Stephanie Sparks obit

Stephanie Sparks Dies: Host Of The Golf Channel’s ‘Big Break’ Reality Series Was 50

 

She was not on the list.

Golf Channel reality series Big Break host Stephanie Sparks died April 13 at the age of 50. No information on cause or location was provided.

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Sparks was an All-American collegiate golfer at Duke. She won many tournaments, starting with the 1992 North and South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst. Sparks represented the U.S. on the 1994 Curtis Cup team and had a brief professional career that was plagued by injuries. She played just one season on the LPGA in 2000 before chronic back pain ended her career.

Sparks played the role of three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Alexa Stirling in the 2004 movie Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, opposite Jim Caviezel.

In addition to the Big Break reality series, Sparks hosted the Golf with Style and Playing Lessons with the Pros series on Golf Channel. She also did some on-camera reporting at tournaments.

A private family service will be held in Elm Grove, West Virginia, at Kepner Funeral Home.

Sparks played Alexa Stirling, the winner of three consecutive United States Women's Amateur Golf Championships and a close friend of the legendary golfer. To try out for the part, Sparks went to an open audition during a lunch break in Orlando, where The Golf Channel's studios are located. To her surprise, she got the part, even without prior acting experience. She had just two scenes in the movie, and shooting them took just two days in the Autumn of 2003. Though Jones and Stirling were considered great golfers in their day, the big contrast between Sparks and the film's star, Jim Caviezel, who played Bobby Jones, was that Sparks was once a great player with much promise, though it was never completely fulfilled, and Caviezel had never picked up a golf club in his life. Sparks has said, though, that she has no desire to pursue an acting career, that it was just a great experience. She also said that working with Caviezel was "surreal."

The film debuted in April 2004, and Sparks' first time in front of a camera for The Golf Channel took place in July 2004, when she began hosting Golf With Style! Sparks also anchored short Golf Central updates on Thursdays and Fridays to tell viewers what's going on in the early part of a round at a golf tournament. Sparks also co-hosted the third edition of The Golf Channel's reality television competition show, The Big Break, titled, The Big Break III: Ladies Only, alongside Vince Cellini. It was the first time hosting the show for Sparks and Cellini. In the Fall of 2005, Sparks and Cellini returned to host The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe. They returned again on February 7, 2006, for The Big Break V: Hawaii, a second "ladies only" edition. Sparks also hosted many of the Golf Channel's program, "Playing Lessons With the Pros," where she along with a professional golfer offer tips while they play.