Martha Nause - Part 2 (The 1994 du Maurier Classic and Perseverance)

Intro Music 0:10

It went straight down the middle. Then it started to fall.

Mike Gonzalez 0:16

So when again you did, Bruce, that came in Chicago.

Bruce Devlin 0:20

Yeah, 1991, LPGH Chicago Sun Time shootout at uh Oak Brook Golf Club by one over Chris Moynihan.

Martha Nause 0:30

Yeah, Bruce, you've probably driven right through the Oak Brook Country Club.

Bruce Devlin 0:34

I have. I have.

Martha Nause 0:37

Being at the gates of Butler National. Yes.

Bruce Devlin 0:40

That's right.

Martha Nause 0:41

So yeah, I mean, that tournament was it was sort of funny because I was starting to, you know, pay attention to things a little bit. And it sort of irritated me, honestly, that we were playing outside Butler National when we went to this Oak Brook Country Club. And it was a really a little muni course.

Bruce Devlin 1:02

Yeah.

Martha Nause 1:03

And the clubhouse was maybe, you know, 800 square feet. And I was just a little irritated that, you know, look at this. Right, you know, we're right outside the gates. Anyway. I also was was um staying with with friends. I had some really good college friends that were lived in the area. So I was staying with them. And um oh, and the other thing was I'm a big Green Bay Packers fan. And it was during the preseason. And my catty, also from Wisconsin, was a big Green Bay Packers fan fan. And Packers were playing in Milwaukee a preseason game on Saturday. And so, you know, I was playing the tournament. I have no idea what my scores were going into the last round, but I I was I was near the lead, or maybe a yeah, I was near the lead. And but I wanted to go to the Packer game. So my caddy and a friend of mine and I, we we drove up to Milwaukee evening game. We went to this Packer game. I had a blast. We got back about midnight. I was like, it doesn't matter. I got a late tea time. And then my family, my siblings and my um nieces and nephews all came on Sunday to watch me play. And because it was nearby. My mom and dad didn't come down from Sheboygan because my mom wasn't feeling well. And um anyway, but my family was there. My brother came from Madison, um, my sisters, my other sister came from Madison, my older sister came, was living in the area. So I had the whole crew there, the little nieces and nephews. It was really hot. They would come up onto the T when I'd get to the next hole and I'd give them some water. I'd like, come on, you guys, I'll give you some water. It's really hot out here. And I was just playing and having a good time and talking to my family and you know, whatever. I was four shots down with four holes to go. I only know this in retrospect. Uh, because again, I wasn't looking at the leaderboard. Well, I birdied 15. I made a nice birdie on 16. I hit it in the junk on 17 and punched it out to about three feet and tapped it in for a birdie on 17. And I get to the 18th T, and there's a big crowd around the tee, and one of my nieces worms or squirms her way up to the front to get her glass of water. And she was about six years old. And she said to me, Auntie Martha, you're at minus 12, and the other's minus 13. That's only one different. And and I was like, I am. Oh, okay, here's your water. Go away now. And I was like, oh no, oh no, I don't want to know this. So it was a par five, and I go up to my caddy, who had been with me for a long time now, and I and I said, Tom, I'm one off the lead. He said, just hit your shot out there, don't worry about it. You know, he gives me a two-iron because it was a lay off, layup off the tee, gives me my two iron. I hit my tee shot into the middle of the fairway. I hit my next shot down into the middle of fairway. And the green was um elevated green. The pin was on the left center of the green, the wind was going right to left. I was at 107 yards out, which was too short for my nine iron, but too long for my pitching wedge. But I thought, you know, I don't know, I better be more safe than, you know, a little more careful here. So I pulled out my pitching wedge and aimed at the middle of the green and I hit it. It went, it flew past the hole, which I've never hit a pitching wedge that far. Past the hole to the right, it backed up left into the hole for an eagle. And so I ended up birdie birdie birdie eagle. Yeah. And Chris Monahan came came in and lipped out her birdie putt and uh for me to win the tournament. So yeah, it was quite crazy.

Mike Gonzalez 5:32

Oh, what a finish. Have you have you ever had a finish like that before?

Martha Nause 5:36

Me? No. No. Or Sid? No.

Mike Gonzalez 5:43

Yeah, that's pretty amazing. You you may recall, but um um just a few years before this, and I remember this because I lived uh pretty nearby. At the time I lived in Elmhurst, which was just a few minutes away from Butler and Oakbrook, and uh they had big storms come through. Bruce, remember this? Uh big storms come through. And uh I've got video of all this where Butler National was literally underwater uh you know a day before they're ready to start the tournament. I wound up playing the uh the 1987 Western Open, nine holes at Butler National. Nine holes on the golf course that you won on.

