| Andrews Loves Life, Golf and Pinehurst The Pilot - April 2003 |
By: HOWARD WARD
Donna Andrews loves life, loves golf and loves Pinehurst. If asked, she might have a hard time listing which comes first.
Taking a mini-break from the LPGA Tour, where her duties as president are detracting from what appears to be a resurgent
golf game, Andrews was in Pinehurst briefly during Masters week. She did some horseback riding, caught up with some
gossip with her close friend Cricket Gentry, and brought the house down as guest speaker at the annual Tin Whistles Awards
Dinner.
“I love to come home,” Andrews said. “The time I spend with friends and my horses mean more to me than any tournament I’
ve won. It’s time that helps me put my life and the game I play in perspective.”
Andrews was elected president of the LPGA late last year for what was supposed to be a one-year term. But recent changes
in the by-laws have turned that into a two-year term. History has shown that sitting presidents don’t normally have banner
playing years.
“I’ve had to work on my time management,” Andrews said, “but one of the benefits of being president is the people you get to
meet. I’m hoping to get my game back in shape.”
There have already been some exciting events happening within the Tour during her brief reign, including the announcement
by Annika Sorenstam that she would play in the PGA Tour’s Colonial Invitational next month and the controversy over LPGA
Commissioner Ty Votaw dating player Sophie Gustafson. Andrews is delighted over one and downplays the other.
“I’m proud of Annika for deciding to play in the Colonial,” she said. “Annika’s doing it for all the right reasons. She’s doing it to
challenge herself.
“Let’s face it; we weren’t challenging her enough on the Tour. She won 11 tournaments last year. I told the girls we needed to
step it up so she doesn’t have to go somewhere else for a challenge.”
As for Votaw and Gustafson, Andrews thinks it’s a no-call.
“The board brought it up, and we decided there is no conflict of interest,” she said.
One thing that is of interest, though, is the apparent dominance of foreign players on the LPGA Tour. Sorenstam is Swedish,
Karrie Webb is Australian, Se Ri Pak is Korean. The list goes on.
“First it was the Swedish players,” Andrews said, “then the Japanese and now the Koreans. We’re going to have to get our
little butts in gear to keep up with them.
“The advantage they have is that they can go to schools in their countries that prepare them for the Tour. It’s an all-day affair
that’s the equivalent of the David Leadbetter School of Golf. They come out of it as teen-agers who are mentally and physically
prepared.”
Andrews started young, too.
“I learned to play at the age of 9,” she said. “A friend and I played in a tournament, and she came in last and I was next-to-last.
I said, ‘This is what I want to do for a living,’ and she thought I was crazy. Maybe she was right. Now she’s a banker and I’m a
professional golfer.
“I was a tomboy growing up [in Lynchburg, Va.] and played golf with the boys from their tees. When I got to college [University
of North Carolina], I didn’t find it that hard. I was used to being outdriven by 35 or 40 yards.”
That wasn’t nearly as unsettling as being outdriven that much by a 13-year-old girl in the Kraft Nabisco, though.
“Annika is the best on our Tour, but look out for Michelle Wie,” Andrews said. “She’s only 13, but she has everything going for
her. After seeing her play, I think she’s going to be the one to watch.”
Wie is from Hawaii, but she is more than 6 feet tall and hits her driver more than 300 yards on occasion. She competed in the
2000 U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinx Championship at Legacy Links Golf Club in Aberdeen as a 10-year-old, and with the
18th hole playing as a par-5, she reached the green in two shots.
Donna Andrews loves life, loves golf and loves Pinehurst. If asked, she might have a hard time listing which comes first.
Taking a mini-break from the LPGA Tour, where her duties as president are detracting from what appears to be a resurgent
golf game, Andrews was in Pinehurst briefly during Masters week. She did some horseback riding, caught up with some
gossip with her close friend Cricket Gentry, and brought the house down as guest speaker at the annual Tin Whistles Awards
Dinner.
“I love to come home,” Andrews said. “The time I spend with friends and my horses mean more to me than any tournament I’
ve won. It’s time that helps me put my life and the game I play in perspective.”
Andrews was elected president of the LPGA late last year for what was supposed to be a one-year term. But recent changes
in the by-laws have turned that into a two-year term. History has shown that sitting presidents don’t normally have banner
playing years.
“I’ve had to work on my time management,” Andrews said, “but one of the benefits of being president is the people you get to
meet. I’m hoping to get my game back in shape.”
There have already been some exciting events happening within the Tour during her brief reign, including the announcement
by Annika Sorenstam that she would play in the PGA Tour’s Colonial Invitational next month and the controversy over LPGA
Commissioner Ty Votaw dating player Sophie Gustafson. Andrews is delighted over one and downplays the other.
“I’m proud of Annika for deciding to play in the Colonial,” she said. “Annika’s doing it for all the right reasons. She’s doing it to
challenge herself.
“Let’s face it; we weren’t challenging her enough on the Tour. She won 11 tournaments last year. I told the girls we needed to
step it up so she doesn’t have to go somewhere else for a challenge.”
As for Votaw and Gustafson, Andrews thinks it’s a no-call.
“The board brought it up, and we decided there is no conflict of interest,” she said.
One thing that is of interest, though, is the apparent dominance of foreign players on the LPGA Tour. Sorenstam is Swedish,
Karrie Webb is Australian, Se Ri Pak is Korean. The list goes on.
“First it was the Swedish players,” Andrews said, “then the Japanese and now the Koreans. We’re going to have to get our
little butts in gear to keep up with them.
“The advantage they have is that they can go to schools in their countries that prepare them for the Tour. It’s an all-day affair
that’s the equivalent of the David Leadbetter School of Golf. They come out of it as teen-agers who are mentally and physically
prepared.”
Andrews started young, too.
“I learned to play at the age of 9,” she said. “A friend and I played in a tournament, and she came in last and I was next-to-last.
I said, ‘This is what I want to do for a living,’ and she thought I was crazy. Maybe she was right. Now she’s a banker and I’m a
professional golfer.
“I was a tomboy growing up [in Lynchburg, Va.] and played golf with the boys from their tees. When I got to college [University
of North Carolina], I didn’t find it that hard. I was used to being outdriven by 35 or 40 yards.”
That wasn’t nearly as unsettling as being outdriven that much by a 13-year-old girl in the Kraft Nabisco, though.
“Annika is the best on our Tour, but look out for Michelle Wie,” Andrews said. “She’s only 13, but she has everything going for
her. After seeing her play, I think she’s going to be the one to watch.”
Wie is from Hawaii, but she is more than 6 feet tall and hits her driver more than 300 yards on occasion. She competed in the
2000 U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinx Championship at Legacy Links Golf Club in Aberdeen as a 10-year-old, and with the
18th hole playing as a par-5, she reached the green in two shots.