Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) - Part 1 (The Early Years)

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Welcome to another edition of FORE the Good of the Game and Bruce Devlin. We've got a first this morning, so uh we might as well get with it. You ready? Yeah, ready. Happy birthday.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 0:28

Oh god to you.

Mike Gonzalez 0:30

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Kathy.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 0:40

Oh dear.

Mike Gonzalez 0:41

Happy birthday to thank you for the reminder.

Bruce Devlin 0:48

What a thrill to have a birthday girl with us today.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 0:52

Uh first day of spring, wonderful.

Bruce Devlin 0:55

We thank uh Kathy Baker Guadagnino.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 1:01

Guadagnino, second she's silent. Yeah, as I say, that was all his fault.

Bruce Devlin 1:08

Okay. Yeah. Uh what a um another lady who uh whose first victory was a US Open Championship, which is quite remarkable. And it's we're glad to have you with us today, Kathy. And again, happy birthday, dear go.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 1:27

Well, thank you, Bruce. Thank you so much. It's good to be with you guys.

Mike Gonzalez 1:30

Yeah, nice to have you, Kathy. Yeah, this is our first. I'm not even sure we've been close to a birthday, so it was kind of cool. And of course, in the in the lead up, we didn't want to we didn't want to tip it off, so we didn't want to acknowledge your birthday.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 1:40

But but happy birthday, well, I was surprised, thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 1:43

Well, uh nice of you to do it on your birthday. And uh, you know, as we've talked about before um uh leading up to this, what we like to do with all the women and the men is tell your whole life story. So we're gonna take you to back to the very, very beginning. I know you're born in Albany, but tell us a little bit about um your earliest recollections of growing up as a little girl in New York and perhaps elsewhere.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 2:07

Well, as as it would have it, I was in Albany. We used to winter down in Florida. I think once I was about five or six, we used to come down to Florida. So I would actually start school up in Albany, New York, in Loudonville, actually. And then I would go to a seasonal school down here in Florida and then finish back up in uh New York. So we did a lot of traveling that way. But as I was uh thinking about it, I was trying to figure out my earliest uh recollection of golf as it was, and my dad was really the force there because he loved the game. He just absolutely loved the game. He wasn't the best at it, but you know what? He loved it. And so in the backyard, he had kind of made a little green of sorts with a little bunker, and we had uh, you know, pretty good sized field there. So as little kids, we used to go back there and he used to give us a nickel for every time we could get the ball past this certain tree. So it was kind of an honor system. So uh, but you know, even back then I can remember, you know, getting it past that tree. And then there was this place in Albany, uh, or maybe Troy, I'm trying to think where it was up there, called Hoffman's, which had a little golf range, but it also had a bunch of uh like a Ferris wheel and that kind of stuff. So he would always kind of bring us there. So if we hit some golf balls and then we could go, you know, ride on the scrambler or something, you know. But my my dad was always he he loved sports, so it seemed all of us kids were kind of steered in a certain direction. If he sensed there was some kind of ability there, and um he was a um CEO of a pool company, paddock pool equipment company, so we were all swimmers, so we did that. I remember um going to camp up on Lake Ontario. This is I'm trying to think how old I'm at this point, probably 10, and it was a swimming camp, three-week camp. Now, if you can imagine, we're on the lake, Lake Ontario. You that water was extremely cold. Oh, yeah, and we had to delapse, we had to do all kinds of stuff. It was a very rugged camp. And I remember uh your your shower was basically taking a dive into the lake. That was it. And uh the only problem was silly, silly mem remembrance, is you had to lather up on shore, make a quick dive in, and get out because there were leeches in the lake. And every time you would they were drawn to the soap, so you made it quick. Crazy memories, you know, as you look back, but uh did that, but I really didn't get started in golf till I want to say it was about sixth, seventh grade. Um, okay. We had gone on a uh family vacation, and my dad had all had gone golfing and so had me out there, and he just felt like there was some ability there. So when we got back, uh he started giving me golf lessons, and that's basically how I got started.

Mike Gonzalez 5:16

Well, you you mentioned a couple things that were interesting. Riding the scrambler. Boy, I haven't heard that for a while.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 5:21

I loved it, uh not anymore. Somehow that changes as you get older, but I loved it as a as a as a little kid.

Mike Gonzalez 5:30

Yeah, and then and then the the the back, of course, the backyard uh putting green, you know, you've probably got that in common with a few ladies we've talked to. I remember Amy Alcott talking about cutting cups in the front yard, and then of course, every once in a while you take out a window too.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 5:45

Right, yeah. Thankfully, it was far enough away from the house where it wasn't a problem.

