Where's the Ladies' Tee?

Last Sunday morning I arrived at Woodhill CC for my practice round for the Women’s US Open qualifier. This is the first step for us competitive players to gain a berth in the US Women’s Open, which is held in Minnesota at Interlachen at the end of June. It was a beautiful day and I was looking forward to playing that morning with my student and friend, Onie Ritz, her husband Cracker, and my favorite Irish colleague, Gerald McCullagh. While we were warming up, head professional Phil Reith drove down the hill in his golf cart to inform me that the tournament would be played from the championship tees and a score of 80 would be the equivalent of par! Now, I’m a 43-year-old working mom, and I wonder how the hell I can get around the course at that prodigious length without hurting myself. My “warm up” turned a corner just then as I felt the sweat dripping down my brow from my efforts at extracting another 50 yards out of my trusty driver.

Women’s golf has taken a new turn these last few years to where the LPGA is truly represented by world-class athletes. These chicks can play some serious golf! When I first entered the world of competitive play, 29 years ago, tournaments were held on courses that were not much longer than your average pitch and putt course. Six-thousand yards was considered long in those days, and your average National Championship was contested on a course that was maybe 6,200 yards. This year’s event at Interlachen will play out at 6,750 yards, which is what the men’s PGA Tour played at a handful of years ago.

At the end of day I like to take a personal inventory on my play and plan my upcoming practice sessions. After slogging it around Woodhill that morning from the back tees, I realized that I needed a personal trainer to help me find 50 more yards off the tee. I think this may be my last hurrah for sending in my entry in for the Women’s Open... Good luck to all you young women, this 43-year-old is going to wait for a women’s senior tour to emerge. Next time you go out to play ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to look behind you on the tee box and think... oh, there’s the “Ladies' Tee”!

P.S. I would like to share a joke with you:

It was a sunny morning, a little before 8 a.m., on the first hole of a busy course, and I was beginning my pre-shot routine and visualizing my upcoming shot when a piercing voice came over the clubhouse loud speaker, "Would the gentleman on the women's tee back up to the men's tee, please!"

I could feel every eye on the course looking at me but I focused on my routine and remained impervious to the interruption.

Again the announcement, "Would the man on the women's tee kindly back up to the men's tee."

I ignored the guy and remained focused on playing my shot, when once more, the man yelled, "Would the man on the women's tee back up to the men's tee, please!"

I finally stopped, turned, cupped my hands, and shouted back, "Would the jerk with the microphone kindly keep quiet and let me play my second shot."

-- Dee Forsberg

Golfing For A Cure

As a golf instructor, I usually bond with people over golf. But sixteen years ago, I bonded with a special lady over something entirely different: cancer.

Christine Clifford Beckwith came to me in 1992 on a mission: she wanted to lower her handicap from a 24 to an 18. Dedicated, she saw me monthly year-round, and worked diligently on her game—the perfect student. And then one day, she came to me for an entirely different reason.

She had just been told she had cancer. She was experiencing a painful déjà vu: her mother had died from breast cancer at 42. But Christine wasn’t wallowing or wondering, “Why me?” Instead, she decided to fend off her disease with two unlikely weapons: wit and golf.

First, she wrote a book (one of six she eventually published) entitled, "Not Now… I’m Having a No Hair Day!" filled with cartoons about her experiences and her life. Golf earned several places in her book: her wig blowing off on the golf course, her golfing buddies giving her 40-foot putts, and her wistful stare into the Pacific Ocean—bald from chemotherapy—while standing on the tee in Carmel, California, thinking, “In my next life, I want to come back as a rock on Pebble Beach.” She started The Cancer Club, which offers humorous and helpful products for people with cancer, and now travels the world speaking about using humor to get through life’s adversities.

She also asked herself, "How can I help find a cure?" With her hundreds of connections in the golfing industry (Arnold Palmer and Tom Weiskopf wrote the forewords to two of her books), Christine started fund-raising. In 1998, Christine asked me to participate in her first of what would be five Christine Clifford Celebrity Golf Invitationals, held at the beautiful Minikahda Club.

I conducted her golf clinic, and over 300 golfers gathered around the practice green to watch and learn. Five years later, we had raised over $1 million for breast cancer research. Little did I know then that my favorite sister Margaret would be diagnosed with cancer—she lost her battle eight years ago. I look back and am grateful for the years I donated my time to help find a cure.

Today, Christine proudly plays to a 14 handicap. She actually got down to an 11 last summer, has played in City League, won the first flight of the Minikahda Ladies’ Club Championship, and shot her career round of 78 at the Chaska Town Course the week after the U.S. Amateur was played there in 2006. She still sees me monthly, and as a thirteen-year survivor, is grateful for every day, whether she gets to tee it up or not. But I am the one who is blessed, because I have Christine as a dear friend and champion student.

-- Gerald McCullagh

What’s an “A” Game Anyway.

The quest for every golfer is to find their “A” game and shoot a perfect round. But what is the perfect round and how does one find it? Golfers devote a lifetime in pursuit of those two answers. Time and again golfers boast that they discovered “the secret” through a new swing thought, a piece of equipment, or maybe even a fitness program. But at the end of the round was perfection found? I ask this because I find that my definition of perfection has changed dramatically in the 30-plus years that I have played this game.

