June 2012: Golf Digest Woman: Golf Digest

On-course betting? Pettersen says no more

Saturday, June 30, 2012

The ultra-competitive Suzann Pettersen might be a sucker for a side bet, but on Saturday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, she ended up, well, just a sucker. Paired with an on-form Brittany Lang, who won her first LPGA Tour event last week at the Manulife LPGA Classic, Pettersen decided to make things interesting on the back nine in the sweltering heat.

Brittany Lang shot a second-round 8-under 63 in 99-degree temps in Rogers, Ark.
(Photo by Getty Images)

"Suzann was saying it was getting kind of boring out there, so she wanted to play a birdie game -- $20 per birdie," Lang explained after the round. Lang, who had shot one under par on the front, proceeded to make five birdies and an eagle in the next nine holes and coming home in 29. "At the end she told me she's not playing the money game ever again because she made three birdies and still lost $80," Lang said.

Lang's eight-under 63 put her tied for fourth going into Sunday's final round, five shots behind Venezuelan rookie Veronica Filibert who leads by four. Pettersen shot a two-under 69 and is T19 at -3.

--Stina Sternberg

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Ask Stina: All's fair in love and golf

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Q: My boyfriend plays a lot of golf without me. One of his closest golf buddies is a single, pretty girl. Should I be worried?

A: Absolutely not. If your boyfriend wanted to date this girl, he would. So why worry about something you can't control? Besides, odds are slim there's anything going on between them. Good golf buddies are hard to find: They have to have a similar game to yours, talk the same amount of trash and enjoy taking the type of Sunday-morning bets you prefer. Whether the person is a woman or a man doesn't matter, as long as the his or her golf personality works with yours. When you find buddies like this, you hang on to them, but it doesn't mean you want to take them home. Quite the contrary. Most of my good golf buddies are men, and I wouldn't want my relationship with them to change in any way.

Q: I've heard you talk about "ready golf" in the past. Would you recommend a woman tee off first if she can't reach the group in front of her but the men in her foursome can?

A: Absolutely -- as long as it saves time, and the course design allows for it. If I'm sharing a cart with a guy and the forward tees are within walking distance, I'll grab my driver and walk to my tee while he's waiting to tee off. If he's still waiting when I get there, I'll happily go first. Then I'll get out of harm's way while my playing companion tees off and wait to get picked up after he's done. But if it will take me longer to walk to my tee than it would for the fairway to clear, I'll wait. I can still use the time to take a couple of practice swings and make sure I'm ready to swing away once we reach my tee. Common sense should prevail. It's really no different from ready golf in the fairway.

Q: My club hired a pro who's a chauvinist -- he doesn't like to teach women, and he gives us all the same condescending instruction. What should we do?

A: This is one fight worth picking. I know the type (the guy who probably thinks women don't belong on the course) and they're not easy to influence. You and your girlfriends have to band together and campaign to get him out (or to get your club to hire a second pro). There's power in numbers. Women represent more than 25 percent of the membership at clubs today, and club boards are wise enough to know not to upset them.

Q: I've been playing golf for a while and have always been told by my male counterparts to play by the rules because it's part of the honor and tradition of the game. But then these guys take lateral drops next to O.B. stakes and rake three-footers. Should I point out the contradiction or just go with the flow?

A: You have two options: (1) Kindly inform your companions that they're breaking the rules, even though you run the risk of being viewed as overly uptight. (2) Stay quiet, compromise on the rules and continue to be considered easygoing. As my male golf buddies will tell you, I opt for the former every time. Sure, being "that chick" who always points out when someone breaks a rule might earn you a few strange looks, but in the end you'll be respected more. If you're not going to play by the rules, there's no point in playing.

--Stina Sternberg

Have a golf-course gender quandary? E-mail Stina at stina@golfdigest.com.

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The Style Blog: Multi-purpose shorts

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Bermuda-length shorts in vibrant prints and bold colors are one of my favorite golf must-haves. Shorts are practical for on course play -- no need to think twice about how you bend down to tee up your ball or line up a putt -- but they can also be very versatile style pieces.

