Twenty years ago, this is exactly what amateur Brenda Corrie-Kuehn — eight months pregnant — did at the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, along with playing partner Jennifer Greggain, who was well into her second trimester.
But the mother-of-three ended up with a birdie, defying her obstetrician-gynecologist, who thought she was too close to her due date to be on a golf course in 80-degree heat.
“I said to her, ‘Over my dead body.’ I qualified for this, I worked hard to get there, I’m going to play,” Corrie-Kuehn told DailyExpertNews Sport.
A week later, daughter Rachel was born, and her 56-year-old mother will have inspired others to carry on with life when your gut and your doctors tell you no.
“It wasn’t pretty. I don’t remember what I did, but towards the end of your pregnancy there comes a point where you grow up very quickly,” said the nine-time US Open veteran.
“I think that happened between the time of qualifying for the Open and the actual event itself, and it’s hard to fire the hips off with the extra weight, so my swing changed and I couldn’t hit it very far. But I was happy to be there.
“A lot of people asked me, ‘How could you play like that?’ What I was trying to show was that it’s part of life, I had some physical limitations and after the US Open I was playing in a cart at home before Rachel was born.
“What I was trying to show was just because you’re pregnant, and unless you have a medical condition, you can do the same things you did before you were pregnant and after you gave birth. That was my message.”
With golf genes like that—Corrie-Kuehn’s mom was a Venezuelan National Champion and so was her father—it’s no wonder Rachel followed in her mom’s footsteps to North Carolina’s famed Wake Forest University, where she also excels at golf, and misses something in the nick of time. at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Finals in Augusta earlier this year.
She has the most ardent supporter in her mother, whose advice for any pregnant golfer is to watch how long you practice on the greens.
“It affected my distance a lot. Imagine if you have a 30lb ball in front of you and try to fire your hips, you would lose your balance. So my swing became very poor and rhythmic.
“But there’s no reason the short game shouldn’t be good — although you can’t sit for long and practice your putting because your back is killing you.”
strong mothers
Three-time champion Nancy Lopez has three daughters and won events during her pregnancy in the 80s and 90s.
In 2003, France’s Patricia Meunier-Lebouc played the Solheim Cup four months pregnant, receiving some helpful advice from Carin Koch, the Swede who had played the 2002 competition at 12 weeks.
In 2005, Laura Diaz and Iben Tinning met in the biennial competition, American Diaz six months pregnant and Dane Tinning 16 weeks.
In the long-ride championship world, Lisa “Longball” Vlooswyk became the first field competitor to throw her extra weight into the biggest rides in the game.
In turn, she inspired five-time world champion Sandra Carlborg of Sweden, who stomped more than 300 meters during the 2019 tournament when she was 24 weeks pregnant with her daughter Ebba.
“We had a medical tent because it was very hot that day, the medical guy cooled me down with ice between sets,” Carlborg told DailyExpertNews.
“I felt safe and he said, ‘As long as you feel good, it’s okay.’ I promised him that if I felt uncomfortable I would stop racing,” said the 37-year-old, who hit 80 balls at full blast that day and whose longest run is 401 metres, five less than the world record.
Now expecting her second daughter, expected in September, Carlborg has used the Covid-19 lockdowns to start a podcast called PowerMamas in Sweden to empower new mothers.
“I’m getting weaker and weaker so I’m really looking forward to coming back next year as a strong athlete. My goal is to be my strongest me – stronger than I’ve ever been and make it swing faster than me ever have.
“A lot of people say that women are stronger after being a mother.”
Carlborg gets some of her positive outlook on the way her sponsors initially took the news that she was about to have her first baby.
“It’s a big difference these days. I was really nervous when I told my sponsors I was pregnant with Ebba, wondering what they were going to say, but I think that’s been a big change in recent years, in all sports .
“I’m glad we don’t live like 10-15 years ago, people used to say, ‘If you have kids, you’re out of your sport.’ I hope more ladies think that having kids won’t stop them from being a top athlete.”
Former British rower Baz Moffat founded Well HQ earlier in 2021 with two doctors – one of whom, Dr Emma Ross, has written a chapter on women and pregnancies in golf as part of a health book for female athletes.
“Pregnancy and postnatal recovery in sports is really something new. Brenda is really a one-time thing,” Moffat told DailyExpertNews.
“It’s only been real since Serena Williams in 2014 that this has become more of a thing, in terms of more women including children in their careers – rather than just pushing their careers to the point that they want to have children and that’s the main reason they stop exercising.”
Mother of two Moffat, who trained with Britain’s Olympic team between 2004 and 2008, said the change has been huge since her time as a top athlete after the Beijing Games.
“I don’t think there were mothers in the world of international sport at the time. A few people tried to leave within a four-year cycle, have children and come back, but the support systems were not there.
“If the number one reason women give up their sport early is to have children, how can we support them? It’s not perfect right now, but there are examples of women doing it fantastically.”
One day even par, the next a little birdie
Back at Wake Forest University, Kuehn’s teammate Emilia Migliaccio is the talk of the town in amateur golf in the US after making the play-off in Augusta but losing to 17-year-old Japanese star Tsubasa Kajitani.
Like Kuehn, her mother was also a brilliant talent. Ulrika Migliaccio represented the University of Arizona and also played alongside compatriot and ten-time major winner Annika Sorenstam.
So when Ulrika donned the famous white Augusta overalls as a caddy for her daughter in April, Emilia poured out with pride as she thought of her mother as a golfer, not least while playing the game pregnant.
“I think the day before my mom got me, she played a round of golf and shot right away,” the 22-year-old told DailyExpertNews, with a big smile on her face.
“She played with two men who looked at each other and said, ‘Really? We’re playing this pregnant lady?’ Then she tore it all up!”
Migliaccio grew up with the ambition to play sports professionally, has thrown his shoulders at team events with the likes of Patty Tavatanakit, Collin Morikawa, Jennifer Kupcho and Viktor Hovland and plays the game at a level most people can only dream of.
Still, she has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps by not joining the professional ranks.
“She didn’t really like living out of a suitcase and decided that the professional job wouldn’t be for her. When I questioned my career path, my mother shared her experience and she gave me a lot of guidance.”
Like Ulrika Migliaccio on the course that day, Carlborg also has a lesson for some male golfers.
“In 2019, when I was 30 weeks pregnant, I told guys at an event not to complain about their big stomachs, they won’t stop you from kicking it!
“So hopefully I can inspire a lot of people to be pregnant.”
