Brandie Burton - Part 2 (Winning the 1993 and 1998 du Maurier Classic)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Mike Gonzalez 0:13

Then it started to get you on tour then. What was the process back then to uh saying I want to play on the LPGA tour?

Brandie Burton 0:23

Yeah, so um, you know, I left ASU after the first year in qualifying school was coming up, and you know, my parents were we were all in agreement that this is gonna be my next step. Um my older brother Troy got married uh earlier prior to that qualifying school and ended up spending his honeymoon with me at qualifying school, Gaddean, um, because we couldn't afford, you know, we were trying to scrape mom, dad were trying to scrape up pen and pennies to get there, and uh so end up missing uh my exempt status by one shot. So I had conditional status, and uh, you know, people were surprised. They thought I would just kind of breeze through it, and I didn't think I would, but you know, I I was hoping to get my exempt status, but at least I had some opportunity. But then the next stage was trying to figure out how the monies were gonna come about to get me to Venice to tr events to try and qualify, like the Monday 2 spots and so forth.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Right.

Brandie Burton 1:26

Um fortunately I had a couple companies that were wanting to represent me um management-wise. I had IMG and then I had a company I think Bleako uh Advantage, I think their name was. And um IMG offered me a no-interest loan um to let me go out and play. And you know what? I had to take it because I was not gonna put my parents through this financial burden because they had already taken out several second, third mortgages on the house to get me to where I was.

Mike Gonzalez 2:02

So describe the pressure for us that you felt uh your first foray at uh qualifying school. Was it was it different pressure than you had ever felt before?

Brandie Burton 2:14

I d um maybe a little. I mean it's like you know, it's a one-shot deal, then what am I gonna do for the rest of the year if I don't make it?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Right?

Brandie Burton 2:23

So it's not like I can go back to college. So and I didn't, you know. But you know, luckily I that didn't happen. And um I had the opportunity, you know, IMG kind of saw the potential that I had, so um by them giving me a little bit of help money-wise, uh alleviate some of the pressure for me to just go out and play. So I basically became the qualifying queen, two-spotter. But back then, this the qualifiers were on Sunday. So if he qualified for a tournament in the two-spotter and made the cut, I couldn't try to qualify for the next event. And they didn't have a top ten, you know, you automatically get in the next week type category either.

Bruce Devlin 3:08

That's a little weird, isn't it? Yeah.

Brandie Burton 3:12

Well, it was so weird that they changed it the following year. So yeah, so that was kind of unfortunate, but I took advantage of uh, you know, qualifying and playing fairly decent in a few events, but come the first uh shuffle of that year, I missed getting my exempt status by like$150.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Oh my.

Brandie Burton 3:34

So I don't know. It's you know, it was a learning process. I mean, you don't take anything for granted, right? You gotta go and work for it and um and learn from it. So um I went back out and battled again and uh kept doing the two spotters and kept getting getting in the some tournaments, and then finally got my exempt status the next one, and then you know, then the gates opened and I was ready to go.

Mike Gonzalez 3:56

Yeah, so uh just for our listeners, uh uh 1990, Brandy Burton is 18 when she decides to become a professional. She, as Bruce said at the top, had five professional wins all on the LPGA tour, and uh must have joined the tour, I guess, then uh early in '91. And uh you played well enough to be rookie of the year that first year out there. Yeah.

Brandie Burton 4:22

Yeah. Um, you know, I had a lot of opportunities. Um, I think my best finish was second in Rochester. Um, I remember um this caddy by the name of BB was cadding for me, and he used to he caddy for Lopez a little bit. Um I had a lot of different caddies that year, but I had never won that much money. I I think it was like I want to say like around 40,000 or so.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Oh my.

