junior golfers in Mississippi. We need to develop more of them.”
When she isn’t on the golf course, she takes art classes and volunteering with God’s Haven.
She and her husband, Jack, live in Madison. Together they have two sons, Ben and Matt.