Bruce Devlin 6:16

Oh wow.

Mike Gonzalez 6:17

Yeah, so don't feel too bad. You did play the championship course where they played the Western Open back in 1987. That's a vivid memory for me because we had torrential rains.

Martha Nause 6:30

Wow, wow, yeah. Well, it was it was a nice golf course. It you know, it was a sort of a fun little course to play, and every hole was kind of different. Um, you know, but it was sort of funny because a lot of the top players were saying things, especially even after my first win, the Stableford, and then this win, they were like, well, that wasn't a real golf course. And um with the Pat the planners Pat Bradley, uh there well, not the best person really won. She barely made it into the second round. And you know, so there was a lot of uh undercurrent. Um that I won these tournaments, but you know, they didn't really count.

Mike Gonzalez 7:13

So Martha, it wasn't too long after this uh tournament that you lost a pretty important person in your life.

Martha Nause 7:20

Yeah, the reason my mom and dad weren't at that tournament in '91 was because my mom wasn't feeling well. Um turns out she had cancer. And they found that about a month later, about a month after that tournament win. And um she, you know, had some, you know, she wasn't, she was tired, she had a pain in her side, and you know, there was some funny number on a blood result or something. And um turned out she had lymphoma of the spleen. And um it was they said it was treatable, and uh, you know, 95% of these people that have this are, you know, recovered with this with chemo, but she lasted just two and a half months. And and it was, you know, just a shock. I mean, total shock, you know, she'd been healthy her whole life, she'd never had any major in illnesses at all. And all of a sudden, you know, she was a dynamo and all of a sudden she was gone, and whew, yeah, that was tough. Um and you know, and then in uh the next year, I was still, you know, still sort of battling with the thought of her passing and you know, the stress of that and all. And I end up um having my own stress-related illness. In I was at the U.S. Open at Oakmont in '92. And um I had seen Manuel just before I went to the tournament, and I had this pain in my jaw, and I kept, you know, like rubbing my jaw, and he was saying to me, Are you okay? I'm like, I just have this pain in my jaw. And then I went off to the tournament and um got more and more sick feeling and felt like I had a terrible cold. And the morning of the first round, I I got up and I sort of stumbled into the wall as I was on my way to the bathroom, and I was brushing my teeth, and water was coming out of my mouth as I was rinsing my mouth out. I was like, something's not right here. And I went to the first aid tent and they took me to the hospital, and I ended up in the hospital with Ramsey Hunt syndrome, um, viral infection that um was in my ear and damaged my um, well, destroyed my balance nerve in my ear and paralyzed half of my face. And um so that was the end of my season in '92. It took me a long time, a year to recover from it. But um yeah, it was my whole half of my face was paralyzed. And I was in the hospital for about four days. They said, when when we can see you walk around the hallways here without aid, we'll let you leave the hospital. So I was like, okay, here we go.

Bruce Devlin 10:38

There's some incentive here.

Martha Nause 10:39

Hanging on to the IV stand as I'm, you know, trudging down the hallway. So I ended up going back to Sheboygan and uh my dad was there and um, you know, was went through the recovery, most of the recovery there. Um but you know, the the balance nerve loss was really awful. And um, you know, had to learn how to walk without stumbling and how to swing a golf club again without falling over. And um yeah, it was it was quite the quite the experience.

Mike Gonzalez 11:20

And Ramsey Hunt syndrome has been in the news the last week, hasn't it?

Martha Nause 11:25

Yeah, I just saw Justin Bieber has been diagnosed with it. So, no, now people are here hearing what it is, but it's a pretty uncommon, uncommon uh affliction, I guess. It's really what it is is shingles in your ear. Oh, it's you know, it's the vibe it's the vi the shingles virus that goes into your ear and affects your um equilibrium. Yeah, all of that, yeah. So anybody who's had chicken pox or you your shingles could actually go into your ear and that, yeah, it's awful.

Mike Gonzalez 11:59

So that had to impact your your game then for uh some period of time.

