Tag: Angela Stanford

Angela Stanford’s last trip to the Dinah carries great emotion, three weeks after her mom’s death

“I want to be the best of who she was … I don’t know if I can do that.”

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – No matter where Angela Stanford traveled around the world, she always sent her mom a text on the plane. The first trip without her was rough. At the Palm Springs airport baggage claim, Stanford fought the urge to run back to Texas.

Golf had always been a tool – to go to college, to escape, to help others, to bring joy to her mom as she bravely battled cancer.

“It’s never felt like I played golf for me,” she said.

Now what?

When Stanford, 44, turned into Mission Hills Country Club for the first time this week, she noticed that the flower beds were covered in luscious pink and purple petunias, the same colors that Nan wanted on her casket.

She lost it.

When the desert sky spit rain during that first practice round at the Chevron Championship, Stanford thought it might have been the first sprinkling she’d ever felt in 20 years of coming here. Then she saw a rainbow, arched in the sky like a bridge to heaven. A reminder of God’s promises.

Hi mom.

The night before the first round, Stanford went to the Sunglass Hut to find something that would hide her tears. On the first tee Thursday, she sobbed as she prepared her yardage book and pin sheet in the shade of the grandstand.

She thought she’d cried it out by the time Jenny Shin hit. But when the first tee announcer said, “from Saginaw, Texas,” Stanford’s head tilted back in a shock of pain.

“She basically built that city,” said Stanford.

Angela Stanford celebrates her 40th birthday with her mom in Las Vegas. (Courtesy photo)

Laura Nan met the love of her life, Steve, in the fifth grade in Saginaw, a suburb of Fort Worth, and the two married in 1974 shortly after high school graduation. Nan’s mind for numbers had her overseeing the city finances for decades, without a college degree. She somehow managed to build a police station, rec center, and city hall without raising taxes. She was city manager for 17 years.

When Nan was approached by a councilman about naming rights one day, she thought they were going to put Angela’s name on the water tower. Instead, it’s Nan’s name that’s on city hall.

Nan Stanford died on March 9 at home in Saginaw at age 66. She’d battled cancer – first in the breast and then in her bones and liver – for more than a decade. During the funeral procession out to Aurora, the police officer stopped in front of city hall for 15 seconds to honor her life’s work.

“There aren’t many buildings named after women,” said Stanford.

Looking back, Stanford said she should’ve backed off of that first tee shot at Mission Hills until she was ready to hit. Instead, she hurried through and pulled it left out of bounds. The opening triple-bogey proved difficult to recover from in a first-round 77.

But there were shots, like the 48-foot birdie putt she drained on the third hole and the tiny window she laced it through in the trees on No. 11, that she credits mom for the assist.

She plans to play in Hawaii next because mom loved it there. Nan even touched base with her sister about an upcoming trip mere days before she died.

Stanford, a seven-time winner on the LPGA, gets her strength from Nan, that stick-to-itiveness that saw her win her first major at age 40. She started a foundation that awards college scholarships to those whose lives have been impacted by cancer because she knows that if Nan’s cancer had come when Angela was in high school, there’s no way she would’ve gone to college. And Angela was the first from her family to go to college.

It’s the reason she wears blue on Sundays – ­in honor of her blue-collar roots.

“We’ll give scholarships until we run out of money,” she said.

A hug from mom at the 2015 Solheim Cup, where Stanford defeated Suzann Pettersen in singles play. (courtesy photo)

Nan loved people. In Rancho Mirage, she’d get out to the first, ninth, 10th, and 18th to watch golf but would otherwise stay in the clubhouse and talk to those she knew on tour about their families.

“That’s the thing I’m having the hardest part with,” said Stanford. “I want to be the best of who she was … I don’t know if I can do that.”

It’s difficult to say what comes next for Stanford, beyond this week and Hawaii, because she’s still battling an emptiness inside.

The good news is that there will never be another first round without mom.

And there will be more rainbows.

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Nichols: As some LPGA players draw a moral line against playing in China and Saudi Arabia, the tour must wrestle with doing the same

New commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan must answer this looming and most pressing question.

Should the LPGA continue to stage events in China?

