This past weekend on Saturday and Sunday we took our third grade pal and neighbor, Claudia to watch the LPGA Volunteers of America Texas Shootout Golf Tournament.
On Saturday we arrived after some of the women had finished their second round and before the women started their third round. We stood and watched several on the putting green. One was Anna Nordqvist. After she finished practicing putting, her caddie handed Claudia a golf ball.
All of a sudden, Claudia became a fan. She wanted to follow Anna.
One of Anna’s playing partners was Christel Boeljon. On one of the holes, her caddie handed Claudia a ball. That gesture made Claudia her fan as well.
On Sunday, lucky for us, Anna and Christel were paired together again. Claudia decided we should follow them around the course. On one hole after she had putted out, Christel came over and sat next to Claudia and talked to her.
At the end of their round, Christel gave Claudia the golf glove she had worn that day and she and Anna signed autographs and allowed us to take photos with Claudia.
This personal touch by the professional golfers is what makes the LPGA so special. On our way home, Claudia was really excited and said what a great day she experienced.
Years ago I wrote about Anna, who at the time was an LPGA rookie and won the fifth tournament she played. Given our great experience watching her over the weekend I want to share that post again.
Nancy and I played golf yesterday morning. In the afternoon we watched the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
For those of you who are not fans or did not see the final round, Anna Nordqvist, a rookie playing in only her fifth tournament was the unlikely winner. You might enjoy reading The Washington Post report of her victory.
Nordqvist started the final round with a two stroke lead. She built it to as much as a five stroke lead, and then her playing partner Lindsey Wright birdied 8, 9 and 12.
Nordqvist bogeyed 13 and the lead was cut to one. The TV announcers said: “Game On.” The remarkable thing was that the young rookie did not wilt under the pressure and she won by four strokes.
Wright, who shot a 70, said of Nordqvist:
“It was amazing. Under that amount of pressure, not being in that position before and in a major and being a rookie? You can’t get any better than that.”
When I drafted the blog about Anna, I went to her webpage, which has since changed. I found her quote:
“Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard for it”
What does it mean to wake up and work hard for it as a lawyer?
It means waking up and working each and every day to improve your skills. It means waking up and working hard each and every day to figure out what is going on in the world that may impact your clients. It means waking up and working hard each and every day to add value and exceed your client’s expectations.
Thank you Anna Nordqvist for reminding us all that we are never too young, never too inexperienced to wake up and work hard to be successful. (And, in 2016, thank you and Christel for making a 9 year old a fan for life.)