Brandie Burton 4:47

And I didn't I didn't know what to pay a caddy. So, you know, Lopez as she was, she was like, you know, she was just terrific towards all the young youngsters coming on tour. So whenever he had a question or something, she was there. So I said, in the airport the next day I said, Hey Lope. So I said, uh, well, what do I pay my caddy? He goes, he's asking for 10%. She's like, oh no. She goes, they're just trying to take advantage of you. But uh, yeah, so I finished second. It was my best finish, my rookie year, and I think I had quite a few top ten finishes. Um, and then, you know, just excited to start 1992.

Mike Gonzalez 5:27

Yeah. You know, you you mentioned, and and Bruce can relate to this too, that you mentioned just one little thing. What do you pay your caddy out of the hundreds of little things you've got to learn that first year out there, right? Because you don't know where you're going, where you're parking, where you're staying, where you're eating. You gotta learn all that stuff, don't you?

Brandie Burton 5:43

Yeah, and I stayed, you know, my rookie year, I stayed in housing probably 95% of the time. Um, to cut down on costs. Um, couldn't rent a car. You had to be 25. They didn't have courtesy cars really at the very few events. Um, I was fortunate to uh IMG got me a um a deal with Hertz, and I had a you know, they would let me rent a car. I mean, it was a little pricey, but at least I when I needed one, I could go do it until I was twenty until you were 25, you couldn't rent a car. So um I dealt with that. Um like you said, just learning the golf courses that you play, um, everything's just a learning experience.

Mike Gonzalez 6:22

Still before GPS, wasn't it?

Brandie Burton 6:25

Definitely. I think if I was like my dad, you know, and in the back in the day when he was going on his construction trips, he was like, you know, Thomas Brothers maps. You know, he had these big maps, and he'd map it out where he's got to go to his next job. And that's what I felt like I would map it out where I was going to my next tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 6:41

Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, Bruce, you know, unlike some of our guests, like Betsy King, who I think took eight years to finally figure out how to win on this level, uh, it didn't take Brandy too long, did it?

Bruce Devlin 6:52

No, it sure didn't. So as you mentioned, 92, you were ready to play, and play you did. Ping Welsh Championship at uh Randolph Park for your first victory. And uh that had to be That had to be like getting out of the cabin, wasn't it? Ready to be Oh yeah.

Brandie Burton 7:12

Um and I I remember Yeah. I remember um I played really well the first three days, and I remember being on the T on Sunday, and I just really didn't know how I was gonna get the ball airborne.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Really?

Brandie Burton 7:29

I don't know. I thought it was like uh they announced the name and it's like I froze, and I'm thinking, okay, we gotta just get through the first hole and let's see what happens after that. So I remember hitting the T shot way left, and I'm like, thank God there wasn't out of bounds. And um, but I hit it really long and I had a little flip wedge up there, and I hit it up there about five feet and made birdie, and then I was I'm like, okay, we're okay now. Here we go.

Mike Gonzalez 7:56

Yeah, you opened up 716969, but the best uh round was yet to come because you finished with the 68.

Brandie Burton 8:05

Yeah. Um I think I was tied for the league coming down 18, and it's a reachable par five with the water in front, and uh I hit it over the green, and the pin was on the very back, it was a two-tier green, and I didn't have much much room to work with, but luckily I had a decent line. I hit this flop shot up about a foot from the hole, so I didn't have to think about it too much.

Mike Gonzalez 8:27

Uh you took down Beth Daniel and Dale Egling by one shot.

Brandie Burton 8:33

Yeah, who would have thumped Beth Daniel? She's my idol. I call it to this day. That's what I call her idol. Hey idol, how you doing? Um, you know, I like I said, I grew up uh I playing in a time with all these unbelievable players and and to idolize them, play with them, become friends with them, it's just been you know the highlight of my career.

Mike Gonzalez 8:56

Yeah, yeah. So did that change things for you much, uh picking up that first victory?