It’s a question all players and tournament officials should be wrestling with given the plight of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who after posting an allegation of sexual assault against a top government official, disappeared from public view.

Last week Steve Simon, Women’s Tennis Association chairman and CEO, announced in a breathtakingly strong show of leadership the immediate suspension of all WTA tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, until Shuai is allowed to communicate freely and her allegation of sexual abuse is investigated in a full, fair and transparent manner.

The LPGA has only one event in China on its 2022 schedule, the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and it’s slated for October.

The tour, of course, has an obligation to the safety of its Chinese members. But it also has an obligation to consider the ramifications of doing business in certain parts of the world for the organization as a whole.

New commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan must answer this looming and most pressing question: What moral line is the tour unwilling to cross when it comes to partnerships?

When asked if the tour has considered standing in solidarity with the WTA by suspending business with China, an LPGA spokesperson told Golfweek that the tour is concerned about Shuai’s well-being and safety and has reached out to partners in the region. They will continue to actively monitor developments on the matter.

Last year, Amy Olson raised concerns with LPGA leadership about competing in China, saying that she didn’t feel it was safe there for players. Olson said too many have turned a blind eye to the mass imprisonment and persecution of the Uyghurs by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang province. What’s more, Olson continued, Chinese officials weren’t transparent with what was happening in their hospitals and within their borders during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As an organization that stands up for women’s rights and has fought day in and day out for those rights,’’ said Olson, “what China has done flies directly in the face of everything we stand for.”

Like Olson, Angela Stanford has made a personal commitment not to compete in China or Saudi Arabia due to human rights concerns.

Three years ago, a U.N. human rights panel reported that over 1 million Muslims were being held in secret internment camps. That number has since risen, with China expert Adrian Zenz telling NPR that forced abortions and mandatory birth control are routine in the labor camps.

In January, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that China’s tortuous actions against the Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups constitute genocide and crimes against humanity.

On Monday, the Biden Administration said it will not send a U.S. delegation to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as part of a diplomatic boycott in protest of China’s ongoing human rights abuses. U.S. athletes will still compete in the Games.

“I think we’re in a position now that we have an opportunity to say, we don’t have to play in China,” said Stanford, who implores those on the LPGA now to be mindful of the next generation.

“Do you want those girls going to Saudi Arabia?”

Saudi women watch golfers compete in the Saudi Ladies International on November 15, 2020. Photo by Amer Hilabi/AFP via Getty Images

Stacy Lewis, who like Olson serves as a Player Director on the LPGA Board, believes this is a conversation the tour needs to have. Lewis said she won’t compete in Saudi Arabia, noting that money used to fund the Ladies European Tour events comes directly from the government itself.

“It’s about women’s rights and silencing women,” she said, “and that’s not OK.”

In recent years, the laws in Saudi Arabia have changed to allow women to travel abroad and drive a car. However, the male guardian system that’s still in place requires a male relative’s permission to marry, divorce or leave a shelter or prison.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan includes the use of sports diplomacy to enhance the country’s image, explained Adam Coogle, Human Rights Watch Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division. Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that investigates and reports on abuses happening worldwide.

“Frankly, too many sports leagues are ready to take the money,” said Coogle, “even though they are wittingly or unwittingly, participating in what we view as whitewashing serious human rights concerns.”

The hope, of course, is that sports bodies develop rules within their organization. That is to say, surely there’s a line they should be unwillingly cross.

Days before F1 driver Lewis Hamilton won on Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit, he told reporters that he’s not comfortable racing in Saudi Arabia.

“Do I feel comfortable here? I wouldn’t say I do,” Hamilton said.

“But this was not my choice. Our sport has chosen to be here and whether it’s fair or not, I think that, while we’re here, it’s still important to do some work on raising awareness.”

While the PGA Tour works to fend off a Saudi-backed takeover, consider how far the Saudi government is already entrenched in the LET with five events that feature purses three times higher than most of the events around Europe.

If an LET member didn’t want to compete for Saudi money, she might have to consider finding another job. It’s not difficult to imagine an LPGA player having to one day do the same.

Stanford said she has asked herself hypothetically — if she had to play an event in China to keep her card, would she do it?

“I wouldn’t,” she concluded.

