Growing with the Game: Shawna Johnson’s Minnesota Golf Story

Shawna Johnson didn't grow up playing golf. In fact, she picked up the game in her mid-20s when a friend invited her to play Dellwood Country Club in Dellwood, MN. She bought her first set of clubs at Dayton's department store and by her own admission, she was terrible. Still, something about that first round stuck and she got the golf bug.

"I just kept at it," she says. "I've never had a lesson. Most of what I've learned has been from friends and women who were much better golfers than me."

She played casually through her 20s, connecting with a core group of women at Valleywood Golf Course in Apple Valley, playing Thursday night nine-hole leagues and staying for the conversation after the round was over. That sense of belonging was when she knew golf had truly gotten its hooks in her. Despite her casual beginning, Shawna took a leap and decided to join and serve on the board of the Minnesota Women's Public Golf Association. Through it, she had the opportunity to travel and play courses she never would have otherwise, learning the rules, the etiquette, and the culture of the game from women who loved it deeply. She says this experience was what made golf something more than just a pastime.

In 2008, Shawna joined Keller Golf Course in Maplewood, a historic municipal course that hosted the PGA Championship in both 1932 and 1954. But when her father was diagnosed with ALS, golf took the back seat and for years she set the game aside to care for him.

When he passed away in 2020, Shawna turned back to golf, and she threw herself into the game with a new sense of purpose. She joined women's leagues at Keller, eventually playing in two simultaneously. She signed up for the MGA Women's Senior Tour, today’s Ladies Tour, and entered North Star Series events. And somewhere in the middle of all that, the casual golfer who never worried too much about her score discovered something about herself.

"I love the competition," she says. "I don't think I put a lot of time into really improving, but I love focusing on every shot when I'm out there. Someone gave me this idea once: commit to the shot, execute the shot, accept the outcome. And if the outcome's not great, well, there's always the next shot."

Shawna's competitive home these days is the MGA Ladies Tour, and it has given her more than she expected. The tour features high-stakes rounds at premier courses across the state, where players compete using Stableford scoring. Players accumulate points throughout the year based on their specific finish at every event. Earn enough points, and you receive something special: the chance to represent Minnesota against Wisconsin in a season-ending team competition.

Shawna has qualified twice.

"That is unbelievable," she says, the pride unmistakable in her voice. "You want to play well every single time and get as many Stableford points as you can."

But even on the days she doesn't place, she's never gone home disappointed. "It's still always going to be better than most anything else I can think of to do on a summer day."

Part of what keeps drawing her back is the community and the opportunity to compete on golf courses she might otherwise be able to play. Through the Ladies Tour and the North Star Series, she has played private courses like North Oaks Golf Club, Stillwater Country Club, and Indian Hills Golf Club. Best of all, she has shared those rounds with women who have become genuine friends. She has socialized with many of them outside of golf entirely.

"I love that golf is really a game of integrity," she says. "There's very few people I play with who don't play it as such."

Today, Shawna carries an 18 handicap and, like most golfers, plans to bring it down. She is heading to Myrtle Beach and Whistler this season, logging rounds wherever she can. She plays in leagues. She competes in MGA events. She finds wildflowers and water restoration projects at Keller to appreciate on a Thursday morning.

She is, by any measure, a golfer.

What Shawna Johnson's journey offers anyone who plays casually and wonders if organized competition is for them is a simple answer: you don't need to be great at golf to love competing. You need a willingness to show up, an openness to meeting the people in your group, and a handicap if you choose to play in organized events. Everything else tends to take care of itself.