Martha Nause 12:03

It took me about a year, a full year to really recover from it. So that happened in July of uh 92. And I started back on the tour in January of '93, but I wasn't really fully recovered. I really the doctors basically said to me, you will have to do all the things that you normally do in order for your good ear to relearn all the stuff. So there's really nothing in particular special to do. It's just do everything. And um so when I started playing, like the when the wind, you know, you're your balance in your head, your balance nerves in your head, we don't we don't appreciate them really because they do so much work. But if windy and your head's moving around like this, um it can be really disorienting. And I would get nauseous on the golf course when it was windy because of all the you know, the little movements that my body was still relearning to recognize. And we played a tournament that had a suspension bridge. And when I walked over the suspension bridge during the practice round, and everybody's stepping differently, and the bridge is is moving in these crazy ways, I got to the other side and again I was nauseous the rest of the day. And you know, not only were the players and caddies walking across the bridge, but the spectators were. So I decided when I was playing the tournament that I'd I'd ask the marshals on either side to keep the bridge clear so that I would be the only one on the bridge. And it was about a 50-yard long bridge. It's pretty long. And I would then run across the bridge so that I wasn't standing there getting, you know, yeah, moved around a lot. And that was the only way I could get through the round um without getting nauseated.

Bruce Devlin 14:13

Yeah.

Martha Nause 14:14

So, but uh yeah, definitely took about a year for me to feel like I was not being affected by those things anymore.

Mike Gonzalez 14:23

Yeah. So, you know, you you decide to get back in the winter circle at some point. Let's just go win a major, huh?

Martha Nause 14:30

Well, you know, when I was sick and I had a little bit of a relapse in October that year, the doc one of the doctors said to me, you know, you're a professional golfer and you're gonna need your balance. And uh you might consider that you'll never be able to play professional golf again. And I was like, Yeah, that's not gonna happen. No, no, I'll you just watch me, I'll I'll show you. So, I mean, I it really never entered my mind again that I wasn't gonna play. So I kept playing, and again, my 93 season was, you know, not great because of you know, still recovering, and I get into 94, and I'm still trying to get my confidence back and my game back, and I wasn't playing real well. Um, we played in Chicago. Now the tournament that had, well, the Suntime shootout had moved to Naperville, and and I was there, and there was a uh guy there who was doing um a little sports psychology presentation um early in the week. And I, you know, I was always interested in learning all those things, so I went to it and I kind of liked what he had to say, and so I went up to him afterwards and I said, Um, would you consider working with me individually? And he said, sure, let's start this week. And so um he went out and watched me play, and you know, he had some observations that he shared with me um after my first round that he watched. Um, just things like when I would stand behind the ball getting ready to hit a shot, I would take a practice swing, but I would never really finish the practice swing. I sort of um, you know, fall out of it and then walk forward, whatever. He said, just finish your practice swing, get to the finish, hold that for a second, and um, you know, instead of falling back, you're you're sort of reinforcing this fallback thing. So I changed that and I played better. I don't know if I made the cut or not, but um, I played better. I think I missed the cut. But I get to the next tournament, the De Maurier in Ottawa, and so then I was talking to him and he said, now this is what I want you to do. The moment you step on the grounds at Ottawa Hunt Club, I want you to act like a champion. You walk like a champion, you think like a champion, you walk onto the first T like a champion. He said, I want you just to act like a champion no matter what's happening. And he said, and the other thing I want you to do is I want you to uh split your round into three six-hole segments. And he said, What do you think you can shoot per six-hole segment? You know, one or two under? And I was no, three whole segments. Six three-hole segments. He said, What do you think? Can you think you should you can shoot one under for a three-hole segment? I said, Yeah, of course I can. And he said, Okay, so six three whole segments. Once you're done with those three holes, you put it aside. Now you're on your next three-hole segment, and your goal is to shoot one under per three-hole segment. So I go out the first round and I shoot six under par.

Mike Gonzalez 17:58

Yeah. Course record, yeah, six under par, yeah.

Martha Nause 18:03

Yeah. And so then I played, you know, after that, the next two rounds, I played okay. And I was, you know, around par somewhere, and I was near the lead. Because I tied for the lead going into the last day. I don't remember.

Mike Gonzalez 18:22

Four-way tie for the lead after 54.

