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Suzy Whaley was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York, went to college in North Carolina and lives in Florida. But she cut her professional teeth in Connecticut, made a name for herself here – some history, too – and is about to receive the state’s highest honor in golf, a game that sent her on a path nobody like her had taken.
Probably because there’s nobody quite like Suzy Whaley.
Some might know Whaley as the first female to qualify for a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias in 1945; that happened in 2003, when she played in the Greater Hartford Open. Others may know Whaley as the first female president of the PGA of America, the national association of some 29,000 club professionals who teach and help grow the game.
Come Thursday, Whaley will earn yet another distinction. She’ll be inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.
Forgive Whaley if the honor has left her nostalgic.
“You remember cool things that make Connecticut special and your time in the business special,” Whaley said. “You don’t start out with this as a goal, but you look back on what you’ve been able to do with great pride.
“I hadn’t thought of my Connecticut Open wins (2000, 2001 and 2002) in a long time, those have been fun to think about. The best part is that the things you did are being recognized by people who do what you do and love what you love.”
Before Whaley was a trailblazer she was a solid player at the University of North Carolina, then spent two years on the LPGA Tour. But when she and her husband, Bill, began to raise a family – they have two daughters – tour life was replaced by home life, then club-pro life. Whaley held positions at Blue Fox Run in Avon, Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield and TPC River Highlands, where Bill was the head professional.
It was at River Highlands where Whaley first became national news. With her victory in the 2002 Connecticut PGA Section championship, Whaley earned a place in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open, a PGA Tour event. It wasn’t an easy nine months between qualifying and competing. There weren’t just whispers that Whaley didn’t belong with the boys; there was hate mail.
“I wanted to show my daughters that I was brave enough, I was strong enough, and no matter the outcome, I would show the world that women can play golf.”
Suzy Whaley
“I’m really happy there was no social media,” she said. “It wasn’t easy, it was extremely difficult and challenging. I had a full-time job as a head pro, two young daughters, a husband who worked. Then on the side I was going to play against the best men in the world.
“I had women from around the world writing me letters of encouragement, saying I was doing something amazing. It became clear to me that I was representing women’s golf, whether I liked it or not. I earned the right through the PGA of America, not from the LPGA. It was something I was proud of. I wanted to show my daughters that I was brave enough, I was strong enough, and no matter the outcome, I would show the world that women can play golf.”
Whaley set her sights even higher years later, when she launched a bid to become the first female to hold a national position with the PGA of America. She was elected secretary in 2014, and eventually became president in 2018.
Gary Reynolds, the former head professional at Hartford Golf Club, helped Whaley’s campaign for office.
“Not only does she light up a room with her smile, but her energy and passion are incredible,” said Reynolds, who was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. “When you’re around that as a lifetime golf professional, who’s enjoyed trying to do the same things and be the same way, you just know that she’s something special.
“She hasn’t done everything she is going to do in golf, that’s for sure. But now’s the time that any kind of accolade she deserves should be given.”
This week’s induction has prompted Whaley to recall those who have made an impact on her career, knowingly or not. Reynolds is one. There’s Joe Tesori, her first teacher in Syracuse, New York … current PGA of America chief executive officer Seth Waugh … Tom Hantke, executive director of the Connecticut PGA Section. And among women, Renee Powell and Sue Fiscoe, along with Whaley’s mother, Mary Ann.
“Sometimes you become something because someone before you allowed you to think that it was a possibility,” Whaley said. “On some things I can say I’m the first. But I’m first because somebody came before me and was brave enough to pave the way.”
Whaley still picks her spots when it comes to competitive golf. She won’t play in this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open, but she will partner with Annika Sörenstam in an upcoming Legends Tour event in Massachusetts, the BJ’s Charity Championship on Sept. 10.
“I think I got the better pick,” Whaley said of Sörenstam, a 72-time winner on the LPGA Tour who played in a 2003 PGA Tour event one month before Whaley, at the Colonial tournament in Texas on a sponsor exemption. “I tend to pick well.”
Top: Suzy Whaley, the first female PGA of America president, and PGA champion Colin Morikawa in 2020
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