Mike Gonzalez 5:51

Okay. All right. So did you play other sports as well when you were growing up?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 5:55

I yeah, I pretty much did the full gamut. I mean, it was kickball, it was, I did some track and field, I did um uh, but I'm gonna say it was probably in seventh grade that I started. Uh I was actually in Florida at the time. I um played for St. Andrews. Um, and I remember probably at that time I was maybe shooting upper 50s for nine holes. And then uh my dad got me some lessons and I had moved to the Carolinas at that point and uh was in Rock Hills, so not too far from Beaufort. And then um ended up that's where things started to change. I uh my dad had entered me into a state tournament and I finished runner up. I remember watching, who is it? Carolyn Gowen. If you remember Carolyn Gowen, was playing with her, and I mean, I was such a newbie to the game in terms of knowing anything about yardage for me. I just looked at it and kind of okay, it looks like this, you know. And I'm trying to figure out what this girl is doing is she's like stepping off all the way up to the green. I'm like, what is this? Anyway, so I had a lot to learn because I was a relatively late comer to the game from that standpoint. But um, yeah, so and from there it just sort of took off. And my dad, oh, you know, like I I give him, you know, so much credit to this because he saw it before I ever did, and um, just gave me the opportunities to get better, got a lot of exposure. I mean, I was in professional events as an amateur, which, you know, it's nervy the first couple of times you play. I don't think you ever get rid of those nerves, but it just helped me acclimate to what eventually I was going to be doing.

Mike Gonzalez 7:44

Yeah. Yeah. What uh what drew you to the game originally? What what was the real attraction for you?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 7:52

My dad. It was it was kind of a thing where um I wouldn't say I was drawn to the game. I was good at it. And that's what my my my dad saw. He saw I had a natural ability there. And so he he really did push me in the game. It was kind of like my high school years were very much all about golf and our weekends. It was first thing in the morning we were out playing. Um, it it I did a lot of traveling with it. It was uh really amazing of just how um uh looking in foresight that he, my dad was, because he said, you know, he saw something that I obviously didn't. And so that was what was uh um and I, you know, I think probably in some ways, I don't want to say I resented it, but I felt like I, you know, there were other things I wanted to do, and I couldn't figure out what that was, but I really didn't have a choice because this is what we were doing.

Bruce Devlin 8:56

It's it's remarkable to me, Kathy, that you you weren't aware of it yet when you were only 17 years old, which wasn't that much after you sort of caught onto the game, you win the junior PGA championship. And that's uh that was a that was a fabulous start to your career too.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 9:16

Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you an interesting story about that. My dad had, I was playing, um, we had a couple things going on that summer, and I was playing in the Transnational, which was up at Wolfort's Roost in Albany. I was also the qualifying for that PGA tournament was at the Twin States Junior, which was in the North and South Carolina junior state tournament, same day. Somehow, my dad arranged for me to get one of the first tee-off times up in Albany. And I remember I shot, it was a qualifying round for the Trans Am. I shot like a 79 or something and had arranged for me to fly down to the Carolinas where the twin states was, and I had to walk with the score. It was I had a three o'clock tea time with a score and went around, and they were only taking one. And I was like, Dad, I'm not playing that great. Are you serious? You want me to go fly down and do this? And I was up first thing in the morning playing up there, and sure enough, fly down there, shot a 76. I ended up winning the spot to go to the PGA national junior, and then I win the, you know, so it's kind of like those little things that happen. You're like, oh my gosh. You know, if I'd had my way, it would have been a different story. So it's good to have good parents, you know.

Mike Gonzalez 10:43

Father knows best.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 10:44

Yeah, definitely.

Mike Gonzalez 10:46

Yeah. Oh, that's incredible. Well, um uh let's just take you back to kind of your earlier days of playing again, because I I want to have you talk about uh what equipment you were playing, what you remember back then. Was it hand-me-downs at first before you kind of got your first real set of clubs, or do you remember?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 11:02

Um, what I remember about my first set of clubs, it was a new set, and the reason I got them was because the woods, the driver, the three wood and the five wood were actually wood, you know, with the really pretty grain on it, and it was this real kind of an oak colored with the the beautiful grain on it. I just liked how they looked. That's why I wanted them. And uh, it's just so funny to think about that. I mean, it was like, and even when I would try different clubs, it wasn't, you know, I was very much a feel player, so if it felt right, that was it. If it, you know, and in this case, if it looked right, it was in my bag. So but yeah, I I couldn't even tell you what kind they were. Um, I just remembered they were really pretty.

