Sandra Haynie - Part 2 (Winning Majors at the LPGA, the U.S. Open and the du Maurier)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle. Then it started to let's go to 73.

Mike Gonzalez 0:17

Three wins as well. At least one or two of those over the lady we've talked about before. Let's get on to the best year. Well, I say best year. You're a player of the year in 70, but boy, uh Bruce, how can you beat 1974?

Bruce Devlin 0:35

Pretty pretty special. Another major championship at the uh LPGA. And we just, well, might as well add a U.S. Open, a women's open as well. So what a year. That had to be great.

Sandra Haynie 0:50

It it was. I mean, I was really playing some of the best golf I had played in, and I won the the LPGA first, and then a month later the US Open. And um it um again um I'm I'm just I'm I'm playing good. Um and um I it was uh I I got there and I just said I love this golf course. It was the best setup I'd had I had personally played from the USGA because for whatever reason they they have their own sense of how to set up a golf course and I just uh it was just comfortable and we just we had um a great Sunday. We all made mistakes, we all played good, and uh the uh probably my biggest memory is 17 and 18. Um 17.

Bruce Devlin 1:55

Oh bad.

Sandra Haynie 1:58

17, I'm playing with Sandra Spoozic, and she 17 was a par three, and she hit it, and um I I thought I knew what she hit, but I didn't really. And I hit one more because it was all water to the to the almost to the pen. The pen was only like eight feet over the water. Well, I hit the wrong club, I hit too much, and so now I'm 70 feet from the hole, and I make the pot. And uh then at 18 I have to birdie in order to win, and it was like 18 feet, and I thought, well, this is nothing compared to what I just did. This this is easy. Um so birdie the last two holes. And as I was walking up 18, uh TJ Boat Wright was walking with me, and he said, He said, I I I'm not sure anybody's ever buried the last two holes to win a U.S. Open at that time. It's certainly been done more than once, and I thought, oh, well, that's a good goal. Uh so I added that.

Mike Gonzalez 3:14

Yeah, well uh let's just uh let's just take our listeners back uh so they know what we're talking about. We're talking about the 1974 Women's U.S. Open. This was at Le Grange Country Club just outside of Chicago, uh, where uh Sandra won by one over Carol Mann and Beth Stone. And uh, you know, you you finished you finished Birdie Birdie. The the thing that uh that uh some people may not remember is you doubled 16. And so those two birdies on 17 and 18 were quite necessary, weren't they?

Sandra Haynie 3:44

Well they were, and the interesting thing on 16 was I was playing with Joanne Carter, who was kind of in the hunt a little bit. She also booked double bogeyed 16, and I believe Carol double bogeyed 16. So that I mean it was a it was kind of a one of those kind of impossible holes anyway. It's the green set at an angle, it's hard to get to. Um, so a double bogey was not the end of the world, but I think all three of us double bogeyed 16.

Mike Gonzalez 4:17

Yeah. Let me share a let me share this quote from from Sports Illustrated about that event. It said the course, and this is a quote, someone that I'll I'll name here soon. The course was listed at 6,266 yards. But the players said that that was as accurate as Jack Benny's age. Everyone will have to keep the covers loose on their Fairway Woods, said Susie Burning, the open winner of the past two years, by the way. Uh and someone with a macabre sense of humor dangled a hangman's noose from one of the television towers. So it was a challenge that week, huh?

Sandra Haynie 4:57

It was it was a challenge. It played very long. Yeah, it it uh it was more than 6,200 yards. Uh and it it, you know, when when golf courses are really in lush condition, you're not getting a lot of roll, you know, so it's all carry, and for us, that a little bit of a challenge.

Mike Gonzalez 5:18

Yeah, what do you remember about this? Uh uh there was a boycott discussed for that week amongst some of the players because of the low purse announced originally of 40,000 versus the men's uh comparable purse for their open of 225,000. You remember anything about that?

