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Working Mom Life in the LPGA
Meet the woman who helps make LPGA working-mom life possible
Mondays on the LPGA Tour tend to be a little slow. Players, caddies and coaches are usually just arriving, often straight from the previous week’s venue. There generally aren’t any press conferences on the schedule, media presence is sparse and many players use the day as an offsite rest day.
Bu that’s not the case for Bardine May, who has served as the LPGA’s Child Development Center director for more than two decades. The LPGA’s daycare offering is unique in the world of professional women’s sports, as the tour is the only organization that provides childcare for its players and staff. The program is limited to tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, though it has traveled overseas for international Solheim Cups.
While Monday is the only day of the week that the center isn’t open to players, it’s still a work day for May — and a busy one at that. It involves setting up whatever space the tour has designated as that week’s childcare center to make it soothing, welcoming and engaging for the players’ children who will be in her care. Those kids range from newborns to school-age, and the week I visited, at the Ford Championship in Gilbert, Ariz., May was expecting to welcome two new babies whose mothers were fresh off of maternity leave.
“We have a lot of babies starting this year, which is nice,” May said. “We’re like a family. Our little ones really enjoy the older kids, and watching and learning from them. The olders kind of get annoyed with the youngers, but yet they like to help out and teach the young kids how to do things.”
May started her childcare career in Sioux Falls, S.D., where she managed a Bright Horizons branch at Citibank. In 2003, the LPGA became a Bright Horizons client, and May felt ready to try something new. At the time, she hadn’t traveled much — the flight to Chicago for her interview was her first time on a plane. But she got the job and embarked on what has become a 21-year tenure. It was good timing for May. A mom of three herself, her youngest was a senior in high school when she started with the LPGA. Now, May has six grandkids.
When May started in 2003, there were 27 kids in LPGA daycare and four staffers to care for them. Attendance ebbs and flows. By 2015, enrollment was down to two, and there was a question of whether or not the daycare would continue. But thanks to support from players like Cristie Kerr, the program endured. Today, enrollment is back up to 21 children.
This week, May and her two staffers were expecting nine children, all of whom come and go at various times, depending on mom’s competitive schedule. Each age group has a curriculum that May adheres to.
“We try to make it fun, yet learning activities,” she said. “So they’re ready to go to kindergarten.”
The story of the 7-iron Jordan Spieth used for hole-in-one
'Unusual' backstory about 7-iron Jordan Spieth used for hole-in-one
Golf has a funny way of rewarding proper preparation and attention to detail.
During the first round of the Valero Texas Open, Jordan Spieth made a hole-in-one at the 199-yard 16th hole.
A perfect line, with perfect distance. A perfect shot. But it almost didn’t happen at all.
In his press conference following the round, Spieth revealed that the Titleist T100 7-iron he used to hit the shot was the only new club in his bag.
“I like hitting my 7-iron, and so I've got it to where, when I'm testing my gaps, it like goes five yards too far in the gap," Spieth said. "I didn't know why. On Wednesday after the pro-am I was hitting on the back of the range, I had them just bring a brand new 7-iron for new grooves and it was up in the right spin window, so it knocked 4-5 yards off of it. If I didn't change 7-irons yesterday, then I wouldn't have made it. It's funny.”
Wait, why did he change just the 7-iron, and not the rest of his irons?
For a more in-depth answer, GolfWRX.com caught up with Spieth on Tuesday at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson 2024 event at TPC Craig Ranch.
According to Spieth, he and his coach Cameron McCormick often use even-numbered irons during their practice sessions together, but when Spieth practices alone, he opts for odd numbers.
And the odd-numbered iron he practices with most is the 7-iron; it isn’t completely uncommon to have a favorite practice club – Tiger Woods famously prefers to practice with his 8-iron – but for Spieth, it’s the 7.
“I hit my 7-iron a lot, especially on my own,” Spieth told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday.
Spieth is no stranger to long practice sessions, so, over time, he had worn the grooves down.
“The spin rates, relative to my 6-iron and my 8-iron, were lower, so it was going too far,” Spieth explained. “I was trying to figure out why, if it was something in the makeup of the iron. I got the lies and the lofts checked, and everything was fine. So finally I was like, ‘Can I just get a new one and see if it fixes it?’”
So, on Wednesday, the day before the start of the first round at the 2024 Valero Texas Open, Spieth recieved a new Titleist T100 7-iron, set to his usual specifications.
Then, on Thursday, he made a hole-in-one with it from 199 yards.
“Maybe there was one other time throughout my career where I changed just one iron, so it’s very unusual,” Spieth continued. “I think it’s just because the grooves were worn down from hitting it too much.”
For amateurs reading this story, there is a valuable takeaway here: While you most likely don’t practice as much as Spieth does – especially with the 7-iron – it’s still important to make sure to get your irons and wedges checked on a regular basis.
When the grooves wear down significantly on the face of a golf club, it reduces friction between the face and the ball at impact, which makes spin rates decrease and distance jump.
The first club to check is the wedge that you use most out of the bunker and around the greens, since that’ll be the first club in the bag to wear significantly. For reference, PGA TOUR players change out their lob or sand wedges about every 1-2 months.
The next club to check is the iron in your set that you use most at the driving range. Whether it’s a pitching wedge, an 8-iron like Woods, or a 7-iron like Spieth, you could actually be practicing with one club so much that it effects performance and needs a replacement.
If your golf ball isn’t hitting and spinning like it used to on the green, or you notice an oddity in flight/distance using your favorite club, it might be time for a change.
An even simpler trick to identify if the grooves are too worn is to run your fingernail down the face of the club in question: Does it feel like there are no grooves left, and the face is flat? If so, then your club has failed the fingernail test, and it’s time for a new club.
Just like Spieth, maybe it’s time to replace just one worn club, rather than the whole set.
And, just like Spieth, maybe golf will reward your preparation and attention to detail.
SOURCE: [pgatour.com]