Martha Nause 18:24

Four-way tie for lead. Okay. And so was I in the last group? I don't remember that either. But I started out playing the last round, and I wasn't playing well. It was very windy, and you know, I was I wasn't playing real well, and was a couple over par, but then we had a rain delay. And we went in and sat around for a couple hours, I guess. And instead of sitting around with everybody in the main room watching the telecast or things like that, I just went into the back of the locker room and I just laid on the floor and did some stretching exercises and um talked to a friend on the on the phone. And um then we went back out to play and I birdied that hole. I think I made it again. I'm I'm bad with all the scores. I I don't know where I stood exactly, but I birdied that hole, I think. I birdied the next hole. We're going off the green, and the marshal says to me, We got a new leader. And I'm like, no, no, no, don't say anything. That's the last you're gonna say to me. Oh my gosh. And I don't want to know. And then we get to the next hole, and I make a long curling putt on this par three to take the lead. No, that was, I don't know, take the lead, whatever. One five, one shot. So I had 16, 17, and 18 to play. And I lipped out a birdie putt on 16. I was playing with Michelle McGann, who was had been the leader at that point. And 17, she hits it on the green, and I miss the green. Now I now I know where I stand, and I'm very nervous. And my arms feel like jelly, and I make a terrible swing, and I hit I miss the green, the par three. Um, and then I mishit my chip. So I bogey that hole. She pars it. So I'm now one shot ahead. And the 18th hole was a reachable par five for her, not even close reachable for me, except we were into a huge headwind. And um, I I pop up a drive and I smack my three-wood down as far as I could go. Meanwhile, she smacks her drive and she go decides to go for the green in two, um, but hits it into a bunker about 40 yards short of the green. And then I hit my approach into the green. You, you know, again, we had this huge headwind, and I had to use about three clubs more than what I normally would hit. And I'm just standing there praying that the wind's going to keep blowing because if it doesn't, I'm I'm in the clubhouse. And it did keep blowing, and I hit it close. But again, I was like so into what I was doing, I didn't really know how it all stood. And she chunked her shot out of the bunker and then chipped, and I'm and then she putted and you know, didn't make a birdie. And I'm standing on the side of the green waiting for her to finish. And I say to my caddy, I have about a 10 footer. I said, Do I have to make this to win? I don't know. And he said, No, you don't. I'm like, oh. Good because I didn't make it again. My arm, I was so excited that I was gonna win, and my arms were like jelly, and and I I missed the putt a little, you know, but I tapped it in, and and yes, that I won this major, and it was um really unbelievable after all I'd gone through, and yeah, losing my mom, and it was huge.

Mike Gonzalez 22:24

Sort of validation, uh as you mentioned, uh sort of the chatter after the you know the stableford win, and then you don't win on a real golf course. Well, now you've won a major, so get out of here. Get out of here with all that stuff.

Martha Nause 22:37

Yeah, yeah. It felt good, it felt really good. And um it was again another funny manual moment. Um the next day, I happened to be in Milwaukee and I was doing some interviews, and I was going up to Sheboygan, and I I was like, I'm gonna I gotta stop and say hi to Manual, and you know, we can we can celebrate that I won this major. And he was actually when he gave lessons, there was nobody else in the world other than his student. And it didn't matter whether he was giving me a lesson and his wife walked up. She he never gave her the time of day. Anyway, I I walk up and he's giving Debbie Massey a lesson, and I'm standing off to the side because I know I can't interrupt him. And finally Debbie sees me, who had actually had a good tournament, and she's like, Martha, congratulations! And he turns and I walked up and he said, Did you play the way you wanted to play? And I said, Yeah, I won!

Bruce Devlin 23:43

Yeah, oh yeah.

Martha Nause 23:45

Well, he said, That's great. And then he turned and back he was to helping Debbie.

Mike Gonzalez 23:51

Yeah, you you were the only person to break par that last day, that blustery Sunday.

Martha Nause 23:58

Wow. Yeah, I made some long, some you know, killer long putts, too. That was that was the main thing.

Bruce Devlin 24:05

Yeah, they all help, don't they?

Mike Gonzalez 24:07

Yeah, they sure do. You had one other close call, and that was uh in the 1996 Health South inaugural at uh Walt Disney World. You were in a playoff with uh Kari Webb and Jane Geddes.

Martha Nause 24:20

Yeah, you know, I was so sick that day. I had a really, really bad cold. And I don't remember, I really don't remember the rest of the tournament. I just remember that I was just trying to get through my last round. And I have no memory of how I played it, other than I can't wait to be done. Bruce, you know how what it's like when you're feeling terrible and you just like gotta put the next foot in front of the the last one and get through this. Yeah, exactly. And I finished the round, my round, and I I don't even know what I shot that day, but somebody said, You get you better stick around, you might be in a playoff. And I'm like, Are you kidding me? I feel horrible. And I had to wait several groups. I think I had to wait 45 minutes before everybody else was finished. And I was just sitting on my bag, just like completely slumped over, feeling so horrible. And then it turns out, yeah, I gotta, you know, play do the playoff. And um I hit, you know, I I had barely gone back to the range to warm up. I hit a drive um on the first playoff hole into a bunker, and then from there I hit it into a greenside bunker. And I didn't play the whole well. And I, you know, then I was out of the playoff. And was it Carrie Webb's first win?

