USGA and women sports heroes inspire girls to golf

Rebecca Lobo speaks to junior golfers at 2009 U.S. Women’s Open clinic

(Copyright USGA/John Mummert)

What better way to boost interest in women's golf than by letting girls get up close and personal with professional women golfers?

Indeed, for girls seeking women sports figures as role models, this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Saucon Valley Country Club (Bethlehem, PA) is the place to be. From Paula Creamer throwing out the first pitch at a recent Philadelphia Phillies baseball game to elementary school kids “adopting” U.S. Women’s Open golfers, the USGA is immersing the Lehigh Valley in women’s golf.

Before first-round play on Thursday, the USGA offered girls a wide range of activities. The Women in Sports Foundation brandished five champion athletes Tuesday, as excited young girls listened to inspiring stories from their heroes.

Family Golf Month. With July's Family Golf Month as the backdrop, seven-time Olympic gymnastics medalist Shannon Miller named her mother as her role model.

“She was an athlete and growing up she could always do more pushups and chin-ups than the boys,” Miller told the gathering of the first Celebration of Women in Sports event.

Holding one of her three children on her lap for part of the clinic, former Women’s National Basketball Association and University of Connecticut standout Rebecca Lobo also recalled her mother’s support for her athletic pursuits. Playing hoops mostly with boys as she grew up, Lobo’s mother worried only that her daughter would play on the “shirts” team

Adopt-A-Player. Tuesday was also Adopt-A-Player Day, the culmination of a USGA program encouraging schoolchildren from the area to correspond with LPGA Tour players. Since October, 4,000 students from 76 schools in eastern Pennsylvania have communicated via e-mail with 25 LPGA Tour players.

As the USGA’s David Shefter notes, several leading women golfers participated in the program, including two-time U.S. Women’s Open champs Juli Inkster and Karrie Web; former USA Curtis Cuppers Paula Creamer, Stacy Lewis, and Angela Stanford; 2004 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Julieta Granada, and past U.S. Women’s Amateur champions Amanda Blumenherst, Pat Hurst, Jill McGill, Virada Nirapathpongporn, and Jane Park.

The student posse for each golfer wears color-coordinated T-shirts with catchy slogans, such as “Paula’s Pink Panthers” and “Juli’s Juniors.” The kids get free entrance to the championship and their parents buy tickets at a discount.

Some 70 school kids from Fountain Hill Elementary School adopted three-time LPGA Tour winner Christina Kim, who shmoozed on-course with her e-mail pen pals. Following her practice round yesterday, Kim signed the third- and fourth-graders’ red “Christina’s Champs” tee shirts, joined them for a group photo, and bantered about the best places to visit in the area.

Expanding school curricula. Teachers can integrate the Adopt-A-Player program into their lesson plans since it correlates with Pennsylvania state standards for third- and fourth-grade curricula. The program includes several subject areas, including communication and literacy, social studies, visual arts, and math. Students corresponded with their players via an Adopt-A-Player blog on the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open Web site. Click here to view participating players and schools.

What’s really cool is that most of the students have never attended a golf tournament. There's no better way to help women’s golf grow than by involving girls and boys with the showcase women’s golf event.

Read more about the future of women’s golf in Boston Golf Examiner’s Take Your Daughter to the Course Week.