In July of 2003, Suzy Whaley was the first
woman to qualify and participate in a PGA Tour
event in 58 years. Babe Zaharias was
the only other woman to have ever qualified.
was only the third woman to ever to compete
on the PGA Tour. In winning, Suzy was the first
woman to win any PGA individual professional
tournament, anywhere, since 1994, when the PGA
established the opportunity for women to compete
against the men. Little did Suzy realize, after
she signed her scorecard, how much impact her
victory would have on the game of golf and millions
of people. The public's attention was primarily
focused on the exemption she earned into the
PGA Tour's Greater Hartford Open that is annually
awarded to the section champion. The interest
continued with her courageous decision to play,
and then followed with her successful and engaging
performance at the GHO.
As a result of Suzy's victory extensive media
coverage was generated across the United States
as well as Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom
and Canada. Since her victory Suzy has granted
over 2000 interviews worldwide. She has been
featured on CBS Sports, Good Morning America,
USA Today, Sports Illustrated, The New York
Times, CNN, ESPN, CBS The Early Show, NBC Nightly
News, NBC'S George Michael Sports Machine, The
Associated Press, ESPN'S The Dan Patrick Show,
Fox National Sports Radio, All Things Considered,
The Golf Channel, and in numerous papers across
the country. This coverage resulted in millions
of impressions worldwide promoting the game
of golf.
As a teacher of the game, Suzy's mentor is
Jim Flick. She worked for Jim for seven years
and still continues to learn from him. She has
been a guest on Golf Academy live numerous times.
She also ghosted the State Farms Series golf
tips for ESPN and a series of tips for local
television in Connecticut. Her golf articles
have appeared in Golf Digest, Golf , and Golf
for Women. is the National Spokesperson for
this year's American Express Women's Golf Week
and can be seen at LPGA events for ESPN. Her
teaching awards include, top teacher honors
in CT by Golf Digest Magazine, a top 50 teacher
for Golf for Women magazine, nominated for Golf
Magazine's top 100 teacher list and 2007 PGA
Teacher of the Year honors in the CT Section.
Suzy is actively involved in her profession.She
is currently a member of the PGA of America's
National Instruction committee and the National
Diversity committee. She is also a member of
the EWGA's Board of Directors for their Foundation.
Currently, and for the past two years, Suzy
is serving as a member of the Connecticut PGA
section Board of Directors.
Suzy was born in Cherry Hill, N.J. but spent
much of her young life with her family in Syracuse,
N.Y. Her mother, an avid golfer, started Suzy
playing golf at the age of nine. was the New
York State Junior Golf Champion but her real
love was ski racing. was on the Olympic Developmental
Team by the age of 12 and went away to a ski-racing
academy to pursue her dreams of competing in
the Olympics. She was hurt in a downhill in
1983 and chose to then focus on her golf. Her
college days were spent at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received
a full four-year athletic scholarship. graduated
from Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics
in 1989.
Suzy earned her LPGA Tour status immediately
after completing college. She played on the
LPGA Tour for two years before starting a family.
In 1991, Suzy married Bill Whaley, golf professional
and Suzy's coach. Bill is a Regional Director
of Operations for the PGA Tour and is the General
Manager and the Director of Golf at the TPC
at River Highlands. They have two daughters,
Jenn 13 and Kelly 10, and currently live in
Farmington, CT.
|