Mike Gonzalez 11:53

That's great. That's great. I remember playing a Cushnet Club specials. How about you? Is ball what kind of balls were you playing? Do you remember?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 12:01

Titless. I kind of always was a titless club.

Mike Gonzalez 12:04

Oh my. Really?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 12:05

Yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 12:06

Even at the beginning. Bruce, of course, you were playing what, Dunlaps or Spauldings, or what were you playing?

Bruce Devlin 12:10

Yeah, well, uh Slesinger uh in Australia. Um then spaulding here in the States. So you have sort of a change changing clubs too, which wasn't all that easy.

Mike Gonzalez 12:23

Yeah. Well, and and and then you're I I probably of a vintage where you were able to play a British ball. And you remember playing a small ball at all, Kathy, growing up or not? No? No, no, no, always the larger ball, huh?

Bruce Devlin 12:38

Always seventy-eight, I think, wasn't it, when uh when we switched over? To the big ball.

Mike Gonzalez 12:48

I don't remember. I remember playing you know, occasionally playing the small ball. There were certainly some advantage to that.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 12:54

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 12:55

Uh in the wind. So uh So you you it sounds like you did travel a little bit uh as a youngster to compete in various tournaments. Uh uh you won the Carolinas women uh women's amateur. What what what year was that?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 13:10

Good question. I if I going back, I remember the PGA was in 79. Um I won the Twin States, uh not the Twin States, the Eastern amateur a couple of years. I won the Western amateur, won the um, I don't know, there were a couple couple in there. It was it was all kind of in a condensed period of time, and then ended up going to college um on scholarship to University of Tulsa, and that's where you know it was pretty much all the college events that took place. I still did a few tournaments during the summer, but Dale McNamara, a wonderful coach, uh she, you know, kept us pretty busy. So um we stayed pretty uh pretty disciplined as far as the game went through our college years as well. So, I mean, I got away for maybe three, four tournaments during the summer, but also played the open a couple of times as an amateur. I think that was in '81 and '82, was the low uh amateur in the open those couple of years.

Mike Gonzalez 14:11

Okay. Well, let's go back to the U.S. Open 1981, would have been uh just down the street from where I was at the time, because that would have been Pat Bradley winning at LeGrange Country Club in 81.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 14:23

Lagrange, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 14:24

Yeah. And then Janet Anderson winning at Del Paso Country Club. Is that right?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 14:31

I seem to remember um in the 81 open, I was playing well, and I was um paired with Joanne Carner. And I'm trying to, and she's so wonderful. I I love Joanne, and she could tell I was nervous, and she just, you know, kind of just kept me loose as I was out there. She's a great competitor, but she's not one of those competitors that's gonna stick it to you. You know, I mean, she just generally wants you to play well because she wants to have a good match, you know. And just always respected her for that. You know, you have certain people, key people in your life that really um made an impact in those early years. And that was one thing I remembered with Joanne. She really, really helped me a lot. And just in in one day, just by how she was and how she played, and you know, um, that was pretty neat. And I think I uh, like I said, I finished okay in in both of those events, but it gets I again, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to not like I said, not that you ever get used to the pressure, but being exposed to that pressure at that time. And because I think those are all things that kind of set up for for when I eventually did win the open. So it's I'd been there a couple of times before, so I kind of knew what to expect. And you know, you just you kind of play your game. It's you and the golf ball and the golf course, and that's it. And I was able to pretty much do that and focus that way.

Mike Gonzalez 15:58

So was the 81 U.S. Women's Open your first women's open, or had you played in it prior?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 16:05

No, I played. I was up in Connecticut, um Brooklawn.

Mike Gonzalez 16:12

Oh okay, that would have been 1979 with Geraldin Britt's one.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 16:16

I played in Brooklawn, and I remember someone telling me, you gotta watch the rough. If you get in the rough, grab your sandwich and just find the fairway again. Don't try to hit it out of the rough, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, you know, so I was I was on one uh par five, and I should have listened, and I was determined. I do have a stubborn streak, so I was determined I'm getting this thing out, and I must, I think I took about an eight on the whole because I just refused to take that sand wedge and hit it back out into the fairway. So let this be a lesson to me.

Mike Gonzalez 16:53

So I'm I'm sure you weren't the first that made that mistake.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 16:57

Yeah, it's uh exaggerating.