Brandie Burton 9:00

Well, it it it solidified that I, you know, I could win out there. Um and you know, and I was tough on myself. I I was a perfectionist, so it was like you know, sadly I went back and did laundry. That's how I celebrated. Um you know, kind of embarrassing to s to share that, but that's what I did because then the next day, let's go to Phoenix, we're gonna go play again. Yeah, so I didn't celebrate a lot, and I mean I was you know only 20 at the time, but um yeah, I mean it just gave me confidence to keep going, and I I just wanted to keep winning. Yeah, but it didn't happen until then following year.

Mike Gonzalez 9:42

Yeah. So you you talk about winning, talk about that first win, and and you know, like as you said, you're age 20. Uh at this point we all feel like we're bulletproof. And you probably thought, hey, I'm just gonna keep cranking them out for years and years.

Brandie Burton 9:58

Yep. Nope.

Mike Gonzalez 10:00

Yeah. And then you look back and and and you know, Bruce remembers this. We've talked to many others uh who had the same experience as you had. You you get you get a victory and you barely have time to celebrate because it's time to go to the next tournament.

Brandie Burton 10:15

Yeah, right. Yeah. Um I don't know. I just kind of I played well the rest of the year, but I it's like I couldn't get it, I couldn't finish it. Um I was really having struggling on Sundays. Um and then so I was still okay. It's just the wins weren't coming. A lot of top tens.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 10:38

Well, as all of you have echoed across these interviews, uh nobody has told Bruce and I that winning is easy. No, not at all.

Brandie Burton 10:49

It's definitely not. No. And then when you do get there, you think it's gonna keep happening, but it's hard. It really is a hard thing.

Bruce Devlin 11:00

Didn't take you that long to uh validate that victory though, really. When you think about it, Brandy. You uh you win the Jamie Fowr in 1993, the Toledo Classic at Highland Meadows, and and you beat another pretty good player there too, Hollow Stacy.

Brandie Burton 11:19

Yeah. Um I stayed with a great family there. They're like one of the first families that I stayed with my rookie year, and um just was really comfortable, was playing really well. Um really enjoy that golf course. There's you know, we've played that golf course high in the meadows for it's still standing today. They're still having an event there. Um and yeah, I remember, I mean, that court we the last two holes are back to back par five. So with with me being it having the length that I had on that golf course, it really was uh beneficial.

Bruce Devlin 11:53

You're very consistent that week too. Um open with 68 and then 66, 67. And I I do notice one thing about your career. You you had a habit of just winning by one shot or in a playoff. Was there a did you like to keep it close?

Brandie Burton 12:15

Yeah, I like to make it exciting, you know. I mean, you know, I needed to keep my tension up, I guess, and stress out or be nervous or something.

Mike Gonzalez 12:24

But uh you know, I I really enjoyed the fact that your first recollection of this tournament was who you stayed with. And you know, it it sort of gets back to a life lesson I've learned about this game, uh having not played at the level that you guys played at, but for golf to me, it was always I never remembered much about the shots or what I shot in a tournament the prior year, but I remember who I played with. I remember the new friends I made, and uh that's sort of true of this game, isn't it?

Brandie Burton 12:57

It definitely is. I mean that these uh this family that I stayed with uh was the Mabri's and Guy and Rosalie Mabry in Toledo, Ohio. They were members at Inverness. Um they had three kids. Um, you know, it was like when Wimbledon was being played, so on Sunday mornings we had strawberries and cream out on the back patio before I teed off.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

There you go.

Brandie Burton 13:19

And you know, the home cooked meals and just the family atmosphere. I was usually always there around the 4th of July, 4th of July, excuse me. And uh, you know, that was a big holiday with my family. So in order to be for me to be with them during that time while I was missing my family, it was a huge deal.

Mike Gonzalez 13:36

Yeah. So Bruce, uh Bruce, uh uh you can agree with this. I think uh if you got time on the Sunday of the final round to get up, have strawberries and cream and watch Wimbledon, you must have played pretty well.

