"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

May 15, 2001

May Wood was hitting balls on the range at the Legends Club in Franklin last week when she looked over her shoulder and noticed she had drawn a crowd.

The blonde, 6-foot-1 Wood, a 17-year-old Baylor School junior, has a way of attracting attention—imagine a super model in golf spikes and you get the idea. But it wasn’t her looks that had Titleist representatives flocking around her as she prepared to play in the LPGA’s Electrolux USA Classic last week. It was her swing.

"They were swarming her like bees," said Mark Woods, May’s father.

"They were smitten," said King Oehmig, Wood’s coach at Baylor.

Some work with noted instructor Phil Ritson has transformed Wood, already a good player, into someone Ritson thinks can become the female Tiger Woods.

"Phil’s worked with Faldo, Ballesteros, Woosnam, a lot of great players," Oehmig said. "He said May has the best talent he’s seen in 50 years."

Apparently the Titleist reps had the same idea. They couldn’t wait to let Wood hit balls from their swing analyzer, which records spin rate, launch angle and velocity.

It was the latter number that shocked the Titleist folks. The ball was consistently coming off Wood’s driver at 151 miles per hour. How impressive is that? Consider that the average on the LPGA Tour is 136. The average on the PGA Tour is 154.

"Her swing has gotten so much better since she started working with Phil,’’ Mark Wood said. "We went down there over winter break, he gave her about four things to work on, and when she does them, she hits the ball great. He can get her swinging at it perfectly. When she’s by herself, she can revert back to old habits."

Suffice to say the Titleist people saw none of those bad habits. And they weren’t alone.

"Phil was out there on the range, and he said to me, ‘Did you see that?’ I asked him what he was talking about and he pointed over at the Calloway trailer. He said somebody was filming her swing with a telephoto lens. He said I guarantee you that tape will be at Calloway headquarters the next day."

Calloway needn’t waste its time. When Wood does go out on tour—and make no mistake, she will—her loyalty is already spoken for.

"I’m a Titleist girl," Wood said.

Obviously, Wood has a long way to go before she starts endorsing products. Her week on the LPGA Tour convinced her of that. Though she barely missed the cut—critical back-nine bogeys doomed her chance of playing on the weekend—she learned a lot about her game.

"I learned so much," Wood said. "Not about the physical part of the game, but the mental part. I learned how to manage my game. I found out I was really immature on the golf course."

Wood might have been a little harsh in that self assessment. Suffice to say the veteran LPGA players in her group—Sylvia Cavalleri and Nancy Harvey—have been around. Wood watched in admiration.

"I really learned how to take my time by watching them," Wood said. "The pros strategize on every shot, because every shot counts. I enjoyed watching them."

Wood also got to meet several of the game’s biggest stars. Eventual champion Julie Inkster had some kind words.

"She told me, ‘May, I think I’ll be watching you on TV one day.’ " Wood said.

That day could be about five years away. First, Wood has to finish high school. Then there’s the matter of college. Most of the nation’s top college golf programs have come calling. And Virginia, North Carolina and Vanderbilt have already offered a full scholarship. Vandy would love to build its program around her.

"I have no idea where I want to go," Wood said. "I won’t start to narrow down the list until I make my visits."

Wood will admit that she’s always been a Tar Heel fan. And she has also taken notice of Vanderbilt’s desire to become a national contender in golf. "Vandy is very high on my list," she said.

Wood values a college education. So much so that pro golf might have to wait.

"I know I’m going to try to play golf (for a living)," Wood said. "But 10 years down the road, I might want to do something else. If I get my degree, I can do that."

Then again, Tiger Woods doesn’t have his degree, and he’s doing just fine. Could Chattanooga’s own May Wood do the same in the women’s game?

Ask the folks at Titleist that question and see what they say.

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