Mike Gonzalez 25:54

Uh she did win. I didn't, I know that. Yeah.

Martha Nause 25:57

Yeah. I think it was her first win on the tour. Um, so yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 26:02

Now, Bruce, were you were you broadcasting some of the ladies' events back at this time?

Bruce Devlin 26:06

Uh uh that time would be yeah, I probably was still doing some. Although uh no, I don't think so. No, by then I was uh with uh ESPN. I'd I'd left uh NBC by then.

Martha Nause 26:23

Yeah, but uh we had so few women's tournaments that were broadcast anyway.

Mike Gonzalez 26:29

Uh so that's true. Well you you've played during some interesting times. I mean uh you know, coming up uh you probably saw sort of the tail end of Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright and Carol Mann and Sandra Haney, some of those uh uh you know the leading players, I guess, of the 60s and then at the end of the 70s. Uh uh Colgate starts coming up with some money for you guys, and you get the dinosaur going and uh purches go up a bit, and uh uh another uh group of great players come on the scene and then into the 80s where uh the prize money probably was up ten or eleven times from 1970 to 1980. So times were a change were uh two time, as they say, on television. You mentioned Nancy Lopez hitting the scene. I I I quoted this last time we talked to Sally Little that uh Kathy Whitworth was our first uh guest, uh woman guest, and and I remember her being quoted as saying that uh you know, uh uh Mickey Wright was our Ben Hogan, but Nancy Lopez was our Arnold Palmer.

Martha Nause 27:34

That's right. Yeah, um I I feel so fortunate that I got to play with all of them. I mean, I I knew Patty Berg. Um I I only saw Mickey Wright play once. She had pretty much retired, but she played one tournament that I remember my first or second year, um, where she was actually in a playoff with Nancy Lopez, and um I think it was the two of them. And I went out to watch her play because I always heard that her swing was the best swing there was, and I didn't know much what I was looking at, so I was like, yeah, it looks like a good swing. But you know, um, but you know, I I count counted Marilyn Smith as a friend and um all the founders that were still playing, Marlene Hagee and um yeah, I just it was so cool. They would we would go in the locker after a round of golf, go in the locker room, and they would all be telling stories. And of course, Joanne Carner was there, and she was the best storyteller of them all. And you know, everybody just sit around and tell stories, Sandra Palmer and you know, all of the all of the cronies. They were just all, it was the best time ever. And when they all left the tour, you know, those times of storytelling in the locker room ended. Um, but yeah, I I watched uh Annika, Annika Sornsdom come up and um, you know, become the player that she is, and she really transformed the game in, you know, to the to the more modern game of the real working out. Um I was working out, but nobody knew it, and I wasn't you know showing anything by it, but um I had started working out long ago. But at any rate, um, you know, Beth Daniel, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, all of those players, they you know, they were all there um pounding us to oblivion.

Mike Gonzalez 29:56

What do you think what do you think of the modern game? I mean, you you must be astounded at the at the level of talent nowadays with some of these young ladies coming on the tour.

Martha Nause 30:04

You know, it is it is astounding. You know, their swings are simple and solid. Um, they hit the ball a long way. Um they're their short game. I I have uh another story. So I had gotten off the tour, I but I wanted to try to play in the U.S. Open in uh, I think it was Oakmont. I had to go back to Oakmont to uh get my time in there. And so I went and I knew Pia and Lynn, Pia Pia Um Nielsen and Lynn Marriott, and I knew them and I I said, I I want to come back and and um work with you a little bit to get get ready for this open. And I went to see them. I got arrived at their at their course at eight o'clock in the morning, and there was a Korean gal practicing putting on the green with her dad standing there. And we went off to do our thing, I Pia and Lynn and I, and um came back for lunch, and she was still on the putting green with her dad standing there, putting, putting, putting. Then we went off and played nine holes and came back, and she was still on the green putting. Now, I don't know how many breaks she took during that the that eight hours or whatever it was, but you know, the discipline that they have um has really changed, again, transformed the game to a new level. Their short games are phenomenal. Um the way they hit the ball, their demeanor, their and I know people spectators don't necessarily like the players that aren't demonstrative, that aren't you know fiery and and all of that, but it sure helps their game just staying on a little more level. And yeah, it's uh it is pretty amazing to watch.