Bruce Devlin 13:51

Yeah, that's right. And and your mind is not uh looking forward to what you're doing either. You're sitting there with your friends and you're having your strawberries and ice cream or cream, and yeah, it's a pretty good way to start the last round of a tournament for sure.

Brandie Burton 14:09

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 14:12

So uh let's go to major number one, which comes later that year. You're age 21. We're talking about the 1993 DeMore Classic, the old Canadian Open, I guess if you will. This is played at the London Hunt Club, and you want it in a playoff with a lady I mentioned earlier who took a little while to win, but once you figured it out, she figured it out. But uh you bet beat Betsy King in a playoff, shooting rounds of 71-70, 66-70. Uh, tell us about that tournament.

Brandie Burton 14:45

Yeah, it was uh the weather was was pretty bad. I remember that. Um I don't remember much about the first three days. Um you know, obviously you know, Saturday. I always played at moving day was definitely my strong point. Saturdays were were I I tend to move pretty good on Saturdays, but then Sundays I would back up a little bit. However, this time um I remember it was the 15th hole, and uh the sirens had gone off. We had a weather delay, it was raining, and instead of me going in to the clubhouse, their CTV was compound was right there on the left side, and I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna go over and be by myself, go sit in the TV compound, and it was safe enough to go there. And so I think I sat there for a good hour and a half, just me and my caddy and all the people from Canadian television and made friends uh with all the announcers and so forth, and you know, it it worked out well, and then um uh went back out to play, and it was still the weather was not not good. Um I I go into 18 with a two-shot lead, but Betsy was playing in front of me and she made I see her make birdie, and um I hit it in the left rough, hit it up there about 30 feet, and decided to three putt to go into a playoff. So that's probably the only time that I've had the two-shot lead going into the last hole. So I guess I needed to be more closer for me to pull it off. But um, so then I was like, are you crazy? I can't believe that I had just done did this. So I three putt from like 20 feet. So we go into a playoff, go back to play the same hole. So I'm like, okay, I need to get revenge on this hole. So I still I hit it down the left rubber. I remember hitting an eight iron up there about 30 feet from the hole, and I make it. So I did get my revenge. Yeah. So uh to me that was just solidifying that the mental toughness that I had to get over the the negative that had just happened in front of me and just start over and then come back and birdie it. So that was a huge, uh, huge win for me.

Mike Gonzalez 17:00

Yeah. Uh there was a girl from can uh Canada, Dawn Co. Jones, that was one back in that tournament. That would have been obviously a a big thing for a Canadian woman to win that, but she opened up with a opened up with a 64 that tournament.

Brandie Burton 17:15

Yeah, Dawn was amazing. You know, she definitely was gone too soon for us, but um, you know, all those Canadians, they're they're wonderful people, um, wonderful players, uh, and they love their, you know, their Canadian golfers. They they really back them 120%. And so you could hear the cheers going on, that's for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 17:37

Yeah. Well, Bruce and I have been fortunate enough to have uh some Canadian golfers on the show, including uh Sandra Palmer and Mike Weir and Marlene Street, uh, and have had a chance to talk a lot about uh this tournament too, because we've talked to a lot of the champions from the DeMaurier. Uh what was it like uh wedding your first major?

Brandie Burton 18:01

Um what's the word I want to use? I don't know. I was just thrilled uh for one. And um points, Solheim Cup points, double points.

Mike Gonzalez 18:17

There you go. That was huge exemptions, yeah.

Brandie Burton 18:21

Exemptions. Um you know, unf unfortunately a lot of my tournaments that I you know I won five times, but um I I never had my parents there, but they were at Solheim Cups, but um that would have made it more special, but at least they got to see it on TV. So I I had bought this back in the day before there was satellite TV. They had this big 20-foot dish on the top of their the top of their house so they could get me regionally or whatever, so that was nice.