Sandra Haynie 5:38

We talked about it. Um we were we were kind of a little bit uh listening a little bit to the tennis, the women's tennis, trying to get a quality and prize purse. Uh we had had some discussions with them. Um and we were we were seriously discussing it. Um but we felt that um we would perhaps do more harm by actually boycotting that let's start a conversation, let's see where this conversation can lead us is uh as opposed to taking strong action. Um it certainly uh didn't happen immediately, it's now happening, which is perhaps a little it's never too late to to start rectifying things. But um at that time we just said let's start the conversation. Let's not take that action. But we did want to start the conversation.

unknown 6:40

Yep.

Mike Gonzalez 6:40

We're gonna take our listeners back about four weeks because we want to talk about the the other major you won that that year, because winning this U.S. Open, you became the second woman to win the LPGA and the uh and the U.S. Open Championship in the same year, the other woman at that time being Mickey Wright. Now, of course, uh Sari Pack and Meg Mallon have done that. But I want to take you back five weeks, not just four weeks. I want to take you back to the 1974 Lawson's LPGA Open uh in Ohio because you won that event in a playoff, and then you rolled right into the LPGA championship that next week. So your game was uh was uh where you wanted it to be, I guess, coming into that that major.

Sandra Haynie 7:25

Correct. You know, as I said, I was I was not one of those players that could say, there's a major coming, I'm gonna do all my prep work. I was not that player. I was a player that had to be playing well when I got there. I and I knew that. Um, and winning the week before certainly gave me the comfort that my game was where I wanted it to be, and in good shape going into a major. Um so that just timing of everything always works out. Um with the uh with the LPJ Championship. Uh it was uh again, Pleasant Valley Country Club in Worcester Mass. I mean, just one of my all-time favorite golf courses. And uh one of my little stories about that golf course is that 17 was almost an impossible hole. Almost impossible.

Mike Gonzalez 8:25

We've talked about this with Bruce, I think, haven't we? Yeah, boy, haven't we?

Sandra Haynie 8:29

Am I correct, Bruce?

Bruce Devlin 8:30

16, 17. Yeah, 16 and 17, both of them were tough holes.

Sandra Haynie 8:36

17, there's no place to drive it. Okay. There's a mound, big mound on the left and water on the right, and then for your second shot, there's water all the way. And uh my strategy for the last day was to make sure I had a big enough lead in case I made double bogey at 17, which I did. The labels still went in front of me. That hole was impossible.

Mike Gonzalez 9:03

Uh you know, listen to you guys talk about this. We've heard this on a number of shows because we've we've other events have been played there, obviously. I almost feel like I've played the hole myself.

Bruce Devlin 9:14

Yeah, I'll bet you do.

Mike Gonzalez 9:17

Well, you you led by one coming into what I read to be a rainy Sunday, and then uh you came out of the box firing with birdies on one, three, and four in the final round.

Sandra Haynie 9:29

Sounds good. Good recipe.

Mike Gonzalez 9:33

But she wasn't done because she birdied 11, which gave you a six-shot lead, and then uh and then uh the middle of that back nine, a few stumbles with a couple of bogies in the double on 17 you mentioned, but still winning by two over Joanne Corner. And uh that was the last of four straight years that they played the LPGA championship at that pleasant value. Do you remember how you did those other uh playings of the championship at that venue?

Sandra Haynie 10:01

I I I don't. Um but my favorite memories of Pleasant Valley not only winning a major, but um they had great fishing lakes. And um a couple of us would uh after we'd finish our rounds, we'd go back and catch some fish, and there was a lodge down below, and we'd take them down there and they'd cook them up for us. And so we had some good times at Pleasant Valley.

Bruce Devlin 10:34

So you there was a wonderful host there, too. Do you remember his name? Cazimingola.

Sandra Haynie 10:41

Right, absolutely the kindest man in the world. What a nice man.

Bruce Devlin 10:48

Yeah, yeah.

Sandra Haynie 10:50

He did he did a lot for women's golf as well.

Bruce Devlin 10:53

He did, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 10:55

Bruce has some fond memories of uh Pleasant Valley, having won there a couple years before you won the LPGA championship. He won the USI Classic there.

Bruce Devlin 11:06

So we both like that course. Yes, absolutely. Well, you know, we talked about uh three victories, yeah the Lawson, the PGA championship, and then the open in 74, but you didn't stop there. You won three more times in 74. George Washington Classic, the National Jewish Hospital open, and the Charity Golf Classic uh at Woodhaven for the second time where you won by three over Jane Blaylock. So what a year.