Mike Gonzalez 31:58

Yeah, did you play in that 1998 uh U.S. Open in your uh hometown?

Martha Nause 32:02

I did. I did. That was um, it actually was one of the reasons I extended my career. I'd been thinking about um retiring, but with the open being in my backyard, I was like, I have to play that. I just have to play in that. Um and I almost didn't. I had to go qualify for it because I hadn't been playing well that year, and um I asked for an exemption thinking, you know, hometown person, I'm gonna be a draw and I'd won a major. And you know, oh no, they they said you gotta earn it, you know. So I I went to a qualifying site and hadn't been playing well, but uh had called my dad and I was like, Dad, I'm gonna be in the open. He said, Did you get in? And I said, Well, not yet, but I'm gonna be there. And I ended up going and qualifying. And it was, you know, uh winning tournaments and a major and all are certainly highlights, but I would say playing the U.S. Open in my hometown was one of the highlights of my career.

Mike Gonzalez 33:14

Yeah, you you mentioned uh seeing that South Korean girl uh putting for hours and hours at Oakmont in 2010. Well, she can blame Sari Pack because uh that's when Sari won that that open championship uh at uh at Black Bull Front 1998. I I remember Jenny uh making that long putt, the amateur uh to get in the playoff, right? On 18.

Bruce Devlin 33:35

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 33:36

And then my wife and I went up there on the Monday. And uh while that was difficult, I mean you you know what it's like to have 20,000 people or what it was following two golfers in one group. It's it's not good watching, but uh it was quite an experience.

Martha Nause 33:51

Yeah, I mean, it was a fabulous, fabulous event. And you know, the funny thing, so here's a little backstory. Um, Herb Kohler had, you know, my my parents knew Herb Kohler from living in the area, and he was a member at Pine Hills Country Club. And he said, I'm gonna build a golf course and I'm gonna bring a major championship to this golf course. And my mom and dad were like, maybe it should be an LPGA event. Of course, you know, everybody wants to have a PGA event. So my mom said, let's start a pro-am, let's get a pro-am going and bring LPGA players in here to introduce Herb and you know the community to the LPGA so they know what a great product it is. So my mom started a pro-am at Pine Hills, and Herb, of course, was always played in it. But um, I don't know if that made a difference or it just happened to be that he could get an uh women's open, not the men's first. But yeah, it was uh it was a wonderful, wonderful for me uh event to be a part of.

Mike Gonzalez 34:59

Yeah, it sounds like your mom should get some of the credit. Uh you played senior golf a little bit, didn't you?

Martha Nause 35:04

I did. I did. Uh this women's senior tour was just getting started when I got off the tour um after the 99 season. And um I started coaching at uh at uh Division III College, but I also wanted to keep playing um a little bit, and the first turn first senior event was in Green Bay, so you know it was sort of a uh logical thing for me to be in that tournament. Um so I went and played, and and that was I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because I didn't know how I'd play, you know. I was not practicing like I had been, and you know, when you don't play, you're like, how's it gonna go? Um, but it was fun. It was fun seeing being around my uh my peers that I had, you know, then I don't see every day. So um I did that until well, through our first women's senior second C women's senior open uh just a few years ago. So I I finally hung them up after just you know af a couple years ago, but I continued playing the senior events when I could. Um and won one of those tournaments.

Mike Gonzalez 36:20

Yeah, you won the the 2006 High V Classic.

Martha Nause 36:24

Yeah, yeah. It was um again, it to me it was sort of uh a product of the mind, really. I started going into it thinking, you know, with my first senior event. I don't know how this is gonna go. I just want to finish in the middle, somewhere in the middle of the field and be respectable. Well, I finished right in the middle of the field. The next year I was like, I I I didn't play very well, I'd like to be in top 10. I was 11th. And I was like, uh, wait a minute, okay. I don't want to be in top 10. I'd like to be third or better. I finished third. I was like, okay, what's going on here? So the next gate, the next year I was like, I I don't want to be third, I want to win. Well, I missed a putt on the last hole that would have won the tournament. So I was like, I'm on to something here. So the next time I played, I was like, all right, this time I'm gonna win. I went into the I went into the room that had the trophy and I held the trophy up, and I, you know, I did everything I could mentally to think about winning, or to picture myself winning. And knowing that I could and that I had the ability, and you know, um, I I was leading the first day, the second day I was close to the lead. I may, I don't know, again, maybe leading. Um, and the last day I was like, I really want to win this. And I got started getting all worked up, you know, like, oh, you know, what if I don't win? And and I sat myself down. I was like, you know what's how old are you anyway? If you don't win, what's it what's gonna change in your life? Nothing, you know? And so if you're gonna win, have fun. But what what do I have to do? And I went back to manual stuff. You gotta make the best swing you possibly possibly can make right now. You can't get ahead of yourself saying, well, I gotta make this many birdies, or I gotta shoot this kind of score. I just I went through the process in my mind. What what do I need to do here? I've got to make the best swing I can make right now. And then on the next one, I gotta make the best swing I can make right now. And I ended up um getting through it and winning. And um, that was it was a lot of fun. I wish I'd learned that stuff earlier.