Mike Gonzalez 18:50

Yeah. Well, you you mentioned Solheim Cup. We'll come back to that uh as we wrap up to just you know starting in '92, just talk about your entire experience with Solheim Cup. But people do forget that the you know, these big majors, they they come with a lot of perks sometimes, and and some of it is just the peace of mind knowing that, hey, uh, you know, for two years or five years or for whatever, I'm in this tournament or I'm in majors or I'm in, you know, events without having to do anything else.

Brandie Burton 19:17

Exactly. It takes a lot of the pressure off. I mean, you can kind of you know set your set your schedule now. You don't have to play in everything because and I because I wanted to play in everything, and I thought I was strong enough to play in everything, and I would play eight, nine weeks in a row, and obviously that wasn't good for me, but um, I just wanted to play. But now, now that I have a major under my belt, um, you know, like you said, I have like a five-year exemption, and you know, you could set a schedule and be a little try to be a little more smart. At least I tried. I don't know if I was successful, but I did.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 19:49

Well, and you weren't finished either in 1993. You got to finish the year out by winning Safecoat Classic at Meridian Valley Country Club, where you beat Rosie Jones again by just one shot. Your typical victories, either one or in a playoff.

Brandie Burton 20:07

Yeah, that that was again another tournament in the rain. So I guess I love play I was a mutter. Um, it was cold and damp and rainy. Um made a huge like four iron about five feet up in the air, straight into the seven and on 17 to about three feet to go one up going into 18. So um I did have a little bit of family at that event, so that was kind of fun. I had my sister-in-law and uh one of my couple of my uncles and aunts there, so um, that was a special event for me to win in front of them.

Bruce Devlin 20:42

It also gave you the uh World Golf uh female player of the year as well at the end of the year, so uh rookie of the year in 91 and player of the year in 93.

Brandie Burton 20:55

Yeah, Betsy got me back though. She uh she won in Japan the final event in Japan in '93 to get the LPGA player of the year. She had to win to get me to beat that, beat me out, and she did, as she does. As she wins a lot. Um, but yeah, no, that was an honor from Golf World to give me that that award, and um, you know, I just I'm lucky.

Mike Gonzalez 21:19

There's an obvious question that my partner always likes to ask at about this point in our discussion.

Bruce Devlin 21:26

You know what that question is, Brandy. I look we look we look through records and then we see a gap. We see a large gap with you from 1993 to 1998. And as we've always said, people you know, life goes on. Not necessarily uh picking up trophies on in golf tournaments, but fill us in for those years and tell us about I I know you had a lot of physical problems, so I'm sure a lot of folks would like to understand how how difficult it was for you.

Brandie Burton 22:01

Yeah, you know, it's it's hard for me to go back and remember which part of my body was have in certain years that I had problems with. Um but uh yeah, that that low period was all injury prone injury uh time. It was not that I take a break from the golf, it was um injuries. I I fractured my ankle, um uh had to have surgery on my ankle that took some time away, then my shoulder started going bad. My right shoulder, um, it literally was popping out of socket if I went past a three-quarter swing. So, you know, I was trying to shorten the swing up and the way I was ready, I I probably should have stopped and you know, took some time off, but I tried to play through the injuries. Um you know, my dad's like, you know, just play through the pain, it'll go away. It didn't go away. Uh I was very stubborn. I by looking back, I probably should have just stopped and gave it some time, but I thought if I just kept going full full speed ahead that it would heal itself, but it didn't. So um basically I think in 96 I had the second of my four shoulder surgeries um at the end of 96, and then started coming back and then 98. So, you know, I wish I had better stories in between that low period, but it was just all injuries.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 23:32

Yeah. Well, you you mentioned 1996. You probably remember Steve Jones, who won the US Open that year, and he had come off a pretty serious dirt bike accident five years earlier that really kind of sidelined him for about three years. And we just visited with him last week, I think, and uh he mentions just the the rehab he went through, particularly on his finger, uh, and talking about how uh they he just kept re-injuring it and re-injuring it, just it never healed. So that's a little different than playing through the pain because he was trying to do the right thing with the rehab, but he just kept micro-tearing that finger, and it it literally didn't swing a club for three years. So uh we could certainly relate to trying to play through the pain, but that wasn't necessarily the answer, was it?