Sandra Haynie 11:38

Was I supposed to stop winning at some point?

Bruce Devlin 11:41

Oh no. No, you made that pretty obvious that you weren't finished.

Mike Gonzalez 11:48

Yeah, that that '74 Charity Golf Classic, uh that was that featured a closing 66, which gave you back-to-back wins in that event.

Sandra Haynie 11:58

You know, the the the Fort Worth tournament they had for three years. I won it all three years, and they decided not to do it anymore. Um you know, I won it by you know leading from the get-go to a playoff to coming from behind. So um, I guess they wanted somebody else to win, so they just canceled the tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 12:23

That's right. You won uh you won that uh in 1975 for the third straight time, and that that third win was in a playoff with Amy Alcott and Judy Rankin. And uh uh as as part of your 70 1975 uh record that included four wins, um and uh I want to ask you about the last one to see what you remember about it. It was the Greater Fort Myers Classic at Lockmore Country Club. This was in a playoff with Pat Bradley, who must have just been coming on the scene about that time, not correct. Yeah, yeah.

Sandra Haynie 12:59

I think that'd be about her time, yes.

Mike Gonzalez 13:04

You won the you won on the second uh hole in the playoff, uh chipping to within six inches for a winning par. And uh this was Bradley's first playoff, and she was trying for her first win, but uh uh capped off a pretty good year with uh with her fourth victory.

Sandra Haynie 13:27

You know, uh Brad is is one of those people that uh you know came on tour, uh needed to you know experience the game at that level a little bit, but she was a player you knew that she was going to be successful. Um and uh I remember her being just a little nervous in the playoffs since it was her first one. Um but as I said, she's uh one of those people that you knew was gonna be be good for the game.

Mike Gonzalez 14:03

So you finally took a year off in 1976 and didn't win an LPGA event. So what was going on with your game?

Sandra Haynie 14:12

Uh it there wasn't anything going on with my game. It was all physical. Um, I had to have some hand surgery. Um and so I had hand surgery, um, I had some uh a little bit of a little bit of back surgery. Um, and I just I was kind of at the point to where I've said I've played this game a very long time, it's been really good to me. Do I really want to do this anymore? Um and but I knew I had to have the hand surgery because I had lost feeling in my last two fingers on my left hand. Um so um once I had that and was able to kind of step away, I thought this is this is really nice to uh kind of take a break and not feel nauseous in the mornings and uh you know just kind of take a break. So I I I took uh almost four years um before I thought do do okay, I'm I'm healed, I feel great. Do I want to put my toe in the water again? Um and and so in 80 I decided, yeah, let's go see where where my game is. And so I I played just a few events in 80. And then in 81, I no, I really want to do this. I really want to do this. Um so I did. Just went back to it.

Mike Gonzalez 15:55

What what sort of uh what sort of things did you find yourself doing during that three or four year sort of hiatus from the professional game?

Sandra Haynie 16:03

Um I wasn't playing any golf. Um I had uh I had met Martina Navertilova at a uh women's superstars, and she had just defected six months prior. And I wasn't competing. And so with me just being there, it kind of supports some of the golfers that were competing. And so um somebody said to Martina, Well, your first event is to row a boat. And she goes, I don't know how. I said, Well, I'll go show you. And so, of course, the first get-a-go was going in circles because her left hand was so strong compared to her right hand, so we had to straighten that out that you do one left-handed, two right-handed, which was no problem for her whatsoever.

Mike Gonzalez 16:55

Really?

Sandra Haynie 16:56

So when the competition came, she won her event. So the next event was bowling. She said, Well, I've never bowled before. I said, Okay, well, let's go and I'll show you how. And I think in competition, I think she bowled like 140 her first time, you know, just an amazing athlete.

Bruce Devlin 17:16

Yeah.

