Amy Olson asked her LPGA friends how long they had played when pregnant. The consensus was 28 to 30 weeks.
Olson, who will be 30 weeks pregant when she competes in the U.S. Women’s Open at the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links on the most anticipated U.S. Women’s Open event since men and women both played back-to-back at Pinehurst No. Nine years ago, Olson was 30 weeks pregnant when she competed at the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links in the most anticipated U.S. Women’s Open since men and women played back-to-back weeks at Pinehurst No.
Olson, who will turn 31 on 10 July, was six months pregnant at the time she qualified for the very first women’s Major ever held at Pebble Beach. She won the medal at the Minnesota qualifying event with a score of six under 138.
It’s a memory I’ll cherish forever, said Olson about playing a major when pregnant. “And the fact that it was at Pebble Beach is pretty cool.”
The fact that we will both be walking down the fairway at the same time is pretty amazing.
Olson has only played Pebble Beach on a computer simulator last winter. She said that she visited the resort several times with her college golf team while on tour in order to get a feel for the 18th. The Women’s Open is her last tournament until the birth of her baby.
Olson, a junior at college at the time, led a rain delayed Round 1 of the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open held at The Broadmoor. The 2009 U.S. Junior Girls’ Champion, who won a NCAA record 20 titles in college at North Dakota State University, admitted that she was carefree and didn’t give it much thought back then.
Olson won the first round of a championship in December 2020 at Champions Golf Club. Olson’s week was turned upside down when she learned that Lee Olson died suddenly on Saturday night. He was a West Point graduate who loved women and had a soft corner for them. Grant, her husband, flew to his home in order to prepare for the funeral and be with his brother and mother.
A Lim Kim won the crown jewel in women’s golf on her first try, after she birdied the final three holes.
This was the second time that Olson had finished in a tie for second place in a major.
After the final round, she began to cry. “I let myself think about my gratitude,” she said. “I’ve got a very long list.”
Olson has been able to play in only three events this season. She played in both of those in June and missed the cut each time.
She made her seventh ace in Michigan, but then added an albatross in the pro am two days later. Olson acknowledged that the baby had brought her “serious” golf mojo, but she also noted they still needed to improve their timing.
Olson, who was heading to Pebble Beach said that she had passed the point where the extra weight would have made a difference in her driving distance.
Olson, who has won 34 major championships in his career, knows that fairways are important. This week, they will be even more so.
She also adjusted her setup on greens to ensure that her right hand didn’t run in her belly.
Olson explained, “I am kind of following a week-byweek and day-byday strategy.”
Brittany Lincicome, who was 30 weeks pregnant at the time with her second child Sophia, played in the KPMG Women’s PGA last summer. She played 10 rounds total during that pregnancy season. Her best finish was a T-6 at ShopRite.
Stacy Lewis competed in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open when she was four months pregnant. She had not lost any stamina or yardage at that time. Her short game actually improved.
Catriona Matt, 48-year-old mom of two, says that the loss of distance is usually felt after five months.
Matthew, the famous winner of the Women’s British Open 11 months after her second daughter was born, said once: “You just stop hitting it anywhere.” You’ve lost your speed. You probably don’t realize how hard your body is working. “You don’t believe you should be tired but you are.”
After becoming a mother, Juli Inkster was able to win four of her seven majors. Kathy Cornelius, who gave birth to her daughter Karen in 1956, won the U.S. Women’s Open.
Susie Maxwell Berning is a 2022 World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee. She’s a four-time Major winner, mother of two and won two of three U.S. Women’s Open Titles after having a child.
Inbee park, a seven-time major champion, is on maternity leave. So is Sophia Popov (2020 Women’s British Open) and Caroline Masson (solheim cup veteran).
Olson isn’t certain what she will do after her maternity leave. She hasn’t won on the LPGA. Olson has never been a member of the LPGA for more than a year at any time in her career. She is used to taking things year by year.
Olson said, “I can’t say for sure what I think. “I’m curious to see what happens. I am super grateful for all I’ve done out here. I love it and I don’t think I will ever do what I have done for the past nine years, which is to play 25 weeks of the year.
Will I ever return? “I couldn’t tell you.”
