The IX: Golf Thursday with Carly Grenfell, September 19, 2019
By The IX Team
Solheim Cup reflections — Interview with Haley Moore — Must-click links in women's golf
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A Fairytale Finish in Scotland
I still have goosebumps from the Solheim Cup.
I was actually going back through my Twitter to see what I favorited over the weekend for the Tweet of the Week and it brought back all the feels again! I hope you watched at some point, and if you didn’t, I hope you saw all the buzz on social media about what an incredible weekend it ended up being. I honestly think it’s safe to say that the 2019 Solheim Cup will probably be one of the best in its history.
Why? One, because for the first time ever, it came down to the last putt on the last hole. In match play, it doesn’t always make it to the 18th if you are up enough points. But to make it even better, it came down to Suzann Pettersen. A lot of people criticized Catriona Matthew (Europe Captain) for picking Pettersen when she had been out of the game for nearly 18 months after having her first child. I will admit even I was a little bit skeptical! The Solheim Cup has some added pressure and adrenaline, so to not pick someone in peak form seemed really interesting.
Pettersen definitely shut up all the haters and doubters. She drained her putt on the 18th to win the Solheim Cup for Europe (with her husband and son there to see it) and almost right after, said she was retiring from the game of golf. Can you blame her!?!? What a way to bow out. I tweeted this after she did that and I’ll say it again — you literally couldn’t script a better ending.
I think being a Solheim Cup Captain is definitely in her future. I actually am not sure if there are requirements in writing for what you have to do to be considered for the Captaincy, but I think she’d be perfect for 2021. You know that 2019 is going to be talked about and used to build up the excitement for 2021, so why not have her involved in some way?
She’s a cold-blooded competitor and has obviously seen and experienced a lot in her golf career. I think if you can sink the winning putt at a Solheim Cup, when you’ve been pretty removed from playing for that long, is insane. Her mentality shined in that moment especially. I think most always knew she was a fierce competitor, but that will always be what sealed it for her. What a legend.
It was a tight all week and I think Europe only ever led by one point at the most. The Americans were actually favored to win, despite having a very young team, so I was trying to figure out what really was the difference for Europe. I think part of it was definitely having the home crowd behind them. I also think Europe was a really close-knit team months before Solheim even started. While Suzann was definitely the highlight and is being talked about the most, rookies Bronte Law and Anne van Dam were also X factors. I’m not sure the United States had as much swagger as Europe—so maybe that was difference!
Obviously it’s much easier to talk about the winning team, but I will say the United States was incredibly classy in their defeat. It was absolutely a win for women’s golf as a whole because of how much excitement it brought. I would like to think that this will help people like Mike Whan, LPGA Commissioner, to get even more support for these players—whether that be in sponsors, purse money, or overall exposure—to the next level. I was in awe at the scenes on the first tee. As someone who was at the 2018 Ryder Cup, it looked exactly the same. That’s big time.
I can’t wait for 2021, that’s for sure.
Announcing The IX’s Civil Boost!
We’re extremely honored that Civil chose us for its first Boost, a fundraising pathway to help fund vital newsroom projects. This one is straightforward: travel costs to send me to the WNBA Finals. You’ll get daily podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras and both original reporting and the amplifying of others doing the good work on the scene. More details, and how to give, are available here:
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
My podcast is alive again! Check out the latest episode of Fairway Tales.
Check out Golf Channel’s Alexandra O’Laughlin’s new YouTube show.
There were no losers in the Solheim Cup.
Karen Stupples is making her Senior Major Championship debut.
Dramatic Solheim Cup ending defies what too many believe about women’s sport.
Some wonderful behind-the-scenes content about this club repair tech.
Yealimi Noh became very close to her first LPGA victory.
After Solheim euphoria, Caroline Hedwell looks to defend her title in France.
Farm kid wins U.S. Kids World Golf Championship.
The impact of Brittany Altomare at Shrewsbury High.
Wake Forest Women’s Golf recipe for success.
Justin Silverstein’s unique approach brings out the best in USC women’s golf.
Tweet of the Week
Five at The IX: Haley Moore
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the remarkable journey of Haley Moore and the steps she’s taking to become a professional golfer. If your memory needs refreshed, here are a couple articles to get you up to speed. Here was one of the first stories on her and here is the most recent from Golfweek that talked about the fundraiser. I reached out to Haley to get her perspective on the outpouring of support! Enjoy.
I: How did the idea to start a GoFundMe page come about?
I had heard at first that it is very hard for a rookie to start making their way to the LPGA with the costs of all the Q-School entry fees and then all the travel expenses, and playing on mini tours to start earning. The money being earned from the mini tours isn’t enough to help pay for the first stage of Q-School expenses. I wanted to start this GoFundMe as a way to try and offset some of the expenses. I had seen that some other golfers had pages, so I figured why not give it a try.
II: Did you think you would surpass your goal of $30,000 this quickly?
No. I thought it would take off pretty quickly which it did. Once it started to slow down, I decided to do a few of the giveaways to try and generate more interest. After the Golfweek article, I figured I would get enough to take care of stage 2, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get $15000 in 24 hours, and then surpass my goal in 4 days.
III: What do these donations and the outpouring of support mean to you?
It is more than I ever could have imagined. I had no idea that my story would resonate with so many others. Hearing there are others out there like me make it so worth it. I hope that my story has helped to inspire others. There have also been emails from people who want to help me in ways other than money. I have had hotel points donated to me, and flights paid for with air miles from other donors.
IV: What does the rest of your Q-school journey look like from here – how much longer do you have and what will it take to get your LPGA card?
I am currently practicing for stage 2 which is October 14-17 in Venice Florida. About the top 40 and ties will advance to the Q-series which starts October 21st and is in Pinehurst North Carolina. The top 45 players from the Q-series will receive their LPGA card for 2020. My goal is to be one of the 45 players to receive full LPGA status for next year.
V: In what ways will this fundraiser help advance your golf career?
This fundraiser has gotten my name out there to potential sponsors. Having sponsors will allow me to offset the expenses of the weekly tournaments. Even though I will have status (whether LPGA or Symetra), I am still responsible for all of my expenses. If I miss a cut I do not get any payout for the week yet, I still have to pay my entry fee, hotel, car, food, and caddy. The fundraiser has gotten not only my name, but my story out to people who may have similar circumstances and experiences and they want to help. Seeing all of the positive responses has been a huge motivator for me to play well each and every time I tee it up.