Sandra Haynie 17:17

And so since I really wasn't playing, they played the Virginia Slims tournament in Dallas. My home was in Dallas at that time, you know, and I said, if you ever, you know, if you want to stay in a private house instead, you're more than welcome. I could be there or not be there. Um and so she said, Well, yeah, I'd like to do that. And so I pick her up at the airport. Her she's got a brace on her left hand, which she's left-handed. Um, and I go, What happened? Well, I've got tintinitis and I'm resting it. Um and since her defection, she had was enjoying McDonald's and Big Macs and stuff, and so there were a variety of things. But we just got to talking. Um there's a I think there's a very common theme among athletes about preparation, about the mental side of any sport, of how you prepare. What are you like during competition? And she had already gotten a little bit of a reputation of yelling at the linesmans and you know, whatever. So we just kind of talked about that and I just kind of started helping her kind of reinvent herself a little bit, lose some weight, you know, stop yelling, you know, at the at the linesman. So I just kind of I did that for a a couple of years and um hopefully it it was of help.

Mike Gonzalez 18:50

It must have been of help because she won the Wimbledon Championship in 1978.

Sandra Haynie 18:56

Um yeah, her mean she by that time she had she had changed quite a bit. Um she had learned how to train a little bit better, just just running around the block was not gonna do the training. And um, so she'd learned to train a little bit, but just her I think the way she grew mentally uh helped her prepare for that. Um to just not fuss at everybody. Um and and and again, you're you're responsible. So show up. So yeah, she it was uh that was a special win.

Mike Gonzalez 19:39

Well, you came back on tour, didn't waste a lot of time, you won the 1981 Hendred Hendredon Classic at Willow Creek Country Club in North Carolina by one over Judy Dickinson. And if my notes are correct, it was the next year that you fired your career low, 64 there. Do you recall that?

Sandra Haynie 19:59

I do, I do. Another uh again, I love the golf course. Um that's a that's a real theme with me. If I like the golf course, I'm likely to play well. Um and uh yeah, the golf course just fit my eye, and uh that the 81 win was such validation that I had made the right decision.

Mike Gonzalez 20:27

Well, uh, talk about going back to back again. Uh Bruce, uh, as we get in 1982 and those two wins there, uh the big one came one week after the first one.

Bruce Devlin 20:41

Yeah, she won at uh Rochester International at Locust Hill by six over Nancy Lopez and Hollis Stacey, and then won the uh 82 Peter Jackson Classic DeMarie at St. George's Golf and Country Club with by winning one over Beth Daniel.

Sandra Haynie 21:02

Right.

Bruce Devlin 21:02

Yeah. That being the fourth major.

Sandra Haynie 21:05

Correct, correct. Uh probably uh my my one of my most memorable, obviously. Um again, love the golf course. I love locusts hill and in Rochester, uh, great golf course. Um St. George's equally, great golf course. So I have a very common theme there. If I like like the golf course, I'm likely to play well.

Mike Gonzalez 21:33

Well, you must have liked St. George's with rounds of 7171-7068 for 280 minus eight. As we said, coming off that win the prior week at Rochester, where she liked the golf course as well. Uh, you had to make a putt at the last to avoid a playoff there, as I recall.

Sandra Haynie 21:51

I did I did. Um again, I had hit it long um into 18. And I don't know, it was Maybe thirty-five feet or something like that. But it was straight downhill. The green is very sloped. And I ran it about ten feet by. And uh so I had to make that coming back.

Mike Gonzalez 22:11

Did you know at the time that you had to make that to avoid a playoff?

Sandra Haynie 22:15

Yes. Because I was playing with Beth. So I I was playing with Beth and Donna Caponi. So yes, I knew. Beth Beth Beth says she knew too.

Mike Gonzalez 22:27

Yeah, I bet she did. I bet she did. Uh uh, but Bruce, uh, you talk about some new names that just came up toward the end of uh end of uh Sandra's playing career. These young whippersnappers come along, Nancy Lopez, Hollistacey, Beth Daniel. Uh there were some really nice players coming on the scene uh as you were finishing up, weren't there?

Sandra Haynie 22:48

There really were. Um it was just great timing for the tour to have such good players and good people, um, each and every one of them. And uh it they just really helped continue the growth that other players from the 60s and 70s that were starting to, you know, in the 80s trying to kind of draw back a little bit. Um it was just a great time for the tour to see those young players come.

