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 Sandra Palmer competed on the LPGA Tour for more than 30 years. Since her retirement, Palmer has been teaching and passing on some of the wisdom she received from legendary instructor Harvey Penick. This winter, the former U.S. Women’s Open champion will leave Seattle, where she teaches at Sahalee Country Club, to be a resident instructor at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo through March. We caught up with Palmer, 62, to talk about Penick, her competitive spirit, and the issues affecting the next generation of LPGA stars. What brings you to Southern California? To teach at Arroyo Trabuco and escape the winter weather in Seattle. Also, after school starts, a lot of members leave for the desert communities. I didn’t have the luxury of making the big bucks like tour players do now, so I teach. (Palmer won a little more than $76,000 to finish on top of the LPGA money list in 1975.) What parts of Harvey Penick’s teaching do you incorporate? We all pick out the bad things we do, so I try to get people thinking about the good things they do. Also, like him, I like to help beginners, because the foundation is so important. He was a big proponent of the fundamentals. I was present when Harvey shot the Little Red Video with Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. It was the first time the two of them were together while Harvey watched them hit balls. He didn’t believe in having others around while another student was getting a lesson because he knew you’d go off and try it yourself. Golfers have rabbit ears, they want quick fixes. I try to keep that in mind. Harvey never used video, do you? Yes. There are things I cannot see. How did your size (she is 5-feet-1-inch tall) affect your game? I worked out before anybody else did. I used to take a stationary bike with me in my room to keep my legs strong. Harvey told me to put some weighted washers around my club and swing that to build my golf muscles. I was very accurate because of my size and I try to pass that on to my students. But you can tell people that 65 percent of their shots are played from 75 yards in and what do they do? Grab their driver. This year the Women’s Senior Tour held just three events. How do you satisfy your competitive drive when there aren’t opportunities for you to compete? First of all, they need to change the name of the tour, because the age requirement is 44. I think it’s a little degrading. I don’t have time to hit a lot of balls, and I know that’s what it takes to play well. Every time I go to one of those events I tell myself if I’m going to do this I need to practice because people expect you to play like you did 20 years ago. Right now my goals are to pass on my knowledge to people, especially course management, an area of my game where I really excelled. I’d also like to play well enough that I don’t embarrass myself when I play with people. Women’s golf is starting to resemble tennis and other sports where teen-agers skip college and turn professional. Is this a good thing? It’s so individual. I like to see people complete their education and be well-rounded, but man, if you had the chance to make money like Michelle [Wie]… I doubt she’ll go to Stanford. I don’t know how she could keep up with her studies. Outside of the money, what’s the biggest difference between the LPGA now and when you were on tour? The equipment and physical condition of the players — and the endorsements. Our opportunities were very different than what they have today. David Foster, the chief executive of Colgate-Palmolive, put together a group of about 12 LPGA players and we got paid to travel to Asia to play in events and with customers of his company. Should women play on the PGA Tour? I think Annika’s already answered that. She’s the best player in the world and has said, “I know where I belong.” David Leadbetter thinks Michelle can compete against men. He said there is a different sound when she hits the ball than any woman he’s ever been around. I hope she focuses on women more than the men. How are you going to spend your time when you’re not teaching? I hope I’m going to be too busy to do anything else! 1941 The year she was born, in Fort Worth, Texas. 13 Age she started playing golf. 1964 Year she became a member of the LPGA Tour. 19 Number of tournaments she won on Tour. 2 Number of major championship titles (1972 Titleholders Championship, 1975 U.S. Open). 1975 Year she topped the money list and was named LPGA Player of the Year. 1.3 million Career earnings on the LPGA Tour. 4 Number of wins at the Sprint Senior Challenge (1991-'95). |
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