Years ago, when Renee Powell was competing on the LPGA in Idaho, a reservation she’d made mysteriously couldn’t be found at the player hotel. Kathy Whitworth heard about the trouble Powell was having and came to the front desk declaring, “Either we all stay, or we all walk.”

Powell was the second Black player to ever compete on the LPGA.

“How much pride I have knowing those women stuck together,” said Stanford, “and said ‘No, we’re all the same.’ ”

Choices that are made today impact the future.

Olson wants young girls in China to live out their dreams on the LPGA. Ultimately, she wants the LPGA’s efforts to further women’s rights in other countries and provide opportunities.

The LPGA’s presence in China has inspired young girls to take up the game and envision a career traveling the world. The same could be said for any country the tour has visited.

And yet, there are times when it’s necessary to take a stand and sacrifice those opportunities in the short term in order to create long-term change.

Ultimately each player must ask herself, where is the moral line? And then pressure the tour to hold that line.

To that end, what the LPGA says now publicly can’t be a political stunt or knee-jerk reaction, insists Olson. She instead would like to see a robust conversation about the tour’s values continue behind closed doors.

“My hope is that this generates a lot of discussion,” said Olson, “for us to talk about who we are, what we stand for and what we bring to the world. And that we are able to stay consistent with that in the long term.”

There’s simply too much at stake.

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Some of America’s best attend Solheim Cup practice session ahead of LPGA stop in Texas

At a Solheim Cup practice session earlier this week at Reynolds Lake Oconee, American players did everything but play golf.

At a Solheim Cup practice session earlier this week at Reynolds Lake Oconee, American players did everything but play golf. It was decided that Amy Olson is basically good at everything she tries. Jennifer Song and Brittany Altomare excel at archery. Jennifer Kupcho proved the best at distance darts. And Michelle Wie West convinced fellow assistant captain Angela Stanford to jump in the lake fully clothed.

“I think people think that you just show up that week and you gel as a team,” said Stanford. “That’s not how that works.”

Twelve players stayed on in Georgia for the team bonding session, organized by U.S. captain Pat Hurst, before heading on to this week’s Volunteers of America LPGA Texas Classic. Six of America’s top-ranked players chose not to attend.

With COVID-19 restrictions keeping players from having dinners with Hurst and potential teammates throughout the year, this was a rare chance for players to spend time together face-to-face outside the ropes.

“I think it’s really important,” said Salas, who looks to make her fifth Solheim Cup team.

“I think especially when the team dynamic starts shifting. As I used to be one of the newbies, now I’m sort of the veteran. And now we’re not seeing – it’s just the rotation is now starting – now it’s been almost 10 years.

“So I think it’s important not only to show your face, to show that you’re capable of being a team player, but to also get out of that uncomfortableness and be around your potential teammate. Because at the end of the day, that’s who you’re playing for. That’s who you’re grinding and fighting with for three days or for however many matches you’re playing.”

Stacy Lewis of Team USA putts during the second day morning foursomes matches of The Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club on August 19, 2017, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Americans have won six of 15 events on the LPGA this season, and Nelly Korda moved to No. 1 in the world after claiming her first major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA.

Stanford, 43, heads into this week as defending champion of the VOA, just down the road from where she was raised in Saginaw, Texas.

When asked about the importance of having over-40 players in contention on the LPGA, Stacy Lewis went beyond the winning to say that the example players like Stanford set, and the perspective she carries is vital for the tour, particularly in transition times like this.

Lewis noted that players left some bottles on the ground at the Oconee event, and Stanford picked up after them.

“It’s little stuff like that,” said Lewis, “of setting a good example for the younger players. At some point we’re going to hand the tour over to them, and they need to know how to do it like the older players taught us.”

As for big things, Lewis points to pro-ams, saying that watching the way older players interacted with sponsors made a lasting impression on her as a rookie.

“Pro-ams are huge for our tour,” she said. “You know, I think that’s something that some of the younger players don’t get.

“They see it as a hassle and it interferes with practice, but it’s the most important day of our week. So it’s little things like that of what sells our tour and what really makes it work. Sometimes it takes a downturn in our tour or the economy for the younger players to see that. So hopefully we can spread the word about just we have to make our tour better as a whole.”