Brandie Burton 24:18

No, it wasn't. And like I said, it was just me being stubborn and the way I was raised, I guess. You know, that's just you know old-fashioned healing, my dad would call it.

Mike Gonzalez 24:28

Yeah. But it wasn't like you were getting uh you you weren't having some good finishes. I mean, you had 88 career top 10, so you must have still been cashing some checks.

Brandie Burton 24:38

Yeah, I mean, I was okay, I just wasn't happy because I wasn't winning.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yeah.

Brandie Burton 24:42

Um you know, I still had a couple soul, I still had the soul line there in 96 and you know, 94 and 96, so that was a feat in itself with all you know dealing with the injuries.

Mike Gonzalez 24:55

Yeah. So as as you kind of go through this period from 93 to 98, tell our listeners a little bit about the head space you were in.

Brandie Burton 25:04

Um, I was actually okay. Um, like I said, I I played it. I was a loner. I didn't have a lot of friends on tour. I mean, I had friends on the golf course at the tournament site. Um, I never went to dinner with a lot of players, uh, but I got along with everybody. I was just a loner. So I just kind of did my thing and um tried to keep practicing and you know, I I was okay to be honest with you. I don't remember ever like getting depressed or anything. That kind of came a little later after um my more as more injuries, you know, were down the line. But um, you know, I was still I still felt like I was able to possibly win during that time. It just didn't happen.

Mike Gonzalez 25:46

Yeah, okay. All right, fair enough. So as you approached that 1998 de Maurier then, uh, what was this state of your body at that time? Had things kind of started coming together and you you felt uh a bit more healthy?

Brandie Burton 25:58

Yeah, I was feeling pretty good. My shoulder was still kind of iffy. Um I'm by this time I'm possibly scheduling my third uh shoulder surgery. Uh um you know, I had some great doctors that were on around tour that were uh Dr. Lou Lou Yoakum. He was with the California Angels organization and also ours. So um he was helping me out. But I remembered uh stepping on the green. I don't know, people probably think I'm nuts, but that Monday and I was on the putting green, and it was like just something felt right. It's like I was on the putting green, I was making everything. I was just comfortable. You know, when people say um you know I kind of felt like I was gonna make that hole in one, or I felt like that was gonna happen, they think you're crazy. But I had yeah, but I know I just had this calmness over me, and I just felt really good that week, and I did. I just made a ton of birdies, and um, yeah, what a special week that was.

Mike Gonzalez 27:02

Yeah, so Bruce, we're talking about major number two that came in the summer of 1998.

Bruce Devlin 27:08

Yeah, Demuria Classic again for the second time at the Essex Golf and Country Club, and uh you you were victorio over uh uh by one shot over another pretty good player, too.

Brandie Burton 27:22

Yeah, you gotta man, we gotta put this couple stars next to this one.

Bruce Devlin 27:27

Okay. Yeah, anytime you beat Annika, you've done something pretty special. Yeah, look at the round 68, 64, 66, 72, 18 under pie. You did make a lot of birdies.

