Happy National Women’s Golf Day
Hey everyone! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written anything. I took a quick “break” from golf to re-evaluate and re-assess where my game is and where my head is. It’s been great getting “back into it” and I definitely missed it (even though it was only 2 weeks). I’ve been working out a ton trying to get my swing speed and power up. It is definitely weird not being back in school this fall but I feel like it’s weirder for the kids who are back. I have also started working at Sawgrass Country Club part-time! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be able to work and practice there. More on what I’ve been up to in a later post :)
Amidst all of the anxiety happening around the world, I wanted to take moment and recognize a happy day: National Women’s Golf Day! It was on September 1st but to me it’s everyday. As you know, golf is my life and has been for a long time. One of the many things I love about golf is how universal it is. It teaches the same values no matter where it’s played. The First Tee summarizes some of those values as: “honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy, and judgement.” The values that The First Tee instills in its kids goes far beyond golf and into everyday life. I would say golf has absolutely taught me all of these values and allowed me to have a more well-rounded athlete-to-regular-kid balance.
Growing up I was lucky enough to have strong women athletes to look up to. In the neighborhood I grew up in, golf was almost considered “cool.” The best part about that was that there were more than just boys making it cool. There were girls playing golf everyday, challenging and beating the boys. That was my first real experience where I remember thinking, “I could do that, too.” I think it was what helped fuel my competitive drive. From there when I started practicing more and spent some time in academies, there were more girl golfers and they were badass. Watching them showed me what it takes to be good at the game—from mental, to physical, to their actual game. I got to travel with them and ask questions and learn from the outside what it takes to get better. Of course practicing and playing next to them also fueled me to see how quickly I could try to get on their level.
Having female athletes in my sport to look up to absolutely changed the way I thought about the game and a “girls’ role in sports.” They taught me what an athlete looks like in the sense that it is not one size fits all. They taught me how to be competitive and how to be okay with showing my competitive side. They taught me that it is a lot of really hard work, (and the definition of that is different for everyone), but it can also be such a fun and rewarding process. What I hope going forward in my golf career is that girls see me and my fellow competitors and mentors and think “I can do that, too.” That they don’t feel limited because they are female. They see that we are absolutely athletes in every sense of the word and they shouldn’t shy away from their athletic drive.
As a woman, golf gave me the opportunity to embrace my athletic drive. It gave me an outlet to be competitive and to not be scared to show it. Frequently I get asked, “Are you any good?” As a follow up question to my answer of, “I play professional golf for a living.” Golf gave me the courage to answer those men (sorry not sorry, it is always the men) with “Yes.” Golf gave me the tenacity to stand up for myself without being apologetic or scared. There’s no need for me to sugarcoat my abilities or make myself small! I can look these men in eyes with every ounce of confidence in the world knowing I have played on some of the biggest stages in the world, I have a silver and a gold medal, and I’ve worked really f*cking hard to get to where I am today and to where I’m going in the future. So as a woman, golf helped shaped me into the tough, athletic, hardworking, non-apologetic woman I am today.
A big part of who I am is giving back to my community. It almost feels like a responsibility to give back to the future girls of golf. It is so important to have a mentor to show you the ropes, to show you that your dreams are possible, and to motivate you to go after those dreams. Girls and young women need us, LPGA players and aspiring tour players, as mentors and guides. We are their examples. They can relate to us on TV or in magazines (am I the only one who still reads those?) What 7-year-old Hannah couldn’t relate to is today’s Dustin Johnson’s or Bryson DeChambeau’s hitting 350 yard drives and drinking 11 protein shakes a day with swing speeds that would break our bodies. What today’s 7-year-old girls can relate to is how effortlessly powerful, strong, and smooth our swings are. They can relate to our stories and see the silver linings of how we got to where we are today and feel comfortable talking to other girls about their lives. Of course any 7-year-old (and even 22-year-old) can watch the big PGA tour players and learn a thing or two, but 99% of the time our learning experiences come from watching people who are similar to us. To have someone like these young girls do to look up to makes them realize that this, too, could be their life. That if we did it, why not them? Why not empower these girls the way they once empowered me? If these girls are the next generation of incredible female athletes, it’s absolutely my responsibility to help them get there.
Here’s a quick(ish) story of a conversation I had recently that made me so hopeful for the future of women’s golf. I was at TPC practicing with my coach when a man I have met a few times (fellow accomplished Maccabi athlete from years past) came up to me beaming about watching the Women’s Open on TV. He was raving about how effortless and smooth every swing looked, about how well they carried themselves and how it was nice to see a smile on the faces of the players (because he then realized the men so seldom do). We talked about Sophia Popov’s amazing victory and how he said he gave her a standing ovation in his living room. He was beaming ear to ear talking about certain shots and holes and how inspired he was watching this tournament. Maybe most importantly he said he called all of his friends and told them to watch. This sixty-something year old doctor called his friends and told them to watch women’s golf, a concept! He said they all watched the final round and agreed that they found watching women’s golf was more relatable, more fun, and equally if not more impressive. He said these women can play and everyone should be a supporter of women’s golf. Because I’m a sap, with tears in my eyes I told him how overjoyed I was to be having this conversation with him and to be able to feel the genuine joy he had for watching and supporting The Open. I thanked him for his support and told him how I hardly ever had men speak to me so positively about women’s golf. And how it is almost never that they had “given it a chance” and then genuinely enjoyed it and more so than men’s golf. I thanked him for stopping me and being so excited to talk about women’s golf. He concluded the conversation by telling me again how incredible the women are and how he is so inspired by my hard work and dedication. He also said how excited he is to follow me on my journey. He told me to keep grinding and to keep working hard because the future of women’s golf and female athletics is so important. And with that I wiped my eyes and said thank you, that is such a large part of why I do what I do. These are the conversations that need to be had around all women’s sports. Watch women’s sports, “give them a chance,” learn something, and spread the word. I swear you won’t regret it.
So happy Women’s Golf Day (and lifetime) to all of the female golfers who made women’s golf possible, to the female golfers who have helped me become who I am, and to the future of women’s golf. As much as we play for ourselves, we play for you, too.
If this snippet of female athletic empowerment has sparked a light for you to get more involved with women’s sports, do it! I have made a list of my favorite places to get news, highlights, and updates on all things women’s sports:
- The GIST
- An Instagram and facebook page, a podcast, and a twice-weekly newsletter of what’s up in sports (created by 3 female sports fanatics)
- EspnW
- Women’s sports and culture
- On Her Turf
- A media and news company powered by NBCSports
- See Her
- Their mission is to, “accurately portray all women and girls in marketing, advertising, media, and entertainment, so they see themselves as they truly are and in all their potential.”
- The Virago Project
- A nonprofit organization that helps female athletes balance sports with life
A special shoutout to my best friend Michael VanDerLaan for calling me and asking how he can be an ally to female athletes. We need more people like you in the athletics world and the NARP world. As I told him: share our successes. Share our stories. Share us. The more we are seen, the more opportunities female athletes have to narrow the athletics gap.
And of course, thank you to my sponsors BKS Partners, HowMoneyWorks, and Dao Fournier for being such vocal supporters of female athletics. It’s people like you that make our dreams a reality.
One last thing! Here is my link to sign up for The GIST in your inbox 2x a week. I promise you’ll enjoy.
https://thegist.cmail19.com/t/t-l-xljbdt-zajtkiut-xr/
