Continuing the series that began in 2017, MGoBlue.com will each week spotlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our scholar-athlete stories, brought to you by Absopure.
By Nora Fairbanks-Lee
Watching their older sister grow up playing Division I golf, earning NCAA Academic All-America honors four times and winning the Archibald Award, the Lauren Sung And Sydney sang learned what it meant to keep your head down, work hard and achieve your goals.
Lauren and Sydney began playing golf at age 5 and began competitive tournaments at age 8. It seemed like a family business as they watched their father and older sister play and eventually fell in love with the sport.
Whether they’re on the University of Michigan women’s golf team or pursuing a business degree at the Ross School of Business, one of the world’s top MBA programs, the Sung sisters are no strangers to to take on challenges. Their dedication to school and their sport is a practiced art, honing their time management skills by balancing schoolwork and competitions throughout their lives, such as with the Nanea tournament in Hawaii.
In Hawaii, they showed they could do anything. Lauren and Sydney explained the complexity of traveling while balancing homework, saying they would wake up at 3 a.m. local time to complete their homework due to the six-hour time difference. Even though they woke up early to meet with their groups and finish their work, the Sungs still gave their team their best. Lauren completed her season-high rally of 218 (-1) at the Nanea tournament, working her way to her second top 20 finish in the 2024-25 season. She had a phenomenal season, hitting a low of 70 twice.
Likewise, Sydney did her best. While continuing to perform well in the classroom, earning Academic All-America honors, which requires a GPA above 3.5, and competing in more than half of the Wolverines’ events, she also finished in the top 10 during the season. 2024-25 and had a career-low 54-hole total of 217 at Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational. She missed out on the prize in her first season, not playing in enough tournaments to qualify, but has since worked tirelessly on the greens and in the classroom.
“I worked hard to change my mindset and achieve this,” Sydney said. “I’m focusing on school as well as athletics and giving my all to everything.”
They were both twice awarded Academic All-Big Ten and UM Athletic Academic Achievement.
Lauren and Sydney are both students at the Ross School of Business. Lauren focuses on finance and sales, while Sydney focuses on marketing in the entertainment industry. Much like golf, they were inspired by their sister Katherine, who also pursued a degree in business. They saw the benefits of these lessons and their application to golf, as their father always said: many business transactions are done on the golf course.
Lauren reflected on how business relates to multiple fields and how their concentrations are the perfect integration of golf and their respective fields. The Sung sisters spoke of their dream of starting their own business, alongside their sister and father, thereby reifying the family business.
Through their studies at Ross, the Sungs increased their business expertise through courses such as TO 300 or management accounting. Although TO 300 and management accounting can seem intimidating, Lauren and Sydney have learned to love them. They are able to see what is happening in business transactions that they might encounter in the future, such as core operations, databases, blockchains and much more.
The business specialization touches on accounting, finance, management and marketing, offering specializations in entrepreneurship and leadership, providing access to a global alumni network and the opportunity to learn from experts. During their time on the golf course, the Sung sisters often think about what goes into creating tournaments, such as business deals, partnerships and sponsorships. They often discuss the future of golf while thinking about their future.
With professional women’s golf still on the horizon, Sydney and Lauren are laying the groundwork for their future learning the fundamentals of business, with the possibility of future deals to come.
For Sydney and Lauren, their acceptance to the Ross School of Business was a pivotal moment. Sydney reflected on when she found out and what she remembers.
“I started jumping up and down and I was so happy I got in,” Sydney said. “Business was an important thing to me. I felt like all my hard work had finally paid off by getting into such a prestigious program.”
The 2024-25 Michigan women’s golf team returns just four returners. With such a young team, leadership, trust and chemistry have been a priority for the Sungs. To strengthen their team, Lauren and Sydney have taken on leadership roles since they are currently the oldest members of the team. Although it was an adjustment for both men, they rose to the challenge, focusing on realizing their highest potential and developing leaders.
Now upperclassmen, the Sung sisters are proud of how they finished their fall season and look to improve it in the spring. They look forward to the challenges ahead of them, leading their team to a third appearance in the Big Ten Championship.
Although balancing golf with a demanding discipline like business is very taxing, the sisters are prepared thanks to their support system of family, coaches and their team. They are motivated by their desire to work hard and their passion to continue in their sister’s footsteps.