Cheyenne Knight, who joins Stanford and Lewis as Texans who have won the VOA, first met Stanford more than a decade ago in Fort Worth. Knight said she was so shy that she didn’t even know what to say, but that the next time she out at Shady Oaks, Stanford had left her a pair of shoes from the 2009 Solheim Cup.

“It was so cool,” Knight said. “I think I still have them, honestly.”

Angela Stanford and Gerina Piller of the United States Team react after Stanford made a putt on the 16th hole during the afternoon Four-Ball matches at the 2013 Solheim Cup on August 16, 2013, at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colorado. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Lewis said she flew into Texas on Tuesday morning and played nine holes and her body hurt in places she hadn’t felt in years after Monday’s all-sports session.

The badminton, pickleball, fishing and shooting range, as Stanford said, laid the foundation for what comes next at the Inverness Club in September.

“There is so much that week,” said Stanford. “The last thing you want to do is try to figure out a teammate.

“I just think it matters more than people think it matters.”

***

The top seven players from the USA Solheim Cup standings automatically qualify, along with the top two players in the Role Rankings not already eligible plus three captain’s picks.

Current Team USA Points Standings:

  1. Nelly Korda 570.50
  2. Danielle Kang 476
  3. Ally Ewing 290
  4. Lexi Thompson 260.50
  5. Jessica Korda 256.50
  6. Austin Ernst 238
  7. Megan Khang 228
  8. Brittany Altomare
  9. Amy Olson 169.50
  10. Angela Stanford 164.50
1 Nelly Korda 570.50
2 Danielle Kang 476.00
3 Ally Ewing 290.00
4 Lexi Thompson 260.50
5 Jessica Korda 256.50
6 Austin Ernst 238.00
7 Megan Khang 228.00
8 Brittany Altomare 184.00
9 Amy Olson 169.50
10 Angela Stanford 164.50

 

 

Angela Stanford doesn’t mind being a late bloomer. She’s still unrelenting in her quest to get better.

Angela Stanford is still learning how to deal with moments high on emotion. She’s fine with having questions about her game still unanswered

Angela Stanford stayed with her family across the street from Champions Golf Club during the 75th U.S. Women’s Open. When she walked in the door after a gut-wrenching opening round of 80, her parents were sitting on the couch and her dad, Steve, had already opened up a Coors Original.

“You want one of these?” he asked, offering up a beer.

“Yeah,” Stanford replied.

Such a fickle game. Four days prior, the trio had been on top of the proverbial mountain in suburban Dallas, with Angela winning on the LPGA for the first time in front of her parents at the Volunteers of America Classic. Now, with expectations and emotions running as high as the clouds, Stanford hit the opening tee shot in her home state of Texas – “God’s country,” as she calls it – and proceeded to play the first four holes in six over par.

Double, bogey, bogey, double.

The heart that once swelled so big it could bust was ripped out in about an hour.

“Standing over a par putt on the fifth hole, I’m just praying and begging for this 3-footer to go in,” said Stanford. “I’m like, I’ve got to make a par.”

2020 U.S. Women's Open
Angela Stanford watches her tee shot on the first hole during the first round at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club (Cypress Creek Course) in Houston, Texas on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

In a way, the fact that it was so bad almost made it easier to get over. A missed put on Friday to miss the weekend by one might have stung even harder.

Still, learning how to deal with moments that run high on emotion remains something of an enigma to Stanford. And at 43, she’s perfectly fine with having questions about her game that remained unanswered. The fact that there’s still so much left to unlock is what drives her to want more after two decades on tour.

“I love that I’ve been a late bloomer,” she said. “I love that it takes me a little bit longer than most. I tell people I’m slow at everything, except when I get behind the wheel.”

After the 2020 season came to an end – she’s still vexed that she hasn’t figured out how to play Tiburon Golf Club, site of the CME Group Tour Championship – Stanford put her clubs away and headed north to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where she has a little place and likes to ski at Wolf Creek. She also spent time on the slopes with friends in Vail and then flew to Montana to ski some more.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ9rfqYFkXi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Stanford has skied for a long as she can remember, taking road trips with her family to Red River, New Mexico. Skiing, she said, is the only thing she can do that truly gets her away from golf.