Mike Gonzalez 23:18

Yeah. Uh coming off that uh final major, at some point then you began to have some knee problems.

Sandra Haynie 23:25

Yes, I um I was still playing sporadically up until um 89, and then um I I took a bad fall and crushed my knee and uh so had to have it rebuilt. Um was still playing. Uh it took about a year off to for that. Um then just kind of played off and on and then just kind of found it was it was getting more difficult uh to do that. Um was just in a lot of discomfort. So um kind of basically like 92 91, somewhere in there, said, I think I've had enough.

unknown 24:14

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 24:15

Was that was that hard to do, or was it just so obvious at the time with where you were physically that uh you didn't have much of a choice?

Sandra Haynie 24:23

I I think it was hard from the sense that it really wasn't my choice necessarily. It was more physical. Um, but at the same time, in reflection, you have to say, I have had a great career, I've had a great life, and okay, what's next? That's kind of me, okay. What can I accomplish going forward? How can I maybe give back to the game? What can I do? I can, you know, I can be director of golf at a facility, I can teach, I can, I can do a variety of things. So in reflection, yes, not my choice, but okay, I can live with that. And now let's look forward. I'm I'm a forward person, and I think that that probably comes out in what we've been talking about, that I don't remember some of this stuff because it's not that I don't care, because I do care. I do remember the events, I just don't remember the specifics because I'm more of a present-day person.

Bruce Devlin 25:36

Yeah, yeah. You've made that very obvious through your conversations of, you know, since since the day one that you're a very forward person. History is uh something that's not all, you know, recognize it but don't live by it, right?

Sandra Haynie 25:51

Correct, absolutely. I just uh it always amazes me. I I have a a really good friend that remembers everything that they did and you know, every shot they made in 1972 junior high school. I you know, barely remember 1972, because again, I don't live in the past, and it's just just me.

Mike Gonzalez 26:16

You know, you had a uh a winning playoff record on the LPGA tour at 9 and 7, and and uh Bruce can relate to this, but you'd you might be surprised that of the 60 some odd major championship winners we've interviewed so far, Sandra, having a winning playoff record is generally not what we see. Um I would guess if we added up the playoff record of those 60 individuals, it's probably sub-500.

Sandra Haynie 26:48

Really?

Bruce Devlin 26:50

Yeah. Yeah, there's no doubt about that. It is definitely sub-500.

Mike Gonzalez 26:55

Which tells you what a crapshoot playoffs can be, right? Oh yeah.

Sandra Haynie 26:59

No question. Yes. Because you've you've you either got into the playoff because you made a mistake, or you did something good. So which end yeah, you know, are you coming into the playoff because you buried the last hole, or are you coming into the playoff because you bogeyed the last hole?

Mike Gonzalez 27:16

Yeah, yeah.

Sandra Haynie 27:17

That kind of sets the mood.

Mike Gonzalez 27:19

Yeah. Well, I just want to touch briefly on the majors just as a body of work. We've talked about your four wins. You had some other good finishes, and uh get your perspective on a couple of things. Let's just start with the Chevron event, which has been known by a number of different names over the years, including A and the Kraft Nabisco, the Dinoshore. Uh, this became a major starting in 1983. Uh, of course, this came on much later in your career, uh, where I think you had a best finish of uh T-15, but uh somebody at some point made a fairly arbitrary decision as to what the line of demarcation is on when it's a major, when is it not a major. What was behind the logic of choosing that particular year? Do you know?

Sandra Haynie 28:07

I I cannot speak to why it was that year. I can just say that the players um felt that that golf course and that tournament deserved the stature of a of a major. Um and I it was probably just due to conversation at that point that uh okay, the players feel very strongly about this particular event. And I think we do to this day. Um it uh um with uh David Foster, Colgate, Mission Hills, I mean, all of those things contributed greatly to the women's game of golf and to the LPGA. Um don't know where we'd be without them, um, really, because they again gave us the opportunity to not only make Mission Hills our home for 50 years, but to travel the world, do commercials. None of us had particularly done commercials at that time. Um so just really kind of opened our world a lot.

unknown 29:18

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 29:19

Uh, you know, many of our younger listeners probably won't even realize that uh during a chunk of Sandra Haney's career, she wasn't competing for five majors in a calendar year. There were only two available to play in for a while with the LPGA championship in the U.S. Open because of uh uh of the you know when when the Western Open stopped being a major, when the title holder stopped being a major, and before the De Maurier and uh some of these other ones came along.