Mike Gonzalez 17:00

If 79 was your first U.S. Open, I want to take you back there then. Um, you know, you're driving onto the property at Brooklawn Country Club for the first time. Um, sure you're nervous. Probably got one or both of your parents there, perhaps with you. And you go in the locker room, put your shoes on, head out to that practice range, probably got your name there on a little placard, maybe, uh, maybe with a little U.S. flag. I don't know if they did it back then. How vivid are your memories of that first time you step on that practice tee and start looking up and down the row?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 17:37

It's it's a different feel for sure. You're you kind of get this sense, ooh, this is the big leagues kind of deal, if you if you want to look at it that way. Um But honestly, I I mean, I have certain moments that I remembered about it, like like being in the rough and this and that. But um, again, I have to, I wasn't, and I don't mean this to sound uh the wrong way, I wasn't wowed by it because my dad had done such a good job to kind of desensitize me when it came to these type things, so that the pressure was off and I was able to play. And so it was to me, it was just another tournament. Even though it was the US Open in my mind, it was, hey, this is another tournament. And very focused that way. I have to say, my dad was very good at, you know, we never rested on our laurels, we just, okay, on to the next one. He was kind of like a mountain climber, and in a way, um, there's a good and a bad side to that, but it really did help prepare me for being able to deal with the pressures that come with being in that kind of limelight or that setting, especially if you don't thrive on it. I don't. I, you know, my husband would absolutely love it, not me. I I just let me just do my work here and you can go follow somebody else, you know. That was kind of my approach. Um I I always liked the open though. I'd have to say the USG always does a really good job and putting on the tournament, and there's a real sense of nostalgia in it about all the courses that they pick. And I think the most memorable, obviously, would be going to Baltasroll because that time I remember looking at the the clubhouse and it just it just smelled of old golf. There was it was just a it was a different experience. I would say if any of them really hit me that way, it was probably Baltasrol. Just uh I think just how the layout of the course, just how it was. But again, I played in '81, '82, '83. What's interesting about '83 was it was at Cedar Ridge in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was our home course for the um for our college team. Yeah. And when I was playing there, and I was playing with my friend uh Barb Thomas, one of our the girls on our team, and out of the blue, and I, you know, I'm just gonna say it like it is, out of the blue, I look at her and I go, you know, I'm gonna win the US Open. And I'll never forget her face, her jaw dropped, she goes, Where did that come from? And I went, I don't know. That just kind of flew out of my mouth. And I I because I'm not the type of person to say that kind of stuff. But it was like I it was like just this moment, I knew it. Uh, something was gonna happen, and I I was gonna win the soapen. I don't know that it connected that much at the time, it was just a bizarre comment coming out of my mouth. And funny enough, two years later was when I won the open, and God God really reminded me of that. I felt like it was kind of this destiny thing that was crazy. But um that's what I remember about the 80, and that I think Jan Stevenson won that one.

Mike Gonzalez 21:10

She did, yeah, she did.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 21:12

84. I'm trying to remember where 84 was and who won.

Mike Gonzalez 21:19

84 was Holla Stacy winning her third at Salem Country Club.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 21:23

Salem Country Club, and I believe I did play in that as well. And then then 85.

Mike Gonzalez 21:28

Yeah, well, we'll come to 85, but we'll take you back to uh I know you keep trying to get me back.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 21:34

I keep going forward.

Mike Gonzalez 21:36

Well, that's okay. We we could do that. Um uh but you mentioned winning the Eastern Amateur, uh you won that in 79 and 82, and then you know the the um uh the Western Golf Association who can uh runs the Evans Scholarship Program, which is a wonderful program young men and women into into a very variety of university programs around the country. Matter of fact, we've just uh Started getting it a little bit more active with the Evan Scholar program down here at our club in Buford. So we're quite proud of that. But uh the women's Western amateur and the men's western amateur, big deals. Big deals. Absolutely. Winning that in in 1980. So you know, you start talking about uh competing at a young age in the U.S. Open. Well, you'd been around the block a little bit.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 22:21

You'd you'd then that's why I say I I I really thank my my down for that because he he he knew what it was gonna take for me, and he just wanted to see how far you know I could take it. The interesting thing about the Western, Western was match play, the eastern was you know metal. I always I love metal play. Match play always gave me a little bit of trouble, and most of the time, because I would do better if I was able to block everybody out, but match play, you got to beat this person right here, right in front of you. And I just my dad would always tell me, he says, You got to develop that killer instinct, put them away, put them away. And I I just I would feel bad, you know, because you're dealing with people's emotions right there in the moment. You know, one person's happy, they're you know, winning, the other person's getting frustrated. And it just was never the the forum I liked the best. And even when we got into um some of the you know, Curtis Cup, I was on the Curtis Cup, that same kind of thing. I just that wasn't my forte. I was better with the metal because I was able to block everybody else out. It was just because you're playing against the whole field, don't focus in on this one, it's just you in your golf game, yeah. But yeah, Western was a and that was 36 holes, I remember in the as the finals. So it was that was a that was kind of grueling.

