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1. Kellee Booth: “Now It’s Time For Me To Step Away”
Whenever she is introduced on the first tee at professional tournaments, KELLEE BOOTH’s list of accomplishments could go on forever. As one of the most decorated amateurs and collegians in women’s golf, Booth, a nine-year professional, has regularly nodded when fans and media have asked, “Are you that Kellee Booth?”
Indeed, she is.
But for the native Californian, that long, sparkling resume has been both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing in that she loved every minute of her amateur career – one in which, among her many honors, she won 18 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) victories, four major women’s amateur crowns, was a two-time member of the U.S. Curtis Cup Team and World Amateur Team (1996, 1998), a four-time All-American and three-time Academic All-American while at Arizona State University, a member of three NCAA Championship women’s golf teams and the individual runner-up at the 1996 NCAA Championship.
It has been a curse in that her professional career on the LPGA Tour and the Duramed FUTURES Tour never quite stacked up to her glowing amateur accolades. In fact, Booth only won one full-field professional tournament, and that was as an amateur at the 1999 Pacific Bell FUTURES Classic in Riverside, Calif. She was the last amateur to win a Duramed FUTURES Tour tournament.
“I think that was more of a test for me,” said Booth, 32, who now lives in McKinney, Texas. “I was trying to measure myself against the professionals out there.”
Booth’s preparation for the pros was right on target. As an amateur, anyone who faced her knew they were in for a fight against a player who made few errors on the course and had a champion’s short game. She was groomed to excel as the daughter of former Arizona State University star Jane Bastanchury – winner of the 1969 AIAW Championship (which preceded the NCAA Championship). True to form, Booth showed up for the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 1999 and carded four rounds of 70 to finish as medalist, earning full LPGA status for the 2000 season.
That rookie season, she finished 46th on the LPGA’s money list and posted three top-10 finishes, including a tie for 10th at the Women’s British Open and a tie for seventh at the Safeway LPGA Golf Championship.
“Things were going in the right direction and everything was great that year,” said Booth.
The next season, Booth began to experience nagging injuries. She still posted two top-10 finishes, but at a tournament in Tulsa, she experienced a sharp pain in her shoulder when some thick Bermuda rough grabbed her club on her follow-through, jerking her upper body at a sharp angle. That’s when she first noticed a stinging sensation running down her arm. Several weeks later, while playing at Augusta National Golf Club, she hit a root with her club that really rang her chimes.
Booth saw doctors and was diagnosed with tendonitis in her left shoulder. She rested it, went to rehab and tried to strengthen the shoulder, but the injury persisted for another two years. She played in only seven LPGA tournaments in 2002, missing the cut in each, and filed for a medical exemption.
At the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge, she heard a “crack” in her shoulder and immediately felt pain. Booth withdrew from the Open due to injury.
“That was hard, very hard,” she said. “I almost felt like I was a distraction out there because every swing was a struggle.”
The Open was her 11th tournament of the 2003 season, so she had played too many LPGA tournaments to file for a medical exemption. Now, doctors were talking about surgery. And now, Booth was not only trying to tune out an annoying “click” in her shoulder, but she also was fighting a sinking confidence level on the course. Returning to LPGA Q-School that fall, she played poorly and lost her LPGA status.
“I was devastated, but I was more worried about what they would find when I had surgery,” said Booth.
Booth underwent surgery in November 2003. Doctors found scar tissue on the bicep tendon. The scar tissue would inflame and the tissue would hit the nerve, causing discomfort. That was the physical part of the problem. The residual effect was the mental effect the injury had on her – a fear that she had never known as an amateur.
Booth returned to LPGA Q-School in 2004, but did not advance out of sectionals. She turned to the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2005 and posted three top-10s in 17 events, but once again, she didn’t play well at LPGA Q-School that fall.
She played in 19 tournaments on the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2006, posting four top-10 finishes and a season-best tie for fourth. Booth could feel some of her old fire coming back.
“The desire to compete was there and it felt like I was getting back into it,” she said. “I went into [LPGA] Q-School with high hopes, but it was like, ‘Who is this person?’ It was almost like it was my evil twin playing out there.”
Booth failed to earn LPGA status in 2006 and returned to the Duramed FUTURES Tour in 2007. She played in 19 tournaments, making only eight cuts and posting one top-10 finish. The Kellee Booth with the sparkling resume on the first tee seemed far removed from the Kellee Booth who was now wrestling with the juxtaposition of her past and her future.
