Growing up as a junior golfer in the Oregon Junior Golf Association, I spent every summer looking forward to the annual LPGA golf tournament. The Safeway LPGA Classic, as it once was known, was a chance for me to get up close and personal with the professional golfers that I idolized. I volunteered at the event every year, and would carry a sign board for one of the groups.

And for those of you who don’t know what a sign board is, below is a picture. In my picture you’ll also notice that the “Mom” is hanging out with the board, while her “daughter” is in the blue t-shirt sitting on the chair. I will tell you that when you’re ten years old, that sign board is much heavier than you think! That’s what parents are for right?

This year I headed out to the LPGA Tournament to catch up with some of my fellow teammates and friends from college. I’m proud to say that Vanderbilt Women’s Golf currently has three alumni golfers playing on the LPGA. It was great to catch up with Jacqui Concolino, Marina Alex, and Megan Grehan. Anchor Down Lady Commodores!

Jacqui and I were in college at the same time, and played together for two years. I’m obligated to say that she was once “my freshman.” This is her third year playing on tour, and I had so much fun watching her play! Here she is below making a putt for birdie on #12.

Jacqui played really well over the weekend shooting 68-71-70-71, which put her in a tie for 19th place. She ended up making just over $14,000, which is pretty darn impressive! Here we are together after her final round with her awesome caddy Phil. The two of them bantering back and forth kept me laughing all weekend, they’re quite the dynamic duo!

One of the best parts of hanging out at the golf course after each round was getting to see all the little girls come up to Jacqui and ask for her autograph. I remember being that little girl, and it’s inspiring to see such passion and enthusiasm from the next generation of golfers. Fairways and greens!