Brady Trying To Follow In Footsteps Of MomWestfield, N.J. — When Chris Brady captured the Trans-National Junior trophy two years ago, a familiar name jumped out at her. There under 1968 was Peggy Harmon. That might not mean much to most, but Chris recognized her mom’s maiden name right away.
“I didn’t even know that [she was on there] until I got the trophy,” said Brady. “I was like, ‘Mom, look.’ She was like, ‘Oh yeah, back in the day.’”
That same year, Harmon took home an even bigger possession, one that her daughter would desperately like to win this week at Echo Lake Country Club. You see, Harmon was the 1968 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. Her name sits with 52 others on the Glenna Collet Vare Trophy.
By Saturday, another person will be added to this trophy and Brady is one of 64 girls vying for this coveted honor when match play begins on Wednesday.
Should Brady advance through the draw and take the championship, she would make USGA history. No mother/daughter tandem has ever shared the Girls’ Junior championship. In fact, only one mother/daughter duo has ever won USGA championships — Kathy Cornelius (1956 U.S. Women’s Open) and Kay Cornelius (1981 Girls’ Junior).
Last year, Kemp Richardson joined his father, John, as father/son winners of the USGA Senior Amateur.
“That would be cool,” said the 17 year old from Apex, N.C., who also shares a spot on the North Carolina Women’s Amateur medalist trophy with mom. “It definitely would be awesome.
“The best thing about my mom being a champion is we get into U.S. Opens for free. You get a little pin, [a past champions badge]. We went to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst [in 1999].
In 2000, Peggy and Chris finished second and third, respectively, at the North Carolina Women’s Amateur, a stroke-play competition.
The elder Brady, however, has accomplished plenty in golf. In three U.S. Girls’ Junior appearances from 1966-68, she reached the quarters, the semis and the finals, the last being her title year. In 1967, she lost to eventual champion Elizabeth Story in the semis. She also advanced to match play seven times in the Women’s Amateur, with a quarterfinal showing in 1971 being her best.
“We’re all really proud of her,” said Chris Brady. “She’s the U.S. Girls’ champion, so she gets a lot of respect. But she’s still a mom, and you’ve got to listen to her when you don’t want to.”
On Sunday night, Chris snuck out to New York City with fellow competitor Blair Lamb to check out the sites. This came without her mom knowing. Brady went to all the hot spots, including Madison Square Garden and Ground Zero.
“She told me it’s a good thing you didn’t tell me ahead of time or I’d be worred sick,” Brady said of the conversation with mom a day after the visit.
As far as seeing the remnants of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Brady added: “It was just devastating. Even knowing that there are bodies still there, it’s just heartbreaking. We were there with a guy whose brother died. Looking at him, I’m sure it was hard to be there. It was just a wake-up call. You never know what’s going to happen. It tells you to live each day to the fullest.”
Brady appears to be doing that through the first two days of the Girls’ Junior. She posted rounds of 73 and 77 on the challenging 6,353-yard layout to finish at 4-over 150. Now comes to the tough part: match play. By Wednesday, everyone will start out fresh and Brady knows the vagaries of match play can take you out at any moment.
The key, she said, is just to play the golf course and not focus too much on the performance of her opponent.
“Some people change their whole strategy,” said Brady. “I’m not the type of person who can play against one person and just be like, ‘Hey I’m playing you.’ Or else my game revolves around the other person. I have to play the course.”
If that strategy holds and Brady can somehow maneuver her way through the difficult draw, she just might be taking that big trophy back home. The only hard evidence of her mom’s 1968 triumph is the gold medal she received, since the trophy is returned the following year. Chris said she has yet to see it, saying her mom has bunch of golf stuff stored away in a trunk at the family’s home.
So that medal just might have to come out of hibernation. And should she earn a place on the trophy, 24 spots below her mom, Chris will have to do one more thing with her mom — beat her in a match.
“I have never beaten her, no matter how bad she is playing” added Chris Brady.
But heck, not everything in life can be shared.
Story written by David Shefter, USGA. Shefter is the associate editor for Golf Journal.