This year, designers sent shorts down the runway for summer with a little bit of a dress-up vibe. That means you can wear them for cocktails just as easily as you can to play. (If you're planning a quick get away, there's nothing like a piece of clothing that pulls a double shift.) Here are some ideas for dressing your shorts both on and off the course:

1. Talbots Exotic Floral Short (above); $55, Visit website

For golf, pair it with a Lacoste Short Sleeve 5 Button Stretch Pique Polo (below); $66, Visit website

For cocktails, pair it with a Lilly Pulitzer Paley V-Neck cardigan (below); $98, Visit website

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2. Puma Womens Plaid Tech shorts; $65, Visit website

For golf, pair it with a Marmot Wm's Tempo vest (below); $90, Visit website

For cocktails, pair it with a Pim + Larkin Colette blazer (below); $40, Visit website

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3. J. Crew 9" Chino Short (below); $40, Visit website

For golf, pair it with an Aquascutum Tech Polo (below); $130, Visit website

For cocktails, pair it with an Ann Taylor Patio Stripe 3/4 Sleeve Tee (below); $38, Visit website

--Argy Koutsothanasis

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Grace Park, 33, announces her retirement

Friday, June 8, 2012

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- The buzz going into the 1999 U.S. Women's Open at Old Waverly in steamy Mississippi was about Beth Bauer, the Duke star who was expected to take the LPGA by storm. But early in the week, anyone hanging out on the practice ranged noticed the ball was jumping off the club of Grace Park with a very special sound.

When the tournament started, the stark contrast between the talent levels of the two became even more apparent. Both still amateurs, Park finished T-8 while Bauer missed the cut. By 2007, Bauer had retired without ever winning. On Friday, Park joined her, announcing she was walking away from the game while waiting to see if she would make the cut at the Wegmans LPGA Championship.

Grace was supposed to be the next big star from Korea, turning pro in 1999, a year after Se Ri Park burst onto the scene by winning the LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open. She wound up sticking around for this weekend, but after years of injury and disappointment, the 33-year-old talent with movie star looks will take a step into the next phase of her life come Sunday evening.

"You are going to make me cry again," Park said as she hugged a reporter she has know for 13 years. "I stopped crying a half hour again." Then she climbed into a chair, took a microphone and explained her decision.

"I have been thinking about it for awhile," Park said, fighting her emotions. "But after getting my health back and playing every event last year, I wanted to give it one last chance at becoming one of the top golfers again. I worked really hard, especially this last winter. But the truth was that my game just wasn't there. To be honest, it just wasn't fun. It was really painful and hard to deal with."

The Style Blog: Teeing off

Friday, June 8, 2012

Ever get tired of wearing the same thing over and over? Don't get me wrong, we should all have our own signature look and embrace building outfits around a favorite color or your most flattering pants (which you own in every shade of the rainbow).

I'm talking about that blah feeling when your look starts to resemble a uniform: white polo -- check; khakis -- check. Sometimes it's fun to break away from the norm, even if it's a small break. Maybe you reach for a T-shirt instead of your standard polo. Most golf clubs will make an allowance for dressy, cute tees: no collar is okay if you have sleeves. And these days, there are some great, graphic tees that pay tribute to golf or your favorite designer. You can even find options in moisture-wicking fabrics and fun colors. Just think of it as a small tweak to push away the style doldrums.

Ralph Lauren Metallic Big Pony Cotton Tee; $49; Visit website
Lija Fuse Flight Tank Top; $75; Visit website
Quagmire Beer Babe Tee; $59; Visit website
Lole Olivia Top; $35; Visit website
Athleta Wonder Wick-It Tee; $35; Visit website
Wippe Heart Golf Tee; $43; Visit website

--Argy Koutsothanasis

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Unheralded No. 2 Na Yeon Choi positions herself for major No. 1

Thursday, June 7, 2012

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Unlike the PGA Tour, the LPGA is in the enviable position of having a clear No. 1 player in Yani Tseng, who has a vintage Tiger Woods-like lead over the second-best player in women's golf. But what most fans don't realize is that No. 2 is Na Yeon Choi, a 24-year-old Korean who is as consistent as the ticking of a clock, with a repeating swing that is just as reliable.

Choi knows all about being second to Tseng. In 2008, she was runner-up to Yani for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award. And with five LPGA wins since then, Na Yeon has the most triumphs on tour in that time period than any player other than Tseng.