“There’s something about being on a ski lift, the quiet and the peace,” she said. “For me it’s a spiritual thing.”

Friends gave her a hard time for having the shortest skis. She might be the best skier in the group, but the seven-time LPGA winner knows her limitations and she stays within them.

Going into the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Stanford hit fewer than a dozen balls into a net. She has a putting mat and a weighted club at her home in Colorado, and she poured through statistics, looking for new goals for the 2021 season.

But for the most part, she went into the TOC with zero expectations and finished tied for fifth. The real work on her game gets started in offseason No. 2, as the tour takes a month off before returning to Orlando in late February. (Stanford does have one more ski trip to Park City planned.)

For 2021, Stanford told instructor Todd Kolb that she wanted to go about her goals differently this time around.

“If you look at my history,” she said, “I’ll win and then I’ll play bad … disappear for months. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on there.”

While Stanford has long prided herself on being a consistent player, it frustrates her that she has never come close to winning the Vare Trophy for low scoring average.

“You can be consistently average,” she concluded.

The fact that Stanford isn’t afraid to look in the mirror at this stage in her career and honestly assess what needs to improve makes Kolb’s job that much easier. He’s not one to sugarcoat either.

“Let’s just get after it,” said Kolb, who points to two specific stats that draw a direct line to Stanford’s success.

The first: average length of her first putt after a missed green.

“I always tell people chipping differentiates,” said Kolb.

The second: tracking her conversion rate on birdie putts from 9 to 15 feet.

“That’s the range that great players are hitting it when they’re hitting the ball well,” he said.

Stanford, a Solheim Cup assistant captain who might end up playing, has greatly enjoyed her weekly Zoom chats with fellow assistant Michelle Wie and captain Pat Hurst. She downplays whether or not she’ll be hitting shots in Toledo.

Angela Stanford tees off at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions (courtesy Diamond Resorts).

For someone who isn’t really into stats, Stanford has found that being aware of where she stands with certain numbers helps her to maintain focus during rounds. Keeping a running count of total putts and fairways hit at the TOC, for example, kept her in the present with mini-goals.

There is one goal, however, that’s so big that she hasn’t even put it down on paper.

“If you talk to anybody this year and they don’t mention playing the Olympics,” said Stanford, “then they’re lying. So I don’t want to lie to you. Playing in the Olympics is a dream for every athlete … that’s probably the long shot.”

She won he first major at age 40. Why not?

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2020 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship, Practice Round live stream, schedule, TV channel, start time

The 2020 U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship, Practice Round is on Wednesday, you can stream all the action live right here.

For the first time in U.S. Women’s Open history, the 75th championship will be held on two golf courses. With it being held in December, the PGA will have to deal with reduced sunlight so they will use two courses, Cypress Creek Course in Florida and Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club in Houston. These two courses will split up the action between the first and second rounds.

This should be a fantastic weekend of golf that you won’t want to miss, here is everything you need to know to follow the action this weekend:

U.S. Women’s Open Golf Championship, Practice Round

  • When: Wednesday, December 9
  • TV Channel: The Golf Channel
  • Live Coverage: 2:00 p.m. ET
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

U.S. Women’s Open Schedule

Wednesday, Dec. 9

Practice round, 2-3:30 p.m., Golf Channel

Thursday, Dec. 10

First-round, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Peacock

Golf Central Pre Game, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Golf Channel

First-round, 12:30-6 p.m., Golf Channel

Golf Central, 6-7 p.m., Golf Channel

Friday, Dec. 11

Golf Central Pre Game, 10-11 a.m., Golf Channel

Second round, 1-3 p.m., Peacock

Second round, 3-6 p.m., Golf Channel

Golf Central, 6-7 p.m., Golf Channel

Saturday, Dec. 12

Golf Central Pre Game, 10-11 a.m., Golf Channel

Third round, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Golf Channel

Third round, 1-2:30 p.m., Peacock

Third round, 2:30-6 p.m., NBC

Golf Central, 6-7 p.m., Golf Channel

Sunday, Dec. 13

Golf Central Pre Game, 10-11 a.m., Golf Channel

Final round, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Golf Channel

Final round, 2-5 p.m., NBC

Golf Central, 5-6 p.m., Golf Channel

U.S. Open Odds and Betting Lines

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Texan Angela Stanford claims Volunteers of America title in a U.S. Women’s Open warm up

Angela Stanford claimed her seventh career LPGA title in her home state of Texas. Next up? The U.S. Women’s Open, also in Texas.

