Tips and Trips for Women Taking Lessons
Advice for Parents of Potential Golfers
Almost Losing the Dog at Her Host Family’s House in Michigan
By Tom Lang
If you ever get a chance to talk with pro golfer Nancy Lopez, she won’t ever spend that time telling you why she’s in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Her game on the golf course spoke for itself, with 48 LPGA Tour wins, including nine of them in her rookie season of 1978 at age 20.
Lopez won three career majors and was runner up four times at the U.S. Women’s Open – the first time as an 18-year-old amateur. She’s well known for almost always playing with a pep in her step and a smile on her face – which is why she’s promoted golf all her life with the phrase – Play Happy.
In fact, when she earned national runner up in the 1975 U.S. Women’s Open, just weeks after finishing high school, many people urged her to skip college and go straight to the pros.
“It looked great that everyone was getting free golf balls and clubs and they had these really nice golf bags and really nice outfits,” she told me about how she pondered her pro future while still a teenager. “But even at that age, I asked myself, ‘Are they even happy?’
“I had to answer that question on my own and I really didn’t know if they were happy. So, after high school I needed college because I just didn’t feel ready to try the Tour. I felt I got myself more prepared to go to the Tour, and thank God, it was a good decision.”
After earning the trio of LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1978, the New Mexico native followed it up with eight more Tour wins in ‘79, which should have been her senior year in college at Tulsa (where she won the college national championship). She was taking classes to become an engineer but after two seasons it was time to make the jump.
Once on Tour, there were many stops in East Lansing for the Oldsmobile Classic. It was played throughout the 1990s, more on the backend of her career (she retired in 2002, with three children at home).
Lopez was an Oldsmobile ambassador. Like many players today still do, she stayed with a local family – Chuck (and Olds executive) and Diane Strong. Her funniest memory was dog sitting for them. She let the dog outside as they asked, then forgot about him.
“I went outside and couldn’t find the dog anywhere, and I didn’t even know the dog’s name,” Lopez told me with still a hint of exasperation all these years later. “So, I couldn’t really call him. It was Fuzzy or Duffy, something like that. So, I’m outside yelling out names like Duffy, Muffy, Buffy; I just kept yelling that.
“Then I got in the Oldsmobile car they gave us to use for the week and drove around screaming for this dog. I got back to their house and the neighbors said, are you looking for the Strong’s dog? They said he’s on the front porch. That dog was like their family and oh my gosh, if he’d gotten killed or lost, I would never…I’d have just been crazy. That’s my biggest memory of tournament week.” (Note: we talked more and determined the dog’s name was likely Duffy, for the former legendary MSU football coach Duffy Daugherty.
Lopez’s Advice for Parents:
“I’ve talked to a lot of kids, and you know right away the parents who are tough to deal with. The ones who think their kids are perfect and want them to be that perfect golfer…. And that’s not going to happen,” she said.
“Golf is a tough sport, and my message to all those parents is let your child fail. But be there to give them a helping hand back up. Encourage them. So many kids, and even on the LPGA Tour, the parents are really hard on these players. Then they don’t play well and the parents will ask them what happened with you? Why did you do this? Why did you do that?
“My dad, he let me fail. He knew I was trying to give 100 percent to do my best and that’s what he always told me. Give 100 percent, and if you did, you should never feel disappointed that you didn’t win, or you didn’t shoot even par or whatever,” Lopez added.
“That’s what my dad taught me. Never give up. He also told me that golf is a very tough game, and that I was going to lose a lot more than I would win. And he wasn’t saying it as a negative. He said to accept losing because it’s going to happen. And that you have to be a good loser as well as a good winner.”
Advice for Women Learning Golf:
Lopez frequently challenges women to just try golf once, to learn if you like it or don’t. Don’t wait forever to take a professional lesson to help in the decision-making process.
“When women try it and like it, the important thing is to get a lesson,” Lopez recommended. “And not from their husband, but get a good lesson so they pick up the good habits. Don’t pick up the bad habits by their husband teaching them.
“It doesn’t have to be a female instructor, just someone you’re comfortable with. There are a lot of great female instructors all over the country, so try a female first if you think that’s more comfortable. Female or male, when taking the first lesson, they should say, ‘I’m just trying out different teachers’ so when they take that lesson they don’t feel obligated to come back. Make that statement first. You don’t want to feel stuck with that one person or make them feel bad.
“I think it’s good to teach from the green and go backwards. Start with putting and chipping, then move further away from the green. When you start on the green and get some putts into the hole, that’s exciting. And chipping is fun because you might knock it in. That’s always a feel good.”
Get Outdoors, Play Happy:
Lopez said that for women especially, because they give up so much of their life to their families, they need to go out on the golf course for some peace of mind and to recharge.
“Maybe some afternoon, ask your husband to watch the kids for an hour or two, so you can go out to the course where it’s quiet. Where you can enjoy the sunshine and the smell of the cut grass. Recharge – so you can be a better mom and wife.
“I think most women, we feel guilty doing anything for ourselves. I was in that boat too, and I think sometimes the only way we’ll be happy too is if we take care of ourselves and do something for us once and a while.”
Lopez remains active today with her four grandchildren, serving on the Board of Directors for Folds of Honor, and running her travel and golf lessons business called Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures. Instead of opening a teaching studio in one location, she and partners/LPGA professional instructors Teresa Zamboni and Sue Powers take it on the road. The format is multiple-day on-location trips to resorts in a variety of states, plus Ireland, Scotland, the Bahamas and more. Even to the 2028 Solheim Cup is planned.
“The way I wanted to give back to women was to teach them, give them the opportunity to feel more confident when they went on the golf course and not feel intimidated,” she said. “We have men too. Sometimes husbands come along and a few men will join us. But the main goal is for women to enjoy the game.”
While maybe a 3-5 day trip away doesn’t fit your budget or current lifestyle, Lopez will always say to get outside and try something new, which could be golf. Do it for yourself, for your health, for your peace of mind.
And always play happy.