Na Yeon, who was 10 years old when she watched on TV as Se Ri Pak won the 1998 U.S. Women's Open, the first LPGA major won by a player from their homeland, is looking for her first major. On Thursday, she got off to a good start, firing a two-under-par 69 at Locust Hill CC in the first round of the Wegmans LPGA Championship.

Na Yeon has yet to win this year, but has been second twice and picks up a check every time out, currently sitting at No. 6 on the money list this year and having amassed $6 million in career earnings.

Tiger's niece makes pro debut

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Cheyenne Woods has the cheek bones of her grandfather, Earl Woods, just like her Uncle Tiger. The family resemblance in the daughter of Earl Jr., Tiger's estranged half-brother, is remarkable. And now, nearly 16 years after Tiger said "Hello World" and joined the professional ranks, golf has another Woods playing for pay.

(Photo by Getty Images)

The 21-year-old Woods, who graduated last month from Wake Forest with a degree in communications, also has a smile that is both radiant and readily accessible, the way Tiger's used to be before his world collapsed in scandal. Now at a time when Tiger appears to be making progress in his attempt to climb back to the top, Cheyenne is beginning anew. But the shared bloodlines -- and the fact both first learned the game in Earl Woods' garage -- is pretty much where the comparison ends. Tiger was the Can't Miss Kid when he turned pro; Cheyenne is a maybe. That said, she shows remarkable poise as she makes her pro debut this week at the Wegmans LPGA Championship on a sponsor's exemption.

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Lewis wins Shoprite, takes over as top American

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Stacy Lewis had one goal going into the 2012 season: Become the No. 1 American player in women's golf. On Sunday at the ShopRite Classic in Galloway, N.J., she accomplished that feat by winning her second tournament in three starts and climbing from No. 7 to No. 3 in the Rolex World Rankings. Cristie Kerr, who had held the spot since the fall of 2009 and hasn't won since 2010, fell from 5th to 7th in the rankings after a two-over-par T-41 finish in New Jersey.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Lewis shot 65-65 in the first two rounds, and got to 16 under par and a nine-shot lead midway through Sunday's round. Then she "lost concentration" on the back nine and made some unforced errors on and around the greens. Still, she finished at 12 under, beat Katherine Hull by four strokes, and is clearly playing the best golf of her life right now. "I've been playing well all year," she said after taking a share of the first-round lead on Friday. "It's fun to be out there just to play, not working on your golf swing or working on your stroke or anything."

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Wie's woes continue

Saturday, June 2, 2012

GALLOWAY, N.J. -- "What's wrong with Michelle Wie?"

These days, it's one of the most frequently asked questions in women's golf. The former teen phenom, now 22, shot a 12-over 154 (78-76) at the Shoprite Classic in Galloway, N.J., this week to miss her fifth cut in a row (sixth if you count her first-round ouster in the Sybase Match Play Championship two weeks ago). Wie, whose career has been on a very public roller-coaster ride ever since she turned pro at age 16 in 2005, seems to have fallen into a quicksilver-like slump since graduating from Stanford University in March. Her putting, always her Achilles heel, has crumbled completely (she took 67 putts over two rounds in New Jersey), and her driving isn't far behind (she managed to hit 12 out of 28 fairways in the same two days). Experts and casual watchers alike seem to agree that whatever is ailing the tall Hawaiian, it must be mental.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott of Vision 54, the golf/life coaches who have written several books on playing with confidence and purpose, were recently hired by team Wie to work alongside swing coach David Leadbetter on the less technical side of Wie's game. "So far, we've only worked together for a few hours," Nilsson says. "We're still getting to know each other. There are a lot of people who have opinions about Michelle and her game, but we're still mainly observing." Nilsson suggests that what's going on with Wie is fairly typical for players who become successful at a young age. "This can easily happen when you're a really good player as a child. Then you enter a period when you turn into a grownup and start to think about things more. It's usually just a phase, and one that many players go through -- Ai Miyazato is a good example -- but very few have to go through it with as many eyes on them as Michelle." Nilsson is convinced that Wie has all the tools needed to get out of her funk, as long as she can learn to identify her most important performance skills. "It's all connected," she says. "With Michelle it's the putting, but whether it's that or chipping or driving, it comes from the same place. You have to identify the thing that makes it all work and own that. And that's what we're here to help her do."