Angela Stanford clinched her seventh career title at the Volunteers of America Classic, holding off a host of South Korean superstars near her Forth Worth, Texas, home. The 43-year-old became the first over-40 player to win on the LPGA since Cristie Kerr claimed the 2017 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.

The best part: It’s the first time Stanford’s parents have been on-site for an LPGA win.

“You know after the major, it would’ve been easy to be satisfied,” said Stanford, referencing her Evian Championship win in 2018, “and I think I was for a little bit. But there’s something about bad golf ….”

That “bad golf” motivated Stanford to get better, and an improved short game allowed her to contend for the first time at the Old American Golf Club, where she held off former top-ranked players Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu, two best friends who finished runner-up alongside hotshot rookie Yealimi Noh.

Stanford’s closing 4-under 67 put her at 7-under 277 for the tournament, two clear of the field. Current No. 1 Jin Young Ko finished three back in solo fifth.

Earlier this year Pat Hurst named Stanford one of her assistant captains along with Michelle Wie. When asked if today’s strong form might put her in the running to be a playing assistant, Stanford said, “I’m not worried about it; I’m not thinking about it.”

Stanford is one of seven Texans in the field at next week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston. Lindsey Weaver and Kristen Gillman, who also hail from the Lone Star state, tied for eighth at the VOA while Brittany Lang took a share of 11th.

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How to watch: ANA Inspiration TV times and charity skins match details

Golf Channel will carry 20 hours of live tournament coverage of the LPGA’s second major of 2020, the ANA Inspiration.

The ANA Inspiration kicks off early with a charity skins match airing live on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel. The event, which benefits Eisenhower Health, will feature four LPGA player in the field. Katherine Kirk and Amy Olson will team up against Christina Kim and Angela Stanford in nine-hole match.

Golf Channel will carry 20 hours of live tournament coverage of the year’s second major, headlined by No. 2 Danielle, Nelly Korda, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson and Lydia Ko. While defending champion Jin Young Ko is not in the field, two-time major winner Sung Hyun Park makes her 2020 LPGA debut at Mission Hills.

TV Times: ANA Inspiration

Dates: Sept. 10-13

Course: Mission Hills Country Club (Dinah Shore Tournament Course), Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Golf Channel Channel (ET):

Thursday: Noon-4 p.m. / 7-9 p.m. (Live)

Friday: Noon-4 p.m. / 7-9 p.m. (Live)

Saturday: 2-6 p.m. (Live)

Sunday: 2-6 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Terry Gannon / Grant Boone

Analyst: Judy Rankin / Karen Stupples

Tower: Tom Abbott

On-Course: Jerry Foltz / Jim Gallagher Jr. / Karen Stupples

Reporter: Lisa Cornwell

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Next year’s Solheim Cup buildout will add to the Inverness splendor

This week at the LPGA Drive on Championship, players and television viewers are seeing Inverness in its purest form.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Can you picture it? A massive u-shaped structure that seats 3,000 rowdy Solheim Cup fans situated around one teeing area at Inverness Club, serving both the 1st and 10th holes. Rather than a tunnel, Solheim Cup players will walk across a bridge from the practice putting green, over the road and through the crowd, likely high-fiving their way down the stairs and onto the tee box, music blaring.

In Dennis Baggett’s mind, the crowds at Inverness are going from zero to 150,000 in 13 months’ time.

This week at the LPGA Drive on Championship, players and television viewers are seeing Inverness in its purest form. No fans. No leaderboards. No grandstands. No hospitality suites. Maybe two ropes.

The build-out around the first tee next year will extend into where players are parking their cars this week. The ninth and 18th holes will be switched for Solheim so that players can make the short walk to the 10th tee and back into the rockin’ grandstand. On Sunday, players making the turn in their singles matches will have to wait on players who are just beginning the round. The action there will be nonstop.