Sandra Haynie 29:49

That that is correct. Um we only had two for some time, and um the de Maurier was actually kind of the beginning of what we now know as the British Open. That was kind of that transition. Um, but yeah, we were thrilled to have a third major, and now they have five.

Mike Gonzalez 30:08

So yes, so the DeMaurier came along in 79 um as a major. Well, you uh then won in 82. Do you recall again about the timing on that one? Why that line of demarcation was the 79 event? Yeah.

Sandra Haynie 30:25

Again, um uh I think the importance of um trying to create more majors and where were we going to do it? And it was going to be really special places. As I said, the thought there of Canada was kind of the prelude again to the British Open.

unknown 30:47

Yeah.

Sandra Haynie 30:48

Because after after DeMurrier stopped, then the British started.

Mike Gonzalez 30:53

Yes, the de Maurier uh was a major up through the year 2000, and then of course the the uh Women's British Open took over starting in 2001. I mentioned a couple of other uh championships. The title holders was a major on the LPG tour up through 1966. So that was always played at Augusta Country Club, as I recalled, and then they had one sort of comeback year in 1972. What was the what was the reason for that one time coming back as a major in 1972? Do you recall?

Sandra Haynie 31:22

I don't. Um I I I played there uh because you know it it was uh an important it was an important event early on. Um but um I I think they just tried to resurrect it for to see if they could, and it it just didn't work for whatever reason. I um I I've often wondered if it's just because it was in Augusta.

Mike Gonzalez 31:49

Yeah, yeah. Maybe. Yeah. Uh let's talk a little bit about senior play. You you competed in the Handa Cup. Uh tell us a little bit about for our listeners who aren't familiar with that event and its Genesis. Tell us a little bit about that.

Sandra Haynie 32:04

Well, Dr. Handa has um he was he became a through uh Jane Blalock's company um started kind of creating uh some senior events uh for some players uh over we made it 45, not 50, but we made it over 45. And and through her, um she had met Dr. Handa and he um that was the first event that we had tried with him. We did a team event, which was just great fun. And um, you know, since then I I may be incorrect, but I think I believe that we were kind of his first introduction really into the game of golf, and he loved it. We did it for several years, and then he really became involved in um players with uh diversity and uh adaptive golf, and so he's really now spent his time promoting golf worldwide, really. Um but uh again he he kind of helped us uh start looking at this is a possibility for us to as as seniors to maybe go play a few events a year. And prior to COVID, uh that summer before COVID, I I played like I don't know, like six or eight events. And um it was just it was great. Uh we were, you know, getting to see each other and uh because we all live all over the world here, um but uh since COVID kind of knocked us back a little bit.

Mike Gonzalez 33:51

Yeah. Does it seem like 45 years ago that you were inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and the LPGA Hall of Fame?

Sandra Haynie 34:00

It doesn't.

Mike Gonzalez 34:01

You know, um You must have been what, grade school then?

Sandra Haynie 34:06

Uh thank you pretty much. Um I had um that was in my prelude of not playing golf, and they called and they said, you know, we want to put you and Carol in. And what they inducted us at the same time, which was terrific. And um uh it was funny because they called, we flew in, they gave us some kind of a diploma, and we flew out. That was that was it.

Bruce Devlin 34:43

Yeah, it's a little different today.

Mike Gonzalez 34:45

I mean it wasn't televised on the golf channel? No.

Sandra Haynie 34:48

I I told that story. Some I was at uh I was at a past champions dinner at Pinehurst when they had the US Open there, and uh I was on this panel thing and they said, Do you have a memory of Pinehurst? And I said, Yes, I do. And I said, when we were inducted, we flew in, got our certificate, and flew out. They went, no. I said, No, we flew and flew out. That was it.