Brandie Burton 27:41

I did, and uh, you know, I it's funny. One of the things I remember about the it was the night before the last round. Um, I was very good friends with Judy Rankin and her husband Yippie. They were kind of like my my parents on tour, so to speak. The mom and dad Yippie was I love that guy. I miss him. Um, but him and my dad had a special relationship, and um, I think they kind of my dad kind of you know said, take care of my girl when I'm not there. So but Yippie was the co-captain of the Soulheim Cup going into 98, so I was right on the borderline of being a captain's pick and making the top ten. So he was like, I got that football coach pep talk the night before said you need to go out and win this tournament so Judy can pick somebody else. But he had a few words other than that, because he always had the special words, but um so um yeah, I went out on Sunday, was playing well, um was paired with Annika and just I I my I had a special way of getting into tunnel vision. I I always had that really good focus, and people always thought I was like angry, mad, didn't like them, but I was just always in that tunnel vision, and when I was there, it was there was nothing else. So I got in that space on 17, made a birdie, made a great up and down for Birdie. Um 18 is a par four. We had a little bit of weight, so I had a lot of thinking on the T. And um had a great drive down the middle, and then there's this tree off to the right side that kind of hung over the green a little bit, and I thought I had the posing finish. I had a little seven iron in there, and I just clipped a branch and knocked it straight down about 10 yards shorter. And it was uh two-tiered green, and the pin was all the way in the back, so I had about a 40-yard pitch out, and I'm thinking, holy smokes. Um, Onika was just on the left side of the green, and uh I knocked it up there about eight feet from the hole and then proceeded to knock it in. Of course, Onika almost chipped it in. Surprise, surprise.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Yeah, but um, yeah.

Brandie Burton 29:51

Yeah, so that was who just so and then I you know Judy Rankin was commentating, so I could only imagine she was trying to stay as fair as possible, but I know that I had somebody in my corner.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 30:02

Well, uh speaking of speaking of Judy, as as you know, at the induction ceremony for the World Golf Hall of Fame coming up in June at Pinehurst, they will be inducting as a group the remaining founders of the LPGA tour that aren't already enshrined in the hall. And Bruce and I, with Judy and one other lady, uh lady by the name of Liz Kahn, you may remember, wrote the 50-year anniversary book of the LPGA. The four of us are going to do a series of podcasts about the lives of those women.

Brandie Burton 30:36

Oh, wow, how special and so deserving. That is awesome. I can't wait to uh listen to that because you know, they uh without them, I wouldn't be here telling you my story.

Mike Gonzalez 30:47

Yeah, yeah. And and they've got some great stories. Yeah.

Brandie Burton 30:50

Yeah. I can't, I mean, yeah, unbelievable what they sacrificed to play and you know, all the jobs that they had to do um to make their lives happen.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Yeah.

Brandie Burton 31:02

Everything. And uh yeah, we're so grateful for what they did to give us the opportunity to make golf a living.

Mike Gonzalez 31:12

Yeah, you know, yeah, you you watch that uh documentary that they made, of course, the founders. And and you know, uh uh as you would expect, Babe Diedriksen gets a lot of uh airtime, and Patty Berg gets a lot of airtime, and Louise Suggs, all the great players from that first initial uh group of 13 founders, but some of the lesser knowns have some quite interesting stories as well, and we're looking forward to working with Judy to telling those stories.

Brandie Burton 31:37

Yeah, and what better person to be with? Judy is fantastic.

Mike Gonzalez 31:41

Yeah. So uh you join as a two-time winner of the DeMaurier a uh pretty fancy list of golfers who are now multiple winners of that event. Uh I I guess uh Bruce, uh you could probably assume that uh the first four names listed there are all going to be in the Hall of Fame at one point.

Bruce Devlin 32:04

Pat Bradley, Meg Mallon, Lydia Coe, Joanne Konnor, and joined by double B Brandy as dual winners, at least win twice. Of course Bradley and Mallon did it, and uh Co did it three times, but uh that's quite a feat. Wonderful, wonderful effort.

Brandie Burton 32:28

Yeah, thank you. And it's funny you said double B because uh that was actually one of my nicknames at one point. So that was that mean. I was like, wow, where did you get that from?

Mike Gonzalez 32:37

Yeah, we do our research, eh?

Brandie Burton 32:39

You know, boom, boom, double B B, whatever. Uh I answered to it all.

Mike Gonzalez 32:45

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 33:10

It went smack down the fairway. And it's time to just like just smack line. My head is as long as you're still in the stage you're okay. It went straight down the middle file