Exactly the kind of environment that Danielle Kang thrives in. As a Solheim rookie in Des Moines, Iowa, Kang revved up the gallery on the first tee, encouraging them to scream and shout right through her swing.

Apparently Kang doesn’t mind the quiet either, as she’s tied for the lead here at Inverness with European Solheim Cup players Celine Boutier and Jodi Ewart Shadoff. With so many Asian players opting to skip the two events in Ohio, past and potential Solheim Cuppers are peppering the board.

Mel Reid, a three-time European Solheim Cup player who served as vice captain last year at Gleneages, said Inverness is one of the toughest courses she’s ever played on the LPGA, a fact that she loves.

“Kind of the running joke between players and caddies this week,” said Reid, “is it’s a major for $1 million.”

The LPGA lost one of its five majors to COVID-19 this season when the Evian Championship was canceled. Inverness, a course that has hosted four U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, has certainly given the women an unexpected treat. It was only seven weeks ago that the LPGA approached Inverness about hosting the last-minute event and five weeks ago that the club agreed.

While the first round played firm and fast, the second offered a completely different challenge as rain ruled the day. There was a 45-minute delay Saturday afternoon for maintenance crews to squeegee water off the greens. Kang marveled at the way Inverness changed like a chameleon.

There likely hasn’t been a more fan-friendly course than this Donald Ross design. Baggett has walked the course this week like he would as a fan, anticipating crowd flow issues and fairway crosswalks.

“I remember standing in the clubhouse one time and I could see 13 flags,” said Baggett.

Fans can purchase upgraded tickets to the Solheim Pavilion, a structure that offers fans views of the greens on Nos. 4, 11 and 14, the 15th tee and the entirety of Nos. 5 and 12.

Community support is terrific, too. Before the pandemic hit, 84 partners signed up for next year. The good news is that not a single one has pulled out. The bad news is that it’s a tough time to add more.

The Toledo market is faithful to the LPGA. Next week the Marathon Classic will be held less than 10 miles away for the 35th time. When Drive On organizers spotted a concerning pothole on Dorr Street earlier this week, right at the entrance of Inverness, a phone call was placed to the mayor and the hole was fixed the next day.

There are 19 of 24 Solheim Cup players from last year in the field this week as well as 2021 assistant captain Angela Stanford. Captains Pat Hurst and Catriona Matthew aren’t here now, but they’ll be on property soon enough.

“Honestly, this is going to be a spectacle,” said Reid.

At last, a course that is as spectacular as the contest itself.

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Too much time to think: LPGA players face mental demons during tour’s long break

LPGA players had too much time to think during the tour’s long break due to the coronavirus.

One of the most common complaints Shawnee Harle’s athletes have voiced over the years is they don’t have enough time.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, that complaint was often replaced with: “I’m bored.” “I can’t find any motivation.” “This isn’t fair.”

Suddenly time was all they had.

The mental toughness coach, who worked as an assistant for the Canadian women’s basketball team at two Olympic Games, challenged her students across all different sports to WAIT. That is to say, three times a day set an alarm and ask themselves, “What am I thinking?”

“We have around 60,000 thoughts a day,” said Harle, who notes that roughly 85 percent of those thoughts are negative and 90 percent are repetitive. “Pay attention and then shift,” she continued. “You get to choose what you think. I think that is so empowering. Be the boss of your thoughts. Catch yourself in the negative thoughts that are taking you away from your goals.”

Shawnee Harle.

The coronavirus break has impacted the LPGA more than most golf tours, with it having shut down in mid-February and not scheduled to return until the last week in July at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Ohio. Such a unique time highlights the disparities between the men’s and women’s game – earnings, resources, opportunities – even more.

Some players will come out of this with a refreshed and renewed spirit. Some might quit the game. Some will be mentally handicapped by a dwindling savings account. Others might play more freely than ever knowing their status is secured for 2021. (A player’s current LPGA status will roll over into next year.)

“We’re all dying to make money,” said Kim Kaufman. But at the same time, she continued, when will most players ever have a chance to play in 10 or more events where no matter the results, they get to come back next year?