Mike Gonzalez 38:44

Yeah. So you you were the leading money winner in 2006 on the Legends Tour. How many millions of dollars did you win that year? Yeah.

Martha Nause 38:53

We'll take a few zeros off. I did win a lot of money for that. I mean, relatively a lot of money for that tournament. Um hundred thousand or something, but um, yeah, no. I made over uh just over a million in my career. So yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 39:12

You know, I rem I re I still remember the buzz around the inaugural U.S. Senior Women's Open at Chicago Golf Club.

Martha Nause 39:20

Yeah, it was so nice to finally have that event. You know, the senior women had been pushing for senior women's open for many years. And as a matter of fact, in 2010, um there was a men's senior, I know it's just called the senior open, but a men's senior open qualifier at the country club that I was a member at in Minneapolis. And I was gonna also qualify try to qualify for the 2010 U.S. Women's Open just as, you know, something to do. And so I I entered the senior the men's senior open qualifier at my country club, and thinking, you know, I know these greens, they're tricky. Um, I've got plenty of distance from if they play me from the tips, I don't care. Um, you know, I've got plenty of distance, I know how to play this golf course. And again, you know, sort of a flashback to uh not quite a flashback, but a little bit to my high school, the guys not wanting me there. You know, I was on the first T, and one guy that I was paired with said to me, Why are you here? And I said, Um, because I'm gonna try to qualify. Well, why don't you do the women's? I said, we don't have one.

Bruce Devlin 40:46

Oh, yeah.

Martha Nause 40:49

So anyway, I didn't qualify, but I was respectable and you know, and it was but all of a sudden uh the New York Times took that up and said, you know, that well, then I qualified for the the open at Oakmont, and I was the oldest player in the field. And so they were interviewing me and they saw that I had done the other qualifier, and I was one of many people that were, you know, trying to bring attention to the fact that we the women did not have a senior open. Um, you know, the USGA at that point said, well, why would anybody want to watch the old women play? It'd be like Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg slugging it out with wooden rackets. And I'm like, well, it's not really that. But anyway, um, it took a while for that first open, senior open. So yeah, for sure, I was gonna play in that. And it was it was really well received. Um, I think the USGA had their eyes opened in terms of the interest, not only from the players, but spectators. And um, so it was it was a long overdue, and it was a good event.

Mike Gonzalez 42:09

So tell us a little bit about the transition to coaching and and about that experience.

Martha Nause 42:14

Um, I loved coaching. Uh it was, you know, I I fit got off the tour and I was like, I'm too young to not do anything, but what am I gonna do? And I had a friend who was a cross-country running coach at McAllister College. And in some of my time off, I would go and talk to the team about the mental side of competing. And it made a big, big difference for them. And I just really loved the fact that I could share what I'd learned and help um help them be better. And so when I got off the tour at McAllister, the men's coach was retiring, and all the coaches there knew me because I had been hanging around there for a while. And they said, you should take this job, you should coach the men. And I was like, I don't know, you know, here I am back at, you know, a woman in the men's game. And um I went to a uh one of their practices in the field, and it was in the spring, so in the field house, and they were about four guys, and they were hitting pitches across the field house, and and they finished their all the balls, and um the old the old guy that was the coach was over there picking up the balls, you know, all and the the guys, the young guys were all sitting over there chit chatting. And I'm like watching this, I'm like, what? And so I go over to the guys and I said, Hey guys, you know, they knew I was there thinking about coaching them. Um do you know what I hated about practicing by myself? And they said, What coach? What? You know. They wanted anything I could tell them. I hated picking up my golf balls after I hit them. And I look over at the at the coach. He's picking up the balls. And I said, I'll tell you what, if I'm your coach, that's not happening. Oh, you're right, coach. And off they ran, and they picked up all the balls. And I thought, I think I could do this. But it was it was a lot of fun. It was um, there were things I didn't know uh that I wish I'd known better, but you know, y'all always learn along the way. And um after a year coaching the guys, then they the school asked me to take the women's team as well. And um, I felt really good about what we did there. And it's not a it's not a big, it's more of an academic school, it's not an athletic school, so they're really there for their studies. And um golf was something to do for them, but um just to give them that experience. And you know, we had everybody from some beginners just so we could have enough on the team to um, you know, low handicappers. But it took the teams from really being in the bottom of the barrel to being respectable, and I had some all-Americans, and um, you know, so it was a lot of fun. I did that for 12 years.