Mike Gonzalez 23:45

I remember hearing as a kid, you get them three or four down, step on their throat.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 23:50

I and I you know, I would it and I I'd be five up and coming in even on 18, and I'm like, golly, you just just gotta do it.

Mike Gonzalez 23:59

What happened, huh? Uh so you were playing at an interesting time because probably during your high school years, that was a little pre-Title IX. And then as you get into college, of course, Title IX is starting to happen, which opened up some athletic opportunities uh for women. So, first in your high school years, uh, did you have a women's high school golf team?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 24:22

No, we didn't. So I got to play on the boys' team. So ninth grade, ninth grade on Charlotte Latin in uh Charlotte, North Carolina, played with the boys, and they let me the first year, uh, they let me play on the ladies' tease. But then there were so many complaints from the other teams that I gave everybody this unfair advantage by playing the ladies, they kicked me back to the whites. So I played on the men's tease, and but you know what? It was it was good preparation for uh what I was gonna do later because I had to learn. I was never a particularly long hitter, but it really helped me focus in on the short game because there were some holes I couldn't reach. And so, you know, it helped me develop the short game that much more I needed to.

Mike Gonzalez 25:10

Yeah. Did you help the boys to uh uh any state accolades uh during your time in high school?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 25:17

We I we I remember um our team, actually, two uh Harrison Rudder and myself went to states. Yeah. And there were only um as individuals, our team never made it. Um, but as individuals we went, and I remember for the state tournament, they did have for the ladies, but there were only two of us. Uh huh. And that was for I believe uh at that time, I think it was North and South Carolina. Um, and there were only two. It was Stephanie Cornegy and myself, and she won.

Mike Gonzalez 25:49

Isn't that unbelievable looking back on it though? Oh my gosh, and what's happened uh since then?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 25:54

Yeah, yes. Yes, and uh yeah, it was it's pretty wild when you think of a lot of the hurdles, you know, we kind of had to overcome. And but in in another way, it just made us that much stronger because we had to play with the guys, and it you know, it was you're always trying to get your get a couple little more yards out of what you were doing, and where you couldn't, you were working on other parts of your game to make up for it.

Mike Gonzalez 26:23

So yeah, yeah. So the college recruiting process would have would have been a little different back then.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 26:31

Well, again, my dad, being his himself, thought, what a great idea. We're going to take you. Um, I guess there was a tournament. I want to say it was um uh was it the University of Florida? It was a a tournament in the in uh um possible, I think it may have been up in Tallahassee, which wasn't too far from Charlotte, you know, area. So my dad said, okay, you know what? We're just gonna fly down to this tournament and you'll get to meet all the coaches, one stop shopping and just figure out who you like, blah, blah, blah. Well, little did we know this was against all kinds of rules. And um, coaches weren't allowed to talk to me uh in this kind of setting. And so apparently our presence there created quite a stir. And so there was this emergency meeting of all the coaches, and basically, and it was about me because I was there and what was equitable and fair for everybody. And there were a couple in particular, Dale McNamara was one of them who I was going to meet, and she said, Well, Kath, she goes, We had a meeting about you, you caused quite a stir, young lady. She said, and we can't talk to you about the school, we can't talk to you about anything. She goes, So how's your love life? And I mean, I think she endeared herself to me that day because it was we just chatted about everything but golf, and it was wonderful. Um, and then at the time that I remember I was looking at Furmin, obviously, because it was close by um, Tulsa and SMU. And uh when I uh went on the Tulsa campus, it was just something, you know, like I say, sometimes those destiny things just kind of fate sort of settles in, and it was like now, and there was a foot of snow on the ground at the time. And I remember uh Dale was so concerned that that was when my visit was, and I said, this is perfect because I needed a break from the game at some point in time. You know, I wanted to study and do all this, and if it was down in South Florida where it's sunny and you know, there's no excuse for not being out on the golf course. This at least gave me some hope to, you know, crash and burn in those last couple of weeks before exams happened, because I I did want to graduate. So it it worked out fine. But it's just funny how those things sort of come together to get you really where you're supposed to be.

