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| Former Ski Racer Possesses a Swing That Sounds as Good as It Looks | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The Austrian teenager Marina Stuetz’s path to the L.P.G.A. Tour did not go through an American college program, Golf Channel’s “Big Break” or the Ladies European Tour. She arrived like a snowstorm in spring, catching everyone by surprise. | The Austrian teenager Marina Stuetz’s path to the L.P.G.A. Tour did not go through an American college program, Golf Channel’s “Big Break” or the Ladies European Tour. She arrived like a snowstorm in spring, catching everyone by surprise. |
| At the L.P.G.A. Tour’s qualifying school in December, she tied for 11th as an amateur and promptly turned professional. After five career starts entering the Mobile Bay L.P.G.A. Classic, where she failed to make the cut Friday, she was second on the tour in driving distance at 272.4 yards. Though she has not made a cut as a pro, her gallery of admirers continues to grow. Judy Rankin, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and a Golf Channel analyst, said the 19-year-old Stuetz “swings the club as beautifully as I’ve seen a woman swing the club in a long time.” | At the L.P.G.A. Tour’s qualifying school in December, she tied for 11th as an amateur and promptly turned professional. After five career starts entering the Mobile Bay L.P.G.A. Classic, where she failed to make the cut Friday, she was second on the tour in driving distance at 272.4 yards. Though she has not made a cut as a pro, her gallery of admirers continues to grow. Judy Rankin, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and a Golf Channel analyst, said the 19-year-old Stuetz “swings the club as beautifully as I’ve seen a woman swing the club in a long time.” |
| “I did not know her at all,” Rankin added. “I was just completely fascinated with watching her hit the golf ball.” | “I did not know her at all,” Rankin added. “I was just completely fascinated with watching her hit the golf ball.” |
| Two other Golf Channel analysts, Jerry Foltz and Curt Byrum, who are former winners of men’s pro events, were walking on the range at the Founders Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz., in March when they heard a sound that stopped them in their tracks. Whipping their heads around to see whose contact with the golf ball commandeered their ears, they had their first look at Stuetz, who is six feet tall with a face framed by owl-eyed glasses. | Two other Golf Channel analysts, Jerry Foltz and Curt Byrum, who are former winners of men’s pro events, were walking on the range at the Founders Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz., in March when they heard a sound that stopped them in their tracks. Whipping their heads around to see whose contact with the golf ball commandeered their ears, they had their first look at Stuetz, who is six feet tall with a face framed by owl-eyed glasses. |
| “The sound the ball makes coming off her club is just different,” Foltz said. “It’s a click, never a clank.” | “The sound the ball makes coming off her club is just different,” Foltz said. “It’s a click, never a clank.” |
| Stuetz (pronounced Stutz) was 6 when she took a swing with one of her father’s clubs while standing on two overturned buckets of range balls. She had been accompanying her paternal grandfather on his golf outings for a year but was more interested in driving the golf cart than playing the game. | Stuetz (pronounced Stutz) was 6 when she took a swing with one of her father’s clubs while standing on two overturned buckets of range balls. She had been accompanying her paternal grandfather on his golf outings for a year but was more interested in driving the golf cart than playing the game. |
| “I had the intention of being the best golf cart driver in the world,” Stuetz said in an interview at last month’s L.P.G.A. Tour stop in Dallas. “I didn’t want to hit a ball.” | “I had the intention of being the best golf cart driver in the world,” Stuetz said in an interview at last month’s L.P.G.A. Tour stop in Dallas. “I didn’t want to hit a ball.” |
| Her dream of becoming the Niki Lauda of cart drivers ended with that first swing. | Her dream of becoming the Niki Lauda of cart drivers ended with that first swing. |
| “From that moment, I loved it,” she said. | “From that moment, I loved it,” she said. |
| Stuetz said her swing had not changed much since that first attempt. | Stuetz said her swing had not changed much since that first attempt. |
| “Why I hit the golf ball that way I can’t tell you,” she said. “I was always the longest one, from as long as I can remember.” | “Why I hit the golf ball that way I can’t tell you,” she said. “I was always the longest one, from as long as I can remember.” |
| Stuetz’s father, Hermann, played competitive golf for 20 years and was a member of the Austrian national team, she said. He put his clubs away at 23 to become a distributor of watches. When Stuetz expressed a desire to play almost two decades later, her father made one stipulation. | Stuetz’s father, Hermann, played competitive golf for 20 years and was a member of the Austrian national team, she said. He put his clubs away at 23 to become a distributor of watches. When Stuetz expressed a desire to play almost two decades later, her father made one stipulation. |
| “My dad said, ‘You can only start if you have the same trainer I had,’ ” Stuetz said. | “My dad said, ‘You can only start if you have the same trainer I had,’ ” Stuetz said. |
