Over the years, all of the many stories I’ve written have been about OR produced with fellow PGA of America Golf Professionals, golf facility leaders, fitness experts and other professionals in the game.
However, I was happy to recently chat with Mary Love, a long-time member at the storied Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. We discussed the journey she’s embarked upon for better golf and longevity in the game through golf-related fitness and a focus on performance and health & wellness.
Mary Love’s parents joined Congressional Country Club in 1960 and were marshals at the 1964 U.S. Open. In near 100-degree temperatures, Mary “tagged along” and was part of Arnie’s Army, following the King to a first-round lead that would ultimately give way to Ken Venturi’s only major championship title.
“I came in (to Congressional Country Club) as a legacy member, as did my kids,” Love explains. “Hopefully, my grandkids will do the same and continue the tradition.”
Love started playing golf about 40 years ago, juggling motherhood to get the occasional nine holes of golf in when time allowed. In 1998, with her children now grown, Love moved up to the 18-holers at Congressional, and the real journey to better golf and more enjoyment on the course began.
During the 27 years since Love was able to “get more serious” about the game, she has taken lessons, worked on her fitness and played golf with friends and family, including her three granddaughters, who range in age from 8-14. The game of golf remains a vital aspect of her life. In fact, she just returned from a 10-day trip to Ireland, where she walked all seven rounds of golf - 126 holes - in a variety of weather conditions, and played the final round of her trip on her 74th birthday.
The 36 holes at Congressional Country Club are likely well known to our readers, but Love says they also have stellar fitness facilities at Congressional, full of state-of-the-art Technogym equipment and a great Director of Fitness and Wellbeing in Theresa Soppelsa. I look forward to reaching out to Theresa for a future GFAA story.
Love works with Golf Performance Coach, Dr. Casey Edwards, a 2022 GFAA On-Course Award Winner, every Wednesday on golf-specific personal training that focuses on balance, speed, agility, strength and flexibility. With the top-of-the-line equipment, free weights and “all the accessories you can want,” Mrs. Love hits the gym on her own two additional times each week!
“I do strength training, and learned how to use the Technogym treadmill so I could push the sled,” she explains with pride. “I set it to 60 lbs and push it 50 yards. I feel like it’s really given me a boost with my endurance and improved my lower body strength. I do a lot of balance work too, which is so important in golf, as well as in life as we get older. I want to be able to play with my granddaughters like I have with my kids over the years.”
Mary says she started working with a personal trainer way back in 2000 and has long understood the benefits of an active lifestyle on her golf game and her health in general.
On the golf side, she has been a student of LPGA Professional Stacy Miller-Arndt, the Congressional Country Club Junior Golf Director and a Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional.
“Stacy has seen me through back surgery, which I had in 2011,” Love tells us. “She helped me through meniscus repair that I had 10 years ago. She works with what you have and has been very helpful to me as I came back from those surgeries. She’s amazing, and she believes in me.”
Miller-Arndt joined the team at Congressional in the late 90s and has transformed the club’s junior golf program, promoting the game and building a promising future in golf for many young golfers.
Love enjoys spreading out her lessons with Miller-Arndt, booking a spring session to gauge where she is after a long winter, following up in the summer to work on aspects of her game that need it most mid-season and scheduling a fall wrap-up lesson to put a bow on the year that was and set a plan of action for winter work. Goals are set, progress is monitored and a wonderful long-term relationship lives on through golf.
“Stacy believes in me, and she wants me to believe in myself,” Love boasts of her coach. “She asked me last fall what I thought held me back over the summer, and I told her it was my putting. But I had a cataract that I had to have taken care of. Before that, they called me the ‘one-eyed Jack’ since I had to shut my eye to focus on the putt in front of me.”
Love had that cataract surgery in March of this year, and her putting has improved. In fact, she had just 29 putts in a recent round of golf at CCC. No 3-putts!!
With her husband an active attorney in the DC area, the Loves haven’t adopted the “winter in Florida” routine just yet. Just a few short trips now and again. They do, however, head to San Antonio to see their son in early March, where they spend a week, enjoying time with family on and off the golf course.
In addition to working with Dr. Edwards weekly on a year-round basis, Mary Love will work on her golf swing on her patio or in her garage during the winter, using her sliding glass doors to “see how she’s doing.” She incorporates Speed Sticks into her regimen three times each week to increase her swing speed for those extra yards off the tee.
Finally, she’ll hit the range at Congressional during the winter, as well, weather permitting. “I can go play when it’s 52 degrees,” she adds, “but I’ll go to the range only when it’s at least 55.”
Speak with a PGA of America Golf Professional and he or she will laud the game of golf for its health benefits and social benefits, not to mention what it has meant to their lives. What an amazing opportunity to hear the impact that golf has had on a member, a golfer, a mom, grandmother, wife and friend. I mentioned at the outset that this is the first piece I’ve done with a private club member, just a golfer who has accepted golf into her life for the better. I dare to say it won’t be the last.
Thank you, Mary Love! Hit them straight and far. Stay diligent with those workouts. Here’s to many more rounds with 29 putts and to BELIEVING IN YOURSELF!