You don’t have to go to the Paris Olympics to see the world’s best athletes. We have some right here in our own backyard. Meet Cindy LaCrosse, former LPGA powerhouse who has decided to take her game and her expertise to Long Island.
Cindy was attracted to the beauty and charm of the Hamptons and made a decision to leave the tour and live a more normal and settled life. Southampton Golf Club managed to win the bidding war in order to get her and she is now a teaching pro at that club.
The Hamptons lays claim to a number of truly iconic golf courses, including Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton Golf Club, National Golf Links of America, Atlantic Golf Club and Sebonack Golf Club. During one of my recent visits to the Hamptons I managed to get an interview with Cindy and asked her about life on tour and her new life as a club pro.
Cindy grew up in Tampa, Fla., where the weather is warm and golf season lasts 12 months a year. Her dad was a major amateur player in Florida and played on the Senior Tour after turning 50 so. He naturally had a significant impact on Cindy’s development.
She received a scholarship to the University of Louisville and shortly after graduating turned pro. She dominated the Future’s Tour, winning three times, and soon turned her focus to the LPGA. Over the 12 years on the LPGA a she rose as high as 56th in scoring average and 54th in money earned competing against the likes of Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Yani Tseng.
Cindy told me life on tour was exciting, given the level of competition and talent she faced every week and that it was a privilege to travel and play the world’s best courses. The toughest part was coping with bad stretches when you lose your swing and can’t seem to find it. She has been taught by Sean Foley, who was also Tiger Wood’s swing coach, so she has learned from the very best.
And now she has taken her expertise and tour experience to Southhampton Golf Club where people like you and me will benefit from her knowledge. She is considered an expert in short game teaching and believes that the short game (wedges, chipping and putting) and that developing a good short game are the secret to lower scores.
I have heard this comment from many players. Andrew Svoboda, who was a tour player before he taught at Engineers CC. told me the same thing. When I asked him what impressed him most about tour players, he said: “They had unbelievable hands and soft feel around the greens.”
I asked Cindy to give me one tip she uses when she must make a five-foot putt to win a tournament and she said, “I tell myself I have made many five-foot putts my entire life and this one is no different.”
That tip is exactly what Mark O’Meara told me he used to win the British Open over Tiger Woods. He was faced with a crucial 10-foot putt he had to make on 17 and as he stood over it, he said: “I had this putt to beat Tiger in my last practice round with him at Lake Nona. If I did it then, I can do it now.”
We welcome Cindy LaCrosse to Long Island, a player with grace, talent, humility and a playing career that is astonishing. And as I said at the beginning, we don’t have to go to the Paris Olympics to see the best at their craft. We have a superstar right here in our own backyard.