It’s the bright side of a dark time, and being able to flip a tough situation on its head might mean the difference between success and trunk-slamming these next few months.

Kaufman began working with Harle last spring at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open. Harle was the first person to tell Kaufman to stare down the hazards or bunkers she feared, acknowledge them and then shift to the plan.

“You can’t ignore those thoughts,” said Kaufman, “you can’t run from them.”

There will be a lot of that in the coming weeks as players tee it up for their first paycheck in months.

Angela Stanford believes veteran players will have an advantage. The 42-year-old Texan knows what it’s like to put the clubs down for eight weeks and say see you next year. She also knows what it’s like to work straight through an offseason.

Angela Stanford during the first round of the 2020 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on January 23, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

On weekends in Fort Worth, Texas, Stanford plays in a standing game with Shady Oaks members, and when the pressure mounts, she’s admittedly out there acting like it’s a major championship. She still thrives off of competition, but it’s always been the travel that gets to her.

The newly named assistant Solheim Cup captain has asked herself some tough questions during the extended time off.

“For someone like me to take a step back and say, how much do I still want to do this? How much is that sacrifice of traveling?” said Stanford. “If I’m asking myself those questions, I have to believe that every player is asking themselves these questions, too.”

Vision54 coaches Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott say every player is faced with an opportunity to reframe the situation. Nilsson recalled that when Annika Sorenstam first earned her tour card, she had only conditional status and had to play in Monday qualifiers.

Sorenstam had to reframe her plan: Either she makes it on Monday and has an opportunity to compete, or she gets a full week of practice to get better for the future. And besides, Nilsson said, she needed to get better at getting off to a fast start in the first round. Monday qualifiers presented an opportunity to improve on that.

When Ariya Jutanugarn won the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open, her clubs didn’t show up until Wednesday’s practice round. She only saw the back nine of Shoal Creek before the tournament started.

“You stay stuck on lost, you’re going to be lost,” said Marriott, “whether it’s lost luggage or a lost opportunity.”

For some players, this coronavirus break might be the longest stretch they’ve gone without a touching a club or traveling since early childhood – something that never would have happened otherwise without injury or retirement.

The Vision54 coaches suggest players use timelines to project 10 years from now what they might have learned from this time. The Jutanugarn sisters – Ariya and Moriya are two of their clients – recently returned from a meditation retreat in northern Thailand. It’s obvious from social media posts that health and fitness have been a priority during the break.

LPGA rookie Albane Valenzuela used the extra time to finish her degree at Stanford, taking three classes while at home in the Bahamas. Knowing she won’t have to go back to LPGA Q-School this year or study during tournaments has provided a tremendous sense of relief.

Albane Valenzuela on the 17th hole during round 7 of the LPGA Q-Series at Pinehurst No. 9 on November 01, 2019. (Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images)

Valenzuela’s decision to forgo her final semester at Stanford was a “big leap of faith” for the Swiss star. She never could’ve dreamed that college golf would be cut short before the postseason and that Q-School would be canceled for 2020. So many college seniors are now faced with the reality that their LPGA dreams – even the Symetra Tour – has been delayed at least one year.

“It really just showed me that sometimes you have an opportunity in life,” said Valenzuela, “and you just have to jump, be a little risk-taking with your decision. I can’t imagine what it’s like to finish college and you don’t have Q-School. That’s so heart-breaking.”

When Harle gets a new client, she often asks: What are you afraid of? What are you protecting? What are you avoiding?

There’s nothing wrong with negative thoughts, she says. We’re hard-wired to protect ourselves against danger. “Mental toughness,” she said, “is what are you going to do with those thoughts?” Because in today’s uncertain times, they certainly aren’t going away.

Bringing Golf Back: Angela Stanford, Nate Lashley on golf’s return

PGA Tour pro Nate Lashley and LPGA pro Angela Stanford sit down with Golfweek and USA TODAY Sports to discuss the emotions of returning to the game of golf after the sport was briefly shut down.

PGA Tour pro Nate Lashley and LPGA pro Angela Stanford sit down with Golfweek and USA TODAY Sports to discuss the emotions of returning to the game of golf after the sport was briefly shut down.