I love Tiger and Jack not only for their prowess but for their pursuit of perfection. They have set standards that golfers will chase for years to come. Tiger coined the phrase "A" game in his post-round interviews, and I am fascinated with its meaning. Does he have the expectation that every part of his game is in top form, or does he plan his strategy around the strongest aspects of his game? Annika Sorenstam often speaks of her “Vision 54” training in which she defines the perfect round as 18 under par. The dictionary defines par as the standard score assigned to each hole or the sum total of the 18 holes played in a round. It can be achieved any number of ways when playing a hole but at the end you only have room on the card for the number. Where should the average golfer look to find their own definition of perfection?

Looking back on my journey with golf, I have learned that the challenge of finding perfection has been the true reward of this game. I celebrate my birdies, appreciate par, and try to forget the bogies!

--Dee Forsberg

Golf is More Than a Sport

I want to share with you a joke I recently heard.

Arthur is 90 years old. He's played golf every day since his retirement 25 years ago. One day he arrives home looking downcast.

"That's it," he tells his wife. "I'm giving up golf. My eyesight has gotten so bad that once I've hit the ball I can't see where it went."

His wife sympathizes and makes him a cup of tea. As they sit down she says, "Why don't you take my brother with you and give it one more try."

"That's no good," sighs Arthur, "your brother is 103 years old!!! He can't help."

"He may be a 103," says the wife, "but his eyesight is perfect."

So the next day Arthur heads off to the golf course with his brother-in- law. He tees up, takes an almighty swing and squints down the fairway. He turns to the brother-in-law. "Did you see the ball?"

"Of course I did!" replies the brother-in-law. "I have perfect eyesight."

"Where did it go?" asks Arthur.

"I don't remember."

I like to share this joke for the simple reason that golf is a lifelong game, and unlike any other sport we can play until we are a 100 years of age. Regardless of age or background, golfers pit their skills against the challenges of the course. The elements are tempered against the beautiful backdrop of the surroundings and being outdoors. Look down the fairway today and you see foursomes composed of young and old alike brought together by a shared passion for the sport. Is there any other sport that allows people of different ages come together like this for competition and companionship?

Golf also offers us the chance to learn important life lessons and skills. I would like to share a story of mine about a Mr. Charles Bell who flew me out to California to give him a lesson on his 90st birthday. It fascinated me that a man with legendary accomplishments as a leader and CEO of General Mills would still seek improvement and learning at 90 years of age. He illustrated to me the point that one can never stop learning. Life is an endless journey and golf offers us many fairways to travel down.

What a sport!

--Gerald McCullagh

Spring Golf

While the change of seasons can mark new beginnings, it also reminds us of the past. Spring takes me back to my collegiate days at the University of Minnesota where I spent my time studying and playing Division I Golf. College golf was tough in a northern climate as most of our practices were spent in cold, wet weather. The upshot was traveling to warm destinations to compete against nationally ranked teams. As a four-year starter on the Women’s Golf Team, I had the great fortune of being coached by Ann Zahn. She held numerous state titles and inspired all of us to achieve our potential with her wit, wisdom, and competitive spirit. One of my fondest memories at the University was developing an acquaintance with the late Les Bolstad, men’s golf coach at the University from 1947–1976. He was a pioneer in golf instruction and mentored many top players including Patty Berg and Babe Didrickson. Every time I step onto the first tee at the golf course named in his honor, I think of “the Babe” and how he once told me she could carry the hill—that’s a drive of 260 yards! Not bad for a lady in a skirt with a metal shafted driver! While The Babe was my idol, Patty Berg was my favorite. While playing in the U.S. Women’s Public Links Championship in 1986, I participated in a clinic that Ms. Berg gave on the short game. She delivered the most awe-inspiring display of bunker play I have ever seen, and her ability to entertain the crowd was pure joy to witness. Afterwards, I introduced myself as a fellow Minnesotan and those eyes of hers lit up and she fell into a keen discussion of state politics!

For many of us golf isn’t just a sport but a lifestyle. My way of life has always been dictated around the next tee-time. Many of those times have been across the U.S. and even abroad, where I played on the Women’s European Golf Tour. My playing partners have included U.S. Open Champions, State Champions, and memorable club golfers. Lady fortune is really smiling on athletics for women right now. The stars of the LPGA travel to tournaments in style, land lucrative endorsement contracts, and are displayed prominently in the media. What a change from 50 years ago where the ladies caravanned to the next event and relied on the generosity of host families for lodging. How exciting this upcoming year will be with the Women’s U.S. Open being played at Interlachen! I anticipate that this years Open will be a remarkable contest between Ochoa, Sorenstam, and a few other young women who have been enthralling us with their prowess.

In the spring we look forward to walking the fairways in the company of old friends and new acquaintances. As the season progresses, Gerald McCullagh and I look forward to discussing all things golf with you. We will give you a unique perspective of golf based on our different journeys that led us to our shared profession as golf professionals.

- Dee Forsberg