Notebook: USGA Champion Hollis Stacy Happy As Official

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Fort Worth, Texas – Several faces have stood out on the Mira Vista course through the first two rounds.

No, they don't belong to players but to several walking Rules officials. Sound bizarre? Not really.

This week a cornucopia of accomplished amateur and professional players are dedicating their time during the championship. Some are retired from competitive golf. Others are not.

It's not limited to well-known players either. USGA agronomist Tim Moraghan, normally found consulting on course maintenance, was thrown into the fray when the Association came up short one Rules official.

“I love it,” said Moraghan, who has officiated before at other events. “I'm just applying the Rules of Golf, trying to help the girls.”

Jane Booth (1970, ‘72, '74 USA Curtis Cup teams), Mary Budke (1972 U.S. Women's Amateur champion and ‘74 Curtis Cup squad) and Martha Lang (1988 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur champion) are prominent amateur players involved.

Then there are the former professionals. Barbara Barrow, Cathy Mant and Hollis Stacy make up that contingency.

The most well-known of the bunch is unquestionably Stacy, who is officiating her third Girls' Junior. As the six-time USGA champion watched her career on the LPGA Tour wind down, the 50-year-old Stacy wanted to give something back to the sport. She firmly supports the USGA's charge of making the game less and less exclusionary.

“It's the least I can do,” said the sociable Stacy. “Golf gave so much to me.

“I just want to help do the right thing in golf. I never thought women's golf got a fair shake until the USGA got more involved. I wanted to be part of this to help make sure the girls do get a fair shake.”

Stacy's stature in the game is legendary. Put it this way: the U.S. Girls' Junior could be renamed the U.S. Hollis Stacy Championship and few could disagree. When she was 15 in 1969, she became the youngest player to win the event. She would triumph the next two years as well. To this day she still holds the record for most Girls' Junior titles won, with three.

Embarking on a professional career after being a part of the victorious 1972 Curtis Cup squad, Stacy joined the LPGA Tour in 1974.  In 1977 and 1978, she won back-to-back U.S. Women's Open championships before capturing one more in 1984. She stands second on the all-time Women's Open victory list.

A serious car accident during the 1988 season left her injured. But she later returned to post four top-five finishes before winning on the tour once more in 1991. She doesn't play much golf anymore, not even on the recreational level, saying that the competitive juices won't allow her to enjoy it.

Yet her legacy will forever be tied to the USGA titles. Asked about the differences between today's girl players versus the ones from her era, Stacy paused.

“The desire is equally as intense,” she said. “For me, the biggest difference is, one, the equipment is far superior than the equipment back then. The swings are better. Swing coaches have changed the shape of the swing.”

Booth, who played in the 1964 and 1965 Girls' Juniors, concurred. She was equally impressed but not surprised at the progression youth golf has followed.

“We had some good players but not the amounts of good players today,” said Booth. “Most players won at 16 or 17 years of age. None of them were 12, like today. We didn't have a Michelle Wie. Aree Song started it and [youth golf] has blossomed because of it.”

In 1999 Song, known then as Aree Wongluekiet, won the Girls' Junior at 13. She still remains the youngest person to win a USGA championship.

During her heyday as an adolescent golfer, Stacy estimated she shot in the mid 80s when she was 12. Plus, she competed in four to five events maximum per year, which isn't the case for the youth golfers of today.

Stacy believes that the influx of players getting involved at a younger age has mixed results on the game. On one hand, the competition pool is larger. But on the other, it also assists in sending the wrong signal, creating a false environment for those players who taste success early and think they should turn pro.

“What disappoints me is the kids thinking of going pro at a younger age,” said Stacy. “It's not surprising, but it is disappointing.”

As for her Girls' Junior record of three consecutive titles, Stacy has no qualms that the mark will one day fall.

“I think so,” she said. “It's out there, although there's a lot of competition. I say yes because I see younger players getting better.”

About Face

Talk about a turnaround. After shooting a heart-wrenching 8-over 79 in the first round of stroke play, 14-year-old Esther Choe made amends with a stellar 2-under 69 Tuesday to get into match play. Last year's quarterfinalist was one of six players to post under-par scores in the second round.

“Yesterday was terrible,” said Choe. “I really didn't do anything very well. But I made a few putts today and I just tried to play more shot by shot and stop thinking about stupid things.”

Choe's 10-stroke swing wasn't the best comeback. That belonged to 17-year-old Jessica Black who followed her 22-over 93 from Monday with a 13-stroke improvement.

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.

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