Mike Gonzalez 28:58

Yeah, yeah. So you you go to Tulsa, of course, uh it has another famous uh woman golfer alum, doesn't it?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 29:05

Yes, it does. Nancy Lopez. Yeah, yep. She's done, she did uh, she was there a couple of years before I was. And actually when I came out actually thinking back, I had an opportunity to play at Moss Creek for the women's event there. And that's where I got to meet Nancy. Somehow uh they had arranged and talk about an opportunity. I got to play in the pro am with Nancy Patty Berg, and I want to say it was Joe uh uh Kathy Whitworth. And and I remember walking with Nancy and we were watching Patty, we were just amazed, and and Nancy was like, watch this, watch this. And she was completely studying Patty because she was she was great with touch around the greens and everything else, and she was trying to glean everything she could. And again, these these events have meant so much more looking back because I really didn't understand the opportunity in the moment. You know, it was it was an incredible opportunity. So when people tell the some of the stories about Patty Berg, oh yeah, she was a corker, that one. Really funny, really funny.

Mike Gonzalez 30:23

Yeah, used to do some great exhibitions. I don't know if you ever got the chance to see her later in life do an exhibition.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 30:30

I, you know, I heard her give a speech once, and I think it was at this event, and just so comedic. I mean, she just really was funny, just a neat, just neat person, neat person, and what she did for the game as well was and just to have an opportunity to, you know, walk in the same ropes with her with her was amazing. But that's really where I got to go, uh got to uh know Nancy a little bit, and we would talk about Dale. And I think at this point I was already committed to go to Tulsa. So we talked a little bit about Dale and she's giving me tips and um because Dale's Dale was a tough one. She, you know, so you had to, you know, you didn't push her too far or else you felt the heat.

Mike Gonzalez 31:12

So well, you you had some success uh at Tulsa, um not just uh team stuff and individual stuff, but also um other events, you know, during those college years. Let's start with the Curtis Cup, which you had brought up. That was a a 1982 Curtis Cup appearance. Uh you guys were winners. It was at the Denver Country Club, and you had uh oh, at least a couple of teammates that people would recognize.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 31:37

Yeah, we we we had a few there. I but you know, I look back at that, and the thing that sticks out the most to me, and I don't know if you guys can can relate with this, but I was playing with uh Lancy. I'm trying to think Lancy's last name. Anyway, uh we were partners, and it was that format where you would, I think it was alternate shot. Right. And we're doing alternate shot, and I had the worst time on those greens, and I don't know what it was, completely lost my feel. And then at that point, so she's putting me in good position, and then I'm putting her in terrible position because I just left her a 10-foot pup because I can't get the speed of these greens. And then I mean, I literally was shaking over these things, and I I would just say, Lance, I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry. I got I got no feel today. It was awful. I remember we still somehow managed to pull it off, but oh my gosh, talk about those. You know, that's the stuff that you know, nightmares are made of as a golfer. It's like, oh, just get me off this golf course. But um, yeah, we had that was fun. We had um trying to remember the different people that were on it, but I I I remember um oh kind of here. One of the girls there was uh from Scotland, and we just would laugh so much. Her accent, I mean, I I would say, I know you're speaking English, but you're you're gonna have to really slow it down because I don't have a clue of what you're saying. So we were we were having fun with that. But yeah, there were there was a lot of and just the opportunity to play for the country in that kind of forum that definitely was wonderful. Um actually Curtis Cup sporting for this was one of the ones from from uh this past year or so. Uh it was it was neat. So I got a chance down here to meet some of the girls that were um on the uh Curtis Cup team. So yeah, it's uh so many wonderful opportunities when you know you look back and think about all the um golfing opportunities that possibly maybe 10 years before, maybe I wouldn't have had those opportunities. So I'm grateful for those opportunities for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 34:03

Well, you had uh you had Julie Yangster on that team with you, you had Carol Semple Thompson on that.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 34:08

Thompson, yeah, Carol.

Mike Gonzalez 34:09

Two two two Hall of Famers, World Golf Hall of Famers, and of course Carol with uh quite a few different USG titles over the years. I think the neat thing that strikes me about this one, and and again, uh had you experienced it today, you probably would have appreciated a lot more than as a youngster. But it was the 50th anniversary of the Curtis Cup matches. And uh at that event, uh the first one being played at Wentworth Golf Club in England, uh there were at that 50th anniversary still four women who played in the inaugural event, including uh Glena Collette Vare, uh the Vare Trophy is named. Wow, Maureen Orcut, Dorothy Higby, and Edith Wilson. They were all in attendance uh during that week uh around those uh 50th anniversary celebrations. That would have been pretty cool.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 34:59

Yeah. Very cool, very cool. We actually had a similar thing. I'm jumping way ahead again, sorry guys. But um, for the I believe it was the 75th anniversary of the USGA last year, um, maybe two years ago, they because of COVID, we were supposed to do it when they were playing in Houston, and instead they pushed it back to Pebble Beach.

