Women’s History Month, Sylvia (Johnson) Ferdon (’02)
OSHKOSH, Wis.- This Women's History Month, UW-Oshkosh Athletics is proud to honor our female Hall of Famers in a series of eight stories throughout March. This campaign creates the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our female alumna. Our second story will look at what Hall of Fame class of 2002 member Sylvia (Johnson) Ferdon did with the Titans and her life after Oshkosh.
Sylvia (Johnson) Ferdon ('02), an Oconto native, came to UW-Oshkosh in 1964 after graduating from Oconto High School. While at Oshkosh, she never had an off season, competing for the basketball (1965-67), field hockey (1964-66), golf (1965-68) and volleyball (1964-67) squads.
In 1966, Ferdon was rewarded for her play on the links with an invitation to compete at the National Collegiate Championship in Columbus, Ohio.
After Ferdon graduated in 1968, she held a variety of teaching and coaching positions while continuing to play competitive golf. Early career highlights included a first-place finish at the 1972 Palm Beach County (Fla.) Amateur Championship and a second-place finish at the 1975 Florida State Amateur Championship.
In 1974 and 1975, Ferdon served as the head women's gold coach at Florida State University after serving as a volunteer assistant at the University of Florida in 1973 and 1974.
Ferdon broke onto the professional golf scene in 1977 when she qualified for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and remained an active member of the Tour through 1982. In 1983, she played the professional circuit in Europe and her highest LPGA finish was 13th-place when it was hired in Denver, Colo. in 1979.
Between 1984 and 1994, Ferdon taught at Baylor University (Texas) while spending her summers as the head teaching professional at the Peninsula State Park Golf Course in Fish Creek. In 1990, she received her Class A Teaching Professional status from the LPGA and in 1991 she graduated with her master's from Tarleton State University. She was also a co-author of "Play Golf Effectively", which was published in 1993.
Ferdon was named the head women's golf coach at Baylor in 1994, staying with the Bears for 17 years, retiring in 2011. Baylor received 12 Big XII All-Tournament selections, six All-Big XII selections and the program's first NCAA Championship berth in 2004 during her tenure. In the classroom, Baylor golfers also excelled academically, earning a total of 37 Academic All-Big XII awards, including 25 First Team nods, and annually place multiple honorees on the Big XII Commissioner's Honor Roll. She was named the Big XII Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2009.
Ferdon currently splits time between Waco and Baileys Harbor with her husband, Doug.
Stay tuned to uwoshkoshtitans.com and our social media accounts for the next story on our Hall of Famers. Next week, we will be highlighting Helen Briwa ('06) and Deb Vercauteren ('13).