Bruce Devlin 35:20

So then in 1984, uh you got inducted into the uh Texas Golf Hall of Fame.

Sandra Haynie 35:27

Right. Yep. It um you know it it has been um such an honor to be recognized by these organizations that um that that your game is appreciated and hopefully um I've been able to give back as well to to say thank you for those honors.

Mike Gonzalez 35:49

So tell us a little bit about uh some of the things that you found yourself getting passionate about and and getting involved in uh um subsequent to your playing career.

Sandra Haynie 36:02

I have um, as I said, I've uh took a director of golf job at at Timron and South Lake for a couple of years. Um I have uh done, I have taught students, I've worked with some players on the LPGA, some on the Symmetric Tour or the name of it now, uh Epson Tour. Um and um somebody asked me not long ago, they said, You're not teaching as much. And I said, Well, the good news is I had a bunch, several teenagers, they all got golf scholarships to colleges and they're off. So that's the good news to that, why I don't teach as much anymore. Um and and now um I have uh been asked to to help uh do a little consulting with the Texas Golf Association, which I'm really enjoying. Good people, see how I can help um let people know that the Texas Golf Association is is really more than just your handicap number. They really do a great job of serving the industry in many, many different ways. So I'm I'm delighted to be doing that now.

Mike Gonzalez 37:23

Yeah. That's great. Well, that's great. Well, as we kind of wind down, Bruce, uh, there are a handful of questions we like to finish uh with each of our guests. Uh you want to start?

Bruce Devlin 37:34

Yeah, I sort of I've sort of half got a uh an inkling of what the answer will be to this question. But the question is, if uh we took you back to when you first started on the tour and you knew then what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Sandra Haynie 37:57

What would I have done differently? Um You know, I I think the only thing that I would have liked to have done is to know more from the beginning about mindfulness, about the mental approach, and have and would have done more with that while I was out in public and being able to speak to it, um, and having that confidence to to go speak about it, um, which I do today, especially with my students. Um the the mind is a to me it's a very interesting thing.

Bruce Devlin 38:45

Oh boy.

Sandra Haynie 38:46

And um uh as I said, uh I I think I learned it later. Um but as far as the con the the timing of when I turned pro and how I did it, I wouldn't change a thing.

Bruce Devlin 39:04

Great.

Mike Gonzalez 39:05

So I'm gonna give you one career mulligan. Where do you want to take it?

Sandra Haynie 39:12

Giving me a career mulligan.

Mike Gonzalez 39:15

One shot, where do you take it?

Sandra Haynie 39:22

I take it to Mission Hills and Palm Springs to have won that tournament just once.

Bruce Devlin 39:30

Okay.

Sandra Haynie 39:31

I finished second. I finished second three times. Um the last time was 82. I shot 65 the last day. Sally Little shot 64. Nothing I can do. But um uh to this day I I I have a trophy that says I finished second. And I've I've kept that just to remind me. So that would be my mulligan.

Bruce Devlin 39:57

All right, fair enough. You got one last question. How would you like to be remembered?

Sandra Haynie 40:07

Um well I think I think my record is is what it is. Um, I think that I would just like to be remembered uh with kindness. Um that that I did take the opportunity to give back to the game in some way, in any way. Um but I think um calm confidence is and kindness have just always been in the forefront for me. Um and and again, you know, you treat you treat others as you want to be treated. And that's just that's just me. I want to be as kind as possible.

Bruce Devlin 40:48

Well, you've certainly been kind today. Thank you so much for for your time and the background information on your life as a wonderful player. It's I know Michael's uh backed me up on this. It's been it really has been a pleasure, and we thank you a lot.

Sandra Haynie 41:06

Well, you're so kind, both of you. You've been super kind, and uh this has really been an honor to have the opportunity to just visit with you and uh reminisce about some stuff I don't remember. It's been great.

Mike Gonzalez 41:21

Sandy, thanks so much for joining us. Uh we really appreciate you sharing your story on For the Good of the Game.

Sandra Haynie 41:28

It's been an honor and a pleasure. Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 41:33

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 41:56

It went smack down the fairway. Just smit off line. It had it for two, but it must offline. My head is as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay.