[Photo: Tristan Jones/ LET]
It permeated the television screens so evidently last week that those closest to her reached out to let her know.
Those who have seen the embryonic years of Stephanie Bunque’s career could see it also.
As the 28-year-old Victorian played her way into the second-to-last group at the halfway mark of last week’s Australian Open, a new player emerged.
The player her contemporaries, veteran tour officials and good judges thought she would be when Bunque turned professional five years ago.
The player Stephanie Bunque started to doubt that she ever could be.
The final leaderboard will show that Bunque finished tied 14th at the 2026 Australian Open, a tournament co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
What it may come to represent could be far more significant.
As a 23-year-old in her professional debut in 2021, Bunque was in the mix at the first edition of Webex Players Series Victoria.
Last week at Kooyonga Golf Club, Bunque finally looked like she belonged.
“I’m glad that’s sort of coming through because that’s how I feel,” Bunque shares ahead of Round 1 of the Australian WPGA Championship at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on Thursday, where she shot par+5 for a 76.
“I do feel confident. There’s obviously still some things I have to smooth out with my game and things like that, but there really is just a different sort of feeling I have internally that’s allowing me to move forward rather than standing in my own way.”
‘I felt the game owed me something’
When Bunque played in the third-to-last group on debut in January 2021, current DP World Tour player David Micheluzzi was effusive about his fellow Victorian’s ball-striking, adding that “when she gets the putter going, that’s when she’s scary”.
US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said that “it clearly shows that she’s got what it takes to play at the higher level”.
That higher level has proved elusive.
Turning professional as much of the world remained in lockdown complicated Bunque’s formative years… and setbacks continued.
She was disqualified at Second Stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School in October 2021 when she self-reported that the range-finder she had been using for six holes had the slope functionality turned on, a rules breach at the professional level.
“That’s something I struggled with for a long time,” Bunque concedes.
“Only recently, I’ve realised that from that moment up until now, I’ve really, truly felt like this game owed me something. And to go through all of this and feel like I wasn’t progressing and getting results and things like that, it really was weighing on me like a big mental battle.”
She flirted with television commentary, was a semi-regular on Paul Gow’s golf show on Fox Sports and, when she failed to secure exemption to Final Stage of LET Qualifying School through the LET Access Series in 2024, came very close to walking away.
“I was very close to quitting,” she says.
“I decided earlier in that year if I didn’t make it straight to Final, I wouldn’t go to Q school, just because I didn’t have money. I literally had no money. I was depressed and I was about to quit.
“That’s when I decided that I needed things to change.”
‘Be brave’
When Bunque tees off at 7:15am AEST on Thursday, there will be a single mantra pushing her forward.
‘Be brave.’
It has been instilled in her by South Australian-based coach Gareth Jones, the man credited with turning Japanese golf into an international powerhouse over the past decade.
The pair have not made dramatic technical changes since linking up at the start of 2025, Jones instead going about instilling belief and course strategy into a player blessed with talent but without the clear way in which to apply it.
“He hasn’t really done too much to change me technically, but he’s really just allowed me to lean into him for support and another voice. That really helped me gain my confidence again,” says Bunque.
“Be brave, is all he says.”
But the biggest change has come from within.
Bunque also began working with a new sports psychologist in 2025 and a month before returning to Q School in December last year, verbalised how she felt the game had treated her.
Doing that changed her mindset and her relationship with the golf gods.
After believing that she had missed advancing to Final Stage by a single stroke, Bunque was advised by LET officials that the classification had been adjusted from the top 19 and ties to the top 21 and ties.
“That moment was probably the first time I felt like I had a bit of luck on my side,” Bunque says.
Although she finished tied 30th and didn’t obtain a 2026 LET card, Bunque now has a Category that she can convert into full status with another strong week at Sanctuary Cove.
Thanks to top-20 finishes at the Women’s NSW Open and the Australian Open, Bunque is currently 26th on the LET Order of Merit.
Accruing more Order of Merit points this week will put her in prime position to earn full status when the category re-rank takes place mid-season.
“If I can be in the top 60 or 70 by the end of May, I can get re-ranked into a better position, which means that I can keep playing most of the regular season events,” Bunque adds.
“It definitely looks like a full season on the LET for me, which is pretty cool.
“It’s exciting.”