Mike Gonzalez 45:23

Yeah. Well, you've you've been honored with uh other accolades uh uh over your career. You were the first woman inducted into the St. Olives Athletic Hall of Fame. You were also inducted into the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame in 1995, and in 1996 you were awarded the Heather Farr Player Award. And for our listeners just uh uh who aren't familiar with that, that's given each year, really since 1994, by the LPGA Tour to an LPGA golfer who, through her hard work, dedication, and love of the game of golf has demonstrated determination, perseverance, and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player. That's quite an honor.

Martha Nause 46:06

Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 46:09

And and that's that that's probably coming off a pretty tough stretch for you. Uh you know, losing your mother and then uh the the affliction you had to deal with, and then coming back and winning that major at DeMarier. So that was probably icing on the top for you, I would guess.

Martha Nause 46:24

Well, it was, and um, you know, it wasn't something that I ever even thought about. And um, you know, it's just a credit to how I was raised.

Bruce Devlin 46:36

Yeah, yep. So Martha, you know, before we let our uh each of our interviewed people go, we have we uh we asked them all three questions. Okay. So are you ready? I hope so. Okay. So if I were to give you one mulligan, where would you take it?

Martha Nause 46:58

Oh. Wow. Um, a specific shot or or a thing.

Mike Gonzalez 47:06

Well, let's let's give you one shot, huh? One shot. Yeah, one shot. Unless you got a really good thing you want to share with us, too.

Martha Nause 47:13

Well, the one shot that I would do would be the putt on the 18th green at the Hershey tournament where I could have gone into a playoff with Amy Alcott. Um, I again didn't know until I stood on the 18th T that I was tied for the lead. I saw on the 18th T that I was tied for the lead. It got me excited. I hit it into a tree, I punched it out of the tree, I punt, I knocked it up on the green about 12 feet from the hole. And I knew that if I made the putt, I would be in a playoff with Amy, who had shot 65 that day or something, come out of nowhere to, you know, to take it. And my arms were so rubbery, I was shaking so hard that I literally when I hit the putt, the butt of my club, my putter hit my leg.

Bruce Devlin 48:12

Oh my.

Martha Nause 48:14

And nobody knew that because the putt looked pretty decent, but if I hadn't known, I might have made that putt.

Mike Gonzalez 48:25

All right. So Martha, the the next one is um if you knew at age 20 what you know now, what would you have done differently?

unknown 48:36

Wow.

Martha Nause 48:38

I would have worked more on who I am, on my self-confidence, and um being uh positive about what I was trying trying to accomplish, having better goals. I mean, we didn't have sports psychologists back then, but um that's one of the reasons I got into coaching is because I thought if I had somebody at that age teaching me what I know now, I think I could have been a much better player or uh you know had a better career.

Bruce Devlin 49:13

Fair enough. So there's still one to come. You ready? I'm ready. How would you like to be remembered?

Martha Nause 49:24

Oh wow. Um somebody who gave their best. Um just tried to be the best I could and um who did a pretty dang good job on the tour.

Bruce Devlin 49:43

Well, you've done a good job with us today, too, and I and we thank you for your time today, and uh you you've contributed a lot to this wonderful game of golf, and again, we thank you for your time, Martha. It's been a joy having you with us today.

Martha Nause 49:56

Well, again, I appreciate you guys doing this, not only for me, but all the other people that aren't necessarily the top of the headlines all the time. We have lots there's lots of great stories out there.

Mike Gonzalez 50:06

There sure are, and Martha, thanks for sharing yours.

Martha Nause 50:09

Yeah, my pleasure.

Mike Gonzalez 50:11

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 50:32

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway. When it started just like just smitched off line. Lock at it, as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay. It went straight down the middle, five away.