“That shoulder injury set her back,” said fellow Duramed FUTURES Tour member CHRISTINE BOUCHER of Quebec, Canada. “I know she’s disappointed with the way she’s been playing. She’s a great player. This hasn’t happened for a lack of skills.”
Booth began working in the off-season for Toll Brothers selling houses in their Dallas sales office. Even entering into the 2008 season, she didn’t feel fully prepared for competition. Making only one cut in 14 events this year, Booth walked away from the scoring tent at the last regular-season event earlier this month with a heavy heart. She had finished the year ranked 113th on the money list. Her scoring average hovered around 76.6 strokes per round. Deep in her champion’s heart, she knew what she needed to do.
“Now it’s time for me to step away,” she said, her dark eyes full of tears in Albany, N.Y. “It’s been a big struggle. I found that this year, my good shots weren’t working anymore. All season, I feel like I’ve dug myself into holes that I couldn’t get out of.”
Booth doesn’t know what happened to the game that once seemed destined for professional greatness. She admits the injury “put a lot of doubt” into her mind. Suddenly, she was seeing places on the golf course that she’d never seen. Suddenly, she was shooting scores she had not shot since the early days of junior golf.
“It’s not that I stopped believing – I just lost my desire to compete,” she added. “The fun was taken out of the game.”
Gone were the years of ease when she proudly earned her spot on the dynasty Arizona State teams that included GRACE PARK, Wendy Ward, HEATHER (BOWIE) YOUNG and Emilee Klein. Former Sun Devils coach Linda Vollstedt, whose teams won six NCAA Championships in the 1990s, always knew she could count on Booth to produce when the team needed a good score.
“Kellee was probably the most consistent player I ever had on the team for all four years and she was the true student-athlete,” said Vollstedt, who served 21 years as ASU’s head women’s golf coach and is now a development director in athletics at the university. “She really understood the game because she was reared in it. She was golf savvy.”
And while Booth was never able to match her professional career against her amateur years, she has no regrets.
“I’d still do it the same way,” she said. “I’d tell young people to go to college. I’d tell them professional golf is not for everybody. Maybe I’ll try to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open and the Texas State Open, but right now, I need to step away. I feel too fizzled out.”
Booth says she is now in the “exploring” stage of her career. She is interested in staying in the golf industry, perhaps as a sales rep, or working in junior or amateur golf.
“I could even see Kellee getting her amateur status back and playing amateur golf again,” said Vollstedt. “She loves golf and she loves to be around competition. I certainly hope that she doesn’t see herself as a failure. She gave it her best shot and as long as you do that, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
While it’s hard for Booth to hide her disappointment, there is no shame. And even through tears, she admits having a sense of “excitement to do something new.”
Only time will tell, but did Kellee Booth’s past create a future for the player?
“My name is still out there and people who have enough golf knowledge will probably remember my name,” she said.
Her name, and her mile-long resume that told a story of her impressive journey in the game.
2. Eighty-six Tour Members In LPGA Q-School Field
A total of 86 Duramed FUTURES Tour members will be in the field this week for the first of two LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournaments. This week’s event will be staged Tuesday through Friday at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif. The field of 164 players includes 64 international players and 99 players from the United States and Puerto Rico.
Among the Tour’s members in the California sectional is SAMANTHA RICHDALE of Kelowna, British Columbia, who just missed advancing directly into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Richdale finished 17th on the Tour’s season money list, just missing the last direct pass into Q-School Finals that was awarded to 16th-ranked STEPHANIE OTTESON of Wilson, N.C.
Rather than focusing on her disappointment of not skipping the sectional stage of qualifying, Richdale said she was focusing on going to this year’s LPGA Q-School after her career-best season on the Duramed FUTURES Tour.
“I’m a little more confident with my swing and I feel more prepared for this one than I ever have,” said Richdale, who won her first Tour event this year in Gettysburg, Pa. “I’ve got Paul [Maggiore] with me this year and before, I didn’t have a caddie. And I’ve been working with my new coach for just over a year, so things feel a lot smoother.”
This will be Richdale’s third attempt in LPGA Q-School. She says she likes the challenging Mission Hills course.
“It plays long, but I like it,” she added.
In addition to Richdale, other top-20 finishers on the 2008 Duramed FUTURES Tour who are in this week’s field include 17th-ranked CHELLA CHOI of Seoul, South Korea, and JENNY SUH of Fairfax, Va., who finished 20th on the money list.
Headlining the field this week will be Duramed FUTURES Tour member STACY LEWIS of The Woodlands, Texas, and Hawaii’s Michelle Wie – each making their first attempt to qualify for the LPGA Tour.
The 72-hole sectional tournament will be played on the Palmer and Dinah Shore Courses at Mission Hills. The field will be cut to the low-70 players and ties after 36 holes. The top 30 players and ties will advance from the sectional into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, set for Dec. 3-7, at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The second LPGA Tour Sectional Qualifying Tournament will be held Sept. 30 through Oct. 3, at Plantation Golf and Country Club’s Bobcat and Panther Courses in Venice, Fla. The top-30 finishers and ties from the Florida qualifier also will advance into the LPGA Q-School finals. Qualifiers from the two sectional tournaments will join current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their priority standing, as well as members of the 2008 Duramed FUTURES Tour who finished sixth through 15 on the Tour’s season-ending money list.
Seventh-ranked LEAH WIGGER of Louisville is a 2008 LPGA member and would automatically return to the LPGA’s Final Q-School, which enabled the Tour to skip Wigger and go to the next available players who are not already LPGA Tour members. A total of 10 players from the top 16 pros on the season money list, minus Wigger, will advance directly into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.
Visit LPGA.com and duramedfuturestour.com this week to follow the daily results of the California Sectional Qualifier.
3. Angela Stanford Earns Second LPGA Victory
Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna ANGELA STANFORD of Texas, earned her second career victory last week at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala. Stanford carded rounds of 70-67-67-73 to win by one shot at 277 (-11) at The Crossings course at Magnolia Grove on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. It was her first win since the 2003 ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey.
Tour alums DANIELLE DOWNEY (70) of Spencerport, N.Y., and KATHERINE HULL (73) of Queensland, Australia finished tied for fourth at 281 (-7).
SARAH-JANE KENYON of Queensland, Australia, made a beeline to Alabama after winning the final Duramed FUTURES Tour event in Albany, N.Y., earning full status on the 2009 LPGA Tour. But the road-weary Aussie handled the previous week’s excitement well and rode her momentum to a tie for 16th at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. Kenyon carded rounds of 73-69-71-72 for a finish at 285 (-3), worth a paycheck of $17,500.
Here are the top-10 Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae finishers in last week’s Bell Micro LPGA Classic:
1. ANGELA STANFORD 277 (-11), $210,000; T-4 DANIELLE DOWNEY and KATHERINE HULL, 281 (-7), $58,917 each; T-7 MOLLIE FANKHAUSER and KRISTY MCPHERSON, 282 (-6), $35,117 each; T-10 NICOLE CASTRALE, ANNA RAWSON, H.J. CHOI, REILLEY RANKIN and CRISTIE KERR, 284 (-4), $23,987 each.
Check out scores of other Duramed FUTURES Tour alumnae on LPGA.com at last week's inaugural Bell Micro LPGA Classic at Magnolia Grove Golf Course on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Mobile, Ala.
The LPGA Tour will be idle this week.
4. Alumna Laura Davies Defends Title In Europe
Duramed FUTURES Tour alumna LAURA DAVIES of Great Britain successfully defended her Ladies European Tour title last week in Austria at Golf Club Fohrenwald in Wiener Neustadt. The veteran professional fired a 4-under-par final-round score of 68 in chilly conditions to finish at 273 (-15), three strokes ahead of compatriot LISA HALL of Stoke-on-Trent, England, also an alumna of the Duramed FUTURES Tour. Hall carded rounds of 69-69-70-68 for a 276 total.
Davies said last week’s win will be helpful as she attempts to earn Solheim Cup points to make the European side for the 2009 Solheim Cup.
5. Last Duramed FUTURES Tour Event Set For October
The 2008 Duramed FUTURES Tour regular season is complete, but players who finished in the top 70 on the season money list will be invited to compete in the elite-field Georgia Invitational next month. The inaugural event will be held Oct. 17-19, at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort in Braselton, Ga. It will be the Tour’s first-ever $150,000 tournament and the format will feature a 54-hole, no-cut event on The Chateau Course, a par-71 championship course designed by Denis Griffiths in 1989.
Watch for more details in October on duramedfuturestour.com about this season-ending event. The Tour’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors will be presented following the Georgia Invitational tournament.
The Duramed FUTURES Tour is idle until next month’s Georgia Invitational.
6. Quote Of The Week
“(The shower) felt great. I didn’t get that [with my] first win in 2003.”
-LPGA Tour member and Duramed FUTURES Tour alum ANGELA STANFORD of Texas, regarding being sprayed with champagne by fellow Tour members after her win last week.
Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, 386-274-6216, or lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.
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