Mike Gonzalez 35:20

Pebble Beach, right?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 35:21

So they flew us all in there. There were 39 past champions there. Um, Merle Breer was there, who I know, and um uh Catherine Lacoste was there, the only amateur to have won. And I mean, you talk about some of the history of the game, it was a similar moment to that because it was like, oh my gosh. And to be of all places at Pebble, that was that was incredible.

Mike Gonzalez 35:46

Yeah, talking to Katherine Lacoste, she thoroughly enjoyed that event.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 35:51

She it was it, you know what? They they really took care of us there. Uh I you know, you you felt special, they they just it was top-notch all across the board and um just really special. I remember it was just wonderful, and being, you know, round and then hearing the stories. Oh my gosh. They did a dinner that night, and I remember Merle got up and she goes, Well, ladies, she said, when I won, she goes, I won twelve hundred dollars. And I thought that was pretty spiffy at the time. And then it was funny because then Catherine uh Lacoste got up and she says, Well, I got one even better. I didn't get paid anything. Zero.

Mike Gonzalez 36:36

Zero.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 36:36

And uh yeah, and then they were playing for golly, I think it was like 1.8 million. I mean, it was like mind-blowing what what the top prize was for that year, yeah. But that's it, you know, it's just the how it's it's really progressed, which is uh pretty exciting to see for the young ladies.

Bruce Devlin 36:56

Yeah, you know, if you look at that year that we're talking about, 1982, it was some year for you. I mean, Espirita Santo Trophy, uh NCAA Individual champion, I AIAW and NCAA team titles, yeah. Two-time NCA All-American. Boy, what a year you had.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 37:20

I'm gonna I'm gonna let you guys in on a secret on all of that.

Bruce Devlin 37:24

Okay.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 37:25

I know that's what you were looking for, so here's the secret. Um I was that was my junior year in college. I was we would travel a lot. It's not like it is now, um, where they really put an emphasis and uh a time limit on how much time players can be away because you're in college, you're there to learn. So, but when we would go, I mean, we'd be gone for a week, and you had to rely on some good friends in your various classes to get you all the notes of everything, and it became very obvious to me that um I it was very hard to balance both. So I'm down here for spring break, um, down here being in Florida, visiting my my dad. We go to play up in Palm Beach at Mayaku, and just it was just he and I, we had had a wonderful time, and I remember we're driving back, and I'm like, I think it surprised him. I said, Dad, I I I really enjoyed that today. Because most of the time he was like pulling me out to go, it's like dragging me to go play golf, and I hate to say it that way, but that's I I was very resistant to the game, but um, that changed for me when I went to college, and and I think as you know, I became a Christian in college, and I began to realize that God had given me these gifts for a reason, and my love for God really pushed me into the game, and it was it was kind of an interesting change for me because I felt very strongly called, if I can say that, to ministry. And this was in my junior year in college, and I thought, oh, now I've found I've found my purpose, clubs are going in the closet, I'm gonna go be a missionary, and it just things, it just I started to really question, you know, there's a reason why I've been gifted this way. So this is just some of the little backdrop. Well, I get into this day, I play with my dad, and I'm we're driving back, and I remember I went up to my room that day, and I was like, God, why do I fight this game so much? Clear as a bell. I hear, did you ever think that maybe I want to use you in this game? And and the devil knows it too. And it was like, oh, it was like light bulb moment. And and I literally said to him, I said, Okay, God, I said, I will play golf for you, but you need to give me the desire. I I just I don't have it. And I went back. No, this was actually over Christmas time, right? That's right, because I went back, changed my uh major. I went to sociology because it was something I could bring with me. I figured, you know, I'm gonna be dealing with people the rest of my life. I might as well figure out what makes them tick. And um, that's that's when that moment changed. And then all of a sudden everything just sort of fell into place. I mean, like because I hadn't won any college events. My first win in college was the NCA national championship, which when I look at a lot of these first wins, it's crazy. It was for the first major junior tournament, PG National Junior, first college, NCA. Yeah, and then first first professional one was the US Open. So it was kind of like it was crazy when you look back, you don't realize you're doing it at the time, but it was an interesting progression for sure.

