The “Stuck at Home With” series profiles players, caddies and staff in the women’s game who are making the most of an unprecedented break in tour life due to the coronavirus pandemic. New stories will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday.
Paula Creamer went over to help her fiance’s father put down mulch one day, thinking it would be a nice workout, and something surprising happened: She actually enjoyed it.
The exercise reminded Creamer of the garden she and her father maintained growing up in Pleasanton, California. It wasn’t long before she and Shane Kennedy, a retired baseball player, were taking measurements to build their own raised garden bed from scratch.
“I got to do the staple gun,” she said proudly.
Rosemary. Basil. Red peppers. Jalapeños. Banana peppers. Cucumber. Eggplant. Tomato. Snap peas. Parsley.
The man who sold them the plants was giving replacement advice before they’d put the first shovel in the ground. He obviously didn’t know that professional athletes have high expectations – about everything.
“Failure is not in my vocabulary,” said Creamer. “We are not letting this die.”
What happens to the table garden when the LPGA starts back up in July, as it’s currently scheduled?
Well, they haven’t gotten that far in the plans yet. But for now, the 33-year-old has embraced the extended break. Creamer’s original plans had her returning to the LPGA around late April, early May after rehabbing her wrist. She hasn’t competed on tour since October of last year and remains conservative in her practice.
But because she’s had extra time at home without being in a cast, she’s been able to focus on the weak areas in her body more than ever. She’s hoping that comes in handy during what should be a packed second half of the year. The first event on the LPGA’s revised schedule is the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a team event in Midland, Michigan, held July 15-18.
“The most (weeks) I’ve ever done in a row is 11,” she said. “I was a young pup then, so that’s not happening. I think four or five is my max.”
These next couple of months will be different for Creamer mentally too because it’s a forced break that has nothing to do with injury. There’s something refreshing and peaceful about that.
Most evenings Creamer and her fiancé load up the dogs in their boat and head out for a sunset cruise around Lake Butler. Creamer has lived in Windermere’s tony Isleworth community since 2007, and said that for the first decade, she went on the lake a total of three to four times.
“I know what I like now,” she said. “I know I want to be on the water. I know I want to see sunsets. I didn’t really realize how special they were.”
After renovating her stunning 11,100-square foot Isleworth mansion, Creamer put it on the market earlier this spring. She took it down for a bit after the pandemic hit, but recently put it back up for $6,350,000. Her favorite spot is the kitchen, though the couple spend most of their time on the bottom floor, where they’ve just finished work on the simulator hitting room. There’s a pool table, ping pong table and gym on that floor, too.
In the kitchen, Creamer has been making tons of fish tacos, frittatas and whatever she can whip up in her new air fryer. Her current obsession is eggplant dip, and she now dreams of adding avocado and lemon trees to her next piece of property. Creamer isn’t sure where they’ll move to next but said it won’t be far.
Any vices while on lockdown?
“The other day I made apple fritters and they didn’t turn out,” she said, “and I wanted to make them again.”
A double batch of baked goods seems to be the worst of it. To counter, they eat a lot of salad, she said, and order takeout from Bonsai Sushi.
She’s listening to podcasts for the first time, mostly focusing on the subjects of history and self-growth. She’s about to dig into Sue Monk Kidd’s book “The Secret Life of Bees.”
Creamer looks at the ever-changing LPGA schedule as one big rain delay, where officials say they’ll give another update in an hour.
While she doesn’t go into her closet to pack these days, there are daily reminders of her triumphs. Creamer has the Sunday shirts from each of her 10 LPGA victories and her Solheim singles matches hanging in her closet. She recently pulled out the pink one she wore on Sunday at Oakmont when she won the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open.
Last month she taped a look-back interview with the USGA about the 10-year anniversary of her biggest victory. She could hear the crowd cheering in the background when they played several clips.
“It was like it just happened,” she said. “I had goosebumps again.”
She then went back to tending her garden, a different kind of challenge that yields a new kind of joy.
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