Arcadia grad honored with UW-Eau Claire Hall of Fame induction

Meghan (Sobotta) Murphy was hit with a reality check in her freshman season on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire golf team nearly 20 years ago.

Murphy questioned if she was good enough to be a Blugold and contemplated quitting once or twice after some high scores and working through coaching changes.

Her decision to stick with the program paid off, her latest reward being an honor few college athletes receive—Murphy will be one of six Blugolds inducted into the UW-Eau Claire Athletics Hall of Fame this October.

“I never thought that it (hall of fame) would be possible, especially after starting as a freshman at the bottom and working my way up,” Murphy said. “There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears involved in the whole process, a lot of questioning, ‘Should I continue doing this?’ But obviously it all paid off so it’s pretty special. … it’s a lot, a big dedication, but it’s what I loved so I stuck it out.”

Murphy was a four-time all-conference first-team and all-region golfer for the Blugolds. She is one of four players in UW-Eau Claire program history to earn the conference honor each year.

As a senior at the college, Murphy won the conference tournament — it was her best career finish, though she never finished lower than fifth as an individual in the WIAC tournament.

Murphy helped the school to three team conference championships and four national tournament appearances. She finished fourth as an individual in the 2008 NCAA championships by shooting four rounds under 80, including a 1-under-par 71 in her final round. 

She averaged a score of 80.8 in 82 career rounds.

Coach John Means took over the UW-Eau Claire program before Murphy’s junior season and “transformed” her game, she said. Murphy’s senior year was her most memorable as she found her full confidence and earned first-team All-American honors.

“He was really able to teach me new things and get me to a higher level, so I did stick it out and now we’re here and ready for induction. I don’t know if it’s really hit me, but it’s special.”

As a coach, Murphy saw just as much success as she did on her own scorecards.

The Arcadia alumna coached the Blugolds from 2010 to 2014 and earned conference co-coach of the year honors for the 2011-12 season. Murphy took over the program from Means after he left for another coaching job.

She helped the team to three conference championships and three NCAA championship appearances.

Her 2012 team finished third at the national championship, a program record. One of her players, Catherine Wagner, won an individual title in the same year.

Coaching was “a different animal”, Murphy said, and the 2012 season sticks out as a top memory.

“That was pretty special to know how high of a level we got to,” she said. “I took the things I liked when I was playing that my coaches had done in the past, so I took that and tried to use that for my coaching. You’re a cheerleader, you’re out there to make sure they are having fun, learning some life lessons as they go and making sure they’re taken care of. … that’s anybody’s job as a coach is to have fun.”

Murphy gave credit for some of her coaching success to playing for former Arcadia softball coach Dave Bjorge and former prep golf coach, her father, Mike Sobotta.

The latter said his daughter deserves all of the honors.

“When she called me to say she was selected for the hall of fame, I had tears in my eyes,” Sobotta said.

The longtime Raiders coach said Murphy’s success as a player came from her athleticism and always wanting to improve. Sobotta knew she was going to find her way in golf when she would compete alongside the boys in middle school tournaments.

Murphy graduated from Arcadia High School in 2004 and was part of the school’s first-ever girls golf team to advance to the state tournament in the 2003 season as a senior.

“I think she was probably going in as a player and as a coach. She put in a lot of work, played a lot of summer tournaments as a kid. … she just put a lot of time in and got recruited to Eau Claire and she kept putting the work in there. Good things happen to good people,” Sobotta said.

Playing never fell to the wayside, either — Murphy continued to compete in golf, playing in open events in Canada, Wisconsin and Minnesota, including a U.S. Open qualifier. She worked for Wild Ridge and Mill Run Golf Courses and currently works as a national account executive for Gator Garb Promotions.

She is now a parent of three girls, but she still finds time to golf when she can both for work and fun.

“I came from little old Arcadia, and then I moved to Eau Claire to play golf and go to school — I always joke that I went to college to play golf and got a business degree on the side — but it’s a great community, a great school academically and athletically, and I’m so fortunate to have been a player and a coach of it,” Murphy said.

“I just think that Eau Claire is a great community all around as far as the support. It’s just a great place, and I’ve always been proud to be a Blugold.”