Mike Gonzalez 40:51

Yeah, yeah. So it certainly freed you up then.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 40:55

Definitely, yeah, definitely. And then I was able, I I kind of knew that was where I was going. And um we had it was actually an amazing year that year in '82 because that's when that was the first year of the NCAA in the call in the college golf. So it was unique because we had two national titles that year, which was the AIAW and the NCAA nationals. And I remember, I believe the NCAA was first. That was out in San Jose. And then Dale, who was just basically cut right out of my dad's mold, she said, okay, that's great. You guys enjoy it for a day, but you know, it really doesn't mean anything unless we win the other one. And uh, so we knew the pressure was on and we knew it was close. I believe it came down to um the last couple of holes with the AIW. So we, I mean, it was it was an amazing time. And again, in looking back, we didn't realize that that was a first. Right, yeah. And um, you know what? When you're in the moment, it's not why you're doing it. You know what I'm saying? You're just correct, you're just part of a, you know, a moment that as you get further along in life, you look back and you go, oh wow, that was really pretty cool.

Mike Gonzalez 42:21

Yeah. I mean, no other women's team ever in history is ever again gonna win two national titles in the same year. Yeah, right.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 42:29

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 42:29

That's kind of cool.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 42:30

We actually, our team got together a couple of years ago at the 40th anniversary of the NCAA. And we all flew out to um, well, some of the girls were there. We stayed at uh Jody Anshu's house, and um just really fun. The tournament was there, and we just did a little bit of a reunion amongst ourselves, but you know, and it's so funny, you know, like old friends, you just pick up right where you left off. We were all college kids again. It was it was great.

Mike Gonzalez 42:56

Well, you uh you had uh that following year at least one other fun experience, probably but before uh your move to the professional ranks. You were the low am in the 1983 Dinoshore. This is the the one that uh Amy won uh in in its first year as a major. And uh she wasn't gonna take the plunge again there and and start that uh fad until five years later, I think. But uh what was that like? Because that was kind of like you guys' masters, wasn't it?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 43:26

It was the the dinosaur was always just such a wonderful tournament. Um uh the grounds are beautiful. Um, we all used to always love you'd you'd be hitting balls out on the range, and whoever was in the pro shop would make these reservations for Sylvester Stallone and da da da da. And they were always calling these names out, and you'd watch people go, oh, you know. And um, but that it's such a, like I said, such a wonderful venue. Again, I really have to thank my dad for getting me those. Opportunities that actually paved the way to get the invites to these various ones. Another one was the Bing Crosby Pro Am that I got an opportunity to play at in um where I got to play Cyper Cypress Spyglass and Pebble Beach, which was just an invite. And I think that actually was because I met Nathaniel Crosby at the World Cup that I had played the summer before, and a couple of uh girls got college girls got an invite to that, which was was a wonderful event too.

Mike Gonzalez 44:34

Yeah, were you were were you still playing in that Bruce back then, 83-ish? No, I had stopped in 82.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 44:42

Oh, really? Just before that. Oh, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 44:44

Bruce got to play every year with Dean Martin.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 44:46

Oh my gosh, yes. That was, I think um that year I played with Mike McCullough.

Bruce Devlin 44:53

Oh, did you?

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 44:54

And they made me talk about they gave us no break. So we had to play the tips.

Bruce Devlin 45:01

And that wasn't fun.

Kathy Guadagnino (Baker) 45:04

I it wasn't fun and it wasn't fair, I'll just say that. But what I mean, I I'm just trying to get to the fair weight from the T-box. It was like holy mackerel. The only one I played halfway decent on was Cyprus because it was a shorter golf course. Yeah. But yeah, that was that was pretty amazing. But back to um the dinosaur, that was always such a fun event because the pro amps, you you would get paired with different people. I don't know if you remember the um Ephraim Zimbelis Jr. Oh, sure. You would watch him as a child in what was it, the FBI? FBI, yeah, yeah. The FBI. Oh my gosh, yeah. And his hair was perfect in those Santa Ana wins. I'm like, holy mackerel, how do you do that? I'm like all over the place. But um, yeah, there were some great, you know, great opportunities that you got to to play with certain people and yet share the same uh love for the game. I mean, it's like golf is one of those sports that so many people love. I think it's just because in a way it requires so much of your attention. I know that this was the case for my dad. It he was a thinker, and so his mind is constantly, it gave him that escape where he could just kind of let down and and just kind of get lost out on the golf course. So I think you know that's one of those transcendent things about the game itself. So many people can enjoy it.

Mike Gonzalez 46:27

Yeah. 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 46:50

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway. And it started to spice, just smitch offline. It had it for two, but it bounced off nine. My long as you're still in the state, you're okay. It went straight down the middle, fine away.