The IX: Golf Thursday with Carly Grenfell, April 2, 2020
By The IX Team
Feel good golf stories — Interview with Isabelle Shee — Must-click links in women's golf
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Feel-Good Golf Stories
Who else is ready for golf (and sports) to be back? Patience is certainly a virtue these days for all of us. And when about the only golf news making headlines is about postponed and cancelled events, to be completely honest, it isn’t the most comforting. So in the spirit of lifting up spirits, I put together a list of some of the best feel-good stories from the last couple years in women’s golf and have another really great golf story to highlight in the interview section this week.
College golfers are coming together, even when apart
There’s been some really great content, and a lot of Zoom meetings, to come out of quarantine I know that much! With a little extra time on our hands, why not hop on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok for some added entertainment? The Wake Forest women’s college golf team kicked off the trick shot shenanigans and other teams followed suit. Here’s the full thread of the best content from Golfweek.
Special Olympian Amy Bockerstette shows up and shows out for Gary Woodland
So maybe you saw this one coming, but seriously, it’s one of the best moments in golf! Bockerstette played practice-round hole with Gary Woodland at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2019. At TPC Scottsdale’s par-3 16th hole, she made an insane up-and-down for par. This moment went viral two different times—the week of the Phoenix Open in February, and again after Woodland won the U.S. Open in June.
College golfers receive their invitations to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur
Although when the 2020 ANWA will be played is still up in the air, the moments shared of college golfers opening their invitations are just flat out cool to see. The inaugural event gives me chills just thinking about it, and I’m excited for this momentum to be carried into 2020. What an incredible honor to compete on arguably the most sacred venue in golf.
Haley Moore’s story proves the golf industry will always come together
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Haley Moore—and not just from the time she was bullied growing up, but in trying to get her LPGA card and do so without going into debt. Her story has inspired many and when Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols wrote a story about her GoFundMe page, the golf world exceeded expectations. Hundreds of donations poured in and Moore surpassed her goal of $30,000 to get her through Qualifying School. The icing on the cake? She earned her professional status.
Jin Young Ko proving she’s the best golfer in the world
Can you imagine going 114 holes without a bogey? 114!! Last year, World No. 1 Jin Young Ko did exactly that. She went on an absolute tear in 2019 and we all got to play witness to greatness (and history). Her Player of the Year award was beyond deserved and definitely well earned. In just her second year on the LPGA, she won four events but two of them were majors—The ANA Inspiration and Evian Championship. She played in 22 events and didn’t miss a single cut in 2019. And as if this isn’t impressive enough, Ko shined the night she received her Player of the Year Award too by learning English and giving one of the most eloquent and thoughtful speeches we’ve heard.
This Week in Women’s Golf
Reminder: First, the underlined words are the links. Second. CLICK these, even if you’ve already read them. Clicks = Attention from editors, producers and webmasters. Third, if you want to push out stuff you’ve written or read, email me! carlygrenfell@gmail.com
From Golf Channel’s Randall Mell, how these two people paved the way for modern LPGA.
LPGA players facing distinct stress from season delay from the Orange County Register.
Fox Sports’ writeup on two of South Korea’s top LPGA players now on the longest break of their careers.
Need a golf fix? LPGA announces the re-airing of the 2019 ANA Inspiration.
Golf Digest: the LPGA is missing its first major, but will give the ANA Inspiration a very warm welcome when it returns.
ESPN: LPGA announces the Evian Championship is moving to August.
From the LPGA—one of the most respected women in golf is providing inspiration in golf and in life.
Judge denies PGA Tour’s request to dismiss Hank Haney lawsuit, ESPN reports.
Golf Channel: NCAA finalizes extra year of eligibility for spring sport athletes, including men’s and women’s golf.
From Yahoo Sports, women’s team golf event, the Curtis Cup, postponed until 2021.
Golf brands are coming together for coronavirus relief efforts, Golf Digest reports.
There is still one golf tour carrying on despite coronavirus outbreak—more from Give Me Sport.
Golfweek has the final ANNIKA Award Watch List for women’s college golfer of the year.
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols has a great COVID-19 feature happening now: Stuck at Home.
Tweet of the Week
Five at The IX: Isabelle Shee
I. Can you give us a quick introduction of who you are and what you do in golf? My name is Isabelle Shee and I’m 25 years old. I guess you could say I’m an influencer and a business owner. In November, I came out with my sock brand. So now I can more identify with founder and business owner.
II. How were you introduced to the game of golf and what made you stay in the industry? My father was the one that got me into golf because he really wanted for me to have more opportunities when it came to college. I began playing competitive golf and age 12 and then I got a scholarship to play at UC Riverside. I got burnt out. That competitive streak just wasn’t in me so I transferred to UNLV for the PGA Management program. I did that for about six months, went through a couple tests, and failed the second one. I just never went back. I couldn’t find my passion there either, so I went back to competitive golf. This led to more of a social media journey with some of my friends…we started doing events together and building content. This went on for probably about three years. In terms of passion, even this still didn’t resonate with me. I feel like you know you’re passionate about something when you can’t stop thinking about it. Social media was never that for me. And now, after starting my own company, I feel like I finally found my passion. It’s something I go to sleep thinking about and wake up thinking about; it doesn’t feel like work.
III. What are some of things that go into starting a business? I’ll start from the beginning and how it came to socks. When I was 12, I had just started playing competitive golf and my mom wanted me to wear long sleeves and long pants when I played. We were bumping heads because she wanted me to protect my skin and I didn’t want to die of heat! We came to a compromise that I could wear a skirt if I could find the longest possible pair of socks. What started as sun protection became a fashion statement; I became known as “the sock girl.” I wanted to create a brand but it took me a long time to figure out what it was. I had sponsorship opportunities with sock companies but I could never really connect with their philosophies and products. This led me to starting my own brand. I started with a lot of R&D to find the perfect sock like what part of the foot needs blister protection and how do we make them odor resistant? I ended up finding this material made up of recycled plastic and used coffee grounds; the coffee founds make the sock odor resistant and moisture wicking. We launched originally as the best golf sock out there; now we’re known as the first planet-friendly performance sock.
IV. What is your vision for your company 10 years from now? I think golf will always be the roots of the company. Brian Smith, the founder of Ugg, I love his story and we were talking about it the other day—he said it’s so important to stay true to your roots. It’s what keeps the brand going because it’s so authentic. I think golf will always be a really big part of it, and I’m on the fence about whether I should take out the golf and through the power of storytelling, just tell people where the sock came from. But ultimately, I would like the brand to be the number one sustainable activewear brand in ten years. Activewear would be a very natural next step.
V. What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned throughout this journey? One of my favorite quotes is you will be surprised at how perfectly things fall into place when you let go of the illusion of control. That’s really huge. For a long time, I was very controlling of my future. I didn’t like not knowing. I’m not particularly religious but I do believe in the power of the universe and law of attraction. When you’re at your most powerful, everything will come to you much easier. You can’t control anything in life. You can only be the best version of yourself and if you keep working at it, good things will come. The second thing is to always stay positive. If you’re negative, you have no chance of succeeding. Your law of attraction is completely off and you’re really just repelling everything you want.