| That is how she came to work with Franco Bernardi, an Italian who was her only coach until she moved to St. Augustine, Fla., last year to attend the academy run by Tom Burnett, whom she had met while competing at a junior event in Germany. In an e-mail, Hermann Stuetz said that when he watched Marina on the golf course, “I see the swing when I was young of my first coach.” | That is how she came to work with Franco Bernardi, an Italian who was her only coach until she moved to St. Augustine, Fla., last year to attend the academy run by Tom Burnett, whom she had met while competing at a junior event in Germany. In an e-mail, Hermann Stuetz said that when he watched Marina on the golf course, “I see the swing when I was young of my first coach.” |
| On the day before her 11th birthday, Stuetz said, she beat her father for the first time. “That was a big deal,” she said. | On the day before her 11th birthday, Stuetz said, she beat her father for the first time. “That was a big deal,” she said. |
| At 12, Stuetz said, she won the first of her 11 national titles. At the time she was also an accomplished ski racer. | At 12, Stuetz said, she won the first of her 11 national titles. At the time she was also an accomplished ski racer. |
| “I was a seasonal golfer,” she said. “I’d put my clubs away for six months and ski.” | “I was a seasonal golfer,” she said. “I’d put my clubs away for six months and ski.” |
| In her teenage years, she quit her country’s national pastime for golf, a far less popular sport, but a far safer one, in her parents’ opinion. She started competing in tournaments outside Austria as a member of the national team a few years later, and last year, she was a runner-up at the European Ladies Amateur Championship. | In her teenage years, she quit her country’s national pastime for golf, a far less popular sport, but a far safer one, in her parents’ opinion. She started competing in tournaments outside Austria as a member of the national team a few years later, and last year, she was a runner-up at the European Ladies Amateur Championship. |
| The most accomplished Austrian golfer is Bernd Wiesberger, who won the Ballantine’s Championship in April for his first European Tour title and followed it with a victory the next week in the Indonesian Masters. Stuetz is the second Austrian to play on the L.P.G.A. Tour, after Natascha Fink in 1997. | The most accomplished Austrian golfer is Bernd Wiesberger, who won the Ballantine’s Championship in April for his first European Tour title and followed it with a victory the next week in the Indonesian Masters. Stuetz is the second Austrian to play on the L.P.G.A. Tour, after Natascha Fink in 1997. |
| Women’s golf is not televised in Austria, Stuetz said, so she grew up watching players like Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour. | Women’s golf is not televised in Austria, Stuetz said, so she grew up watching players like Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour. |
| Everything she knew about the L.P.G.A. Tour she learned from the promotions for events that aired during the PGA telecasts. | Everything she knew about the L.P.G.A. Tour she learned from the promotions for events that aired during the PGA telecasts. |
| “I had never seen an L.P.G.A. Tour event until I played in my first one,” she said. Laughing, she added, “I’m a real rookie.” | “I had never seen an L.P.G.A. Tour event until I played in my first one,” she said. Laughing, she added, “I’m a real rookie.” |
| Stuetz did not expect to qualify for the tour on her first try. | Stuetz did not expect to qualify for the tour on her first try. |
| “After last year’s Ladies Amateur, I was at a point where I was wondering, how much better does my game have to be to play on it?” she said. “So I decided to go to L.P.G.A. Q-school.” | “After last year’s Ladies Amateur, I was at a point where I was wondering, how much better does my game have to be to play on it?” she said. “So I decided to go to L.P.G.A. Q-school.” |
| The first five months have been a dizzying array of new courses, cities, foods and faces. At the Founders Cup in March, Rankin approached Stuetz on the range and complimented her on her swing. After she left, a player who had witnessed the exchange said to Stuetz, “Do you know who that is?” | The first five months have been a dizzying array of new courses, cities, foods and faces. At the Founders Cup in March, Rankin approached Stuetz on the range and complimented her on her swing. After she left, a player who had witnessed the exchange said to Stuetz, “Do you know who that is?” |
| Stuetz admitted she did not. The player filled her in on Rankin’s career. | Stuetz admitted she did not. The player filled her in on Rankin’s career. |
| “After I knew who she was, I was like, that’s awesome that she would say something nice to me,” Stuetz said. | “After I knew who she was, I was like, that’s awesome that she would say something nice to me,” Stuetz said. |
| To keep her playing privileges, though, Stuetz has to start earning paychecks. | To keep her playing privileges, though, Stuetz has to start earning paychecks. |
| “I’m not putting stress on myself that I have to make the cut,” she said. “One day, it will click and I’m going to be up there and make the cut. I’m just going week by week, trying to get used to everything, trying to figure out how to score.” | “I’m not putting stress on myself that I have to make the cut,” she said. “One day, it will click and I’m going to be up there and make the cut. I’m just going week by week, trying to get used to everything, trying to figure out how to score.” |
| In school, Stuetz said, she would doodle in the margins of her notes. Her favorite class was geometric drawing. In golf, she found another canvas. | In school, Stuetz said, she would doodle in the margins of her notes. Her favorite class was geometric drawing. In golf, she found another canvas. |
| “What I liked about it in the beginning and what I still like about it today is the creativity,” she said. “You can play every day and never have the same shot or the same situation.” | “What I liked about it in the beginning and what I still like about it today is the creativity,” she said. “You can play every day and never have the same shot or the same situation.” |