Former LPGA Tour player Jeehae Lee, Wie's longtime friend and new road manager, says Wie's spirits are still high despite her recent dismal results. "She remains positive and focuses on the things she can improve on. She's very resilient and she works hard when she goes back home."

It's impossible to look at Wie's situation and not surmise that the complex, ultra-close relationship she shares with her parents has something to do with her on-course woes. Bo and B.J. Wie have famously hovered around their only daughter her whole life, ever since the public first noticed the 13-year-old girl when she won the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in 2003. When Michelle enrolled at Stanford, Bo and B.J. also left Hawaii and moved into a house near her college campus. When she graduated this spring, the whole family moved back in together in a new house in Jupiter, Fla. The Wie parental unit follow their daughter's every step at every tournament, and accompany her to every practice session. But blaming mom and dad isn't going to help, says Nilsson. "Every player has a unique support team, and there are lots of cultural differences out here. But the thing you can't get away from as a player is that when you're on the golf course, you have to own your performance. It doesn't matter what country you're from."

Lee, for one, is convinced that Wie is the one steering her own career; she's not just living out her parents' dream. "I've asked her in private, and she really wants this. She's got conviction. She just needs one round where everything comes together to regain her confidence."

*UPDATE: On Saturday evening, Wie posted the following to her Twitter account:

@themichellewie think i have shed more tears this year than i ever have in my entire life combined...but its time now to put on my big girl pants!

@themichellewie SICK and TIRED of playing like s@$t (excuse the language). Time to turn things around! #keepbelieving #nevergiveup

--Stina Sternberg

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Why the LPGA Tour needs shorter courses

Friday, June 1, 2012

GALLOWAY, N.J. -- The ShopRite LPGA Classic, which kicked off its 24th installment Friday at the Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., is the kind of tournament that makes LPGA players and fans alike all warm and fuzzy inside. There's the stellar field (47 of the top 50 players on the LPGA money list are here); the ultra-fan-focused surroundings (in order to receive perks like free VIP dining passes for their caddies and agents, players are asked to sign up for autograph-signing sessions, hospitality-tent appearances and clinics); the beautiful ocean views; and the pedestrian-friendly golf course. Most of all, in benign weather conditions such as the ones expected this weekend, there's the chance to see some really spectacular scores. At 6,155 yards, Seaview is the shortest course on the tour's schedule.

(Photo by Getty Images)

The LPGA's image problems and need for public momentum have been discussed ad nauseum since the economy tanked in 2009. Everyone agrees that the women's tour needs better exposure, more buzz and bigger stars in order to thrive. Yet the tour isn't giving its players their best chance to create buzz and turn in star-making performances. The talent is there, but most weeks, the courses are set up too long.

The average driving distance on the LPGA Tour in 2012 is 253 yards. According to the PGA of America's "Tee It Forward" chart, a player who drives the ball 250 yards should be playing from tees that measure 6,200 to 6,400 yards. Yet the average tournament course length on the LPGA Tour is 6,550 yards. Before you say, "Sounds close enough," consider this: The PGA Tour driving average is 287 yards, and if you calculate where the same chart would put a player with that distance (the chart actually ends at 275 yards, but the math is pretty simple to figure out), he would land right around where the average PGA Tour layout does: just north of 7,300 yards. So the men are playing courses that suit their driving distances perfectly, while the women are playing from courses that are too long. Why? Because even at 6,500-plus yards, the girls are fighting a stigma that their courses are skimpy compared to the guys'. Never mind that a venue like Seaview, with unpredictable ocean winds and tight fairways, requires tremendous shot making to master.

We all remember what happened when Annika Sorenstam recorded her 59 at Moon Valley Country Club in the 2001 Standard Register Ping. It remains one of the biggest moments in the history of women's golf. Sure, Sorentam is arguably the greatest female player ever to grace the game, but one still has to consider the fact that there's only been one 59 recorded on the LPGA Tour a bit of a disgrace.

It's time to lose the inferiority complex and start playing courses set up like Seaview every week. If the girls on tour consistently played tracks that measured under 6,200 yards, more players would reach par 5s in two, more par 4s would be approached with wedges and short irons, scoring averages would drop and the golf would be more fun to watch. And, hopefully, the number 59 would once again appear in the headlines attached to an LPGA player's name.

--Stina Sternberg

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