Kim Welch never dreamed of becoming a reality TV star. Her snazzy wardrobe may turn heads, but deep down she’s really an introvert. Don’t let the colorful headgear fool you.
So it was with a reluctant heart that Welch allowed friends to convince her to audition for the Golf Channel’s “Big Break” series last year in Albany, N.Y.
“I still really didn’t want to, but I thought, ‘Oh, what the hell,’ ” Welch said. “ ‘Maybe I can get a free trip out of it.’ ”
Welch hit a few flop shots, 7-irons and drivers for the video camera, gave a rather hum-drum interview and then figured she’d never hear from the GC producers again.
One year later she returns to Albany for the Duramed Futures Tour’s ILOVENY Championship Sept. 5-7 as the “Big Break: Ka’anapali” champion. First she beat the racy calendar girl, Sophie Sandolo, in a match-play final, 4 and 3. Then one week after the show aired in July, she won her first Futures Tour title in Syracuse, N.Y.
No question which victory was the bigger break.
From December to July, Welch couldn’t tell a soul about her made-for-TV special. I passed her in the parking lot at the Futures Tour event in Lakeland, Fla., last March and asked how it went. She didn’t give up any info that first week on tour, and kept it quiet right up until the show’s finale, which she watched with family and friends.
“I just started messing with people,” said Welch of her response to all the inquiries. “I was telling everyone I was going home each week.”
Welch was the last woman standing in paradise last winter and she’s hoping all that “reality” pressure will help her close the deal this week at the season-ending event in Albany.
With 10 LPGA memberships on the line, Welch currently sits ninth on the money list with $33,768. The Sacramento native missed one cut in 16 events this season and has three top-10 finishes.
Everyone within sniffing range of the top 15 spots on the money list is desperately trying to view this as any other week. But the truth is that a solid week in Albany makes a jolly holiday season for only a handful of players.
Those who finish in the top 5 will receive Category 9 status on the LPGA for 2009. The next five will have Category 17 status, which gives them membership, but not many starts. Those who finish 6-15 on the Futures Tour money list will gain automatic entry into the final stage of LPGA Q-School, where they can improve their status. Anyone who finishes outside the top 5 on the money list will be off to Q-School regardless of tour membership. They’d be crazy not to.
I first met Welch at the 2003 NCAA Championship in West Lafayette, Ind., where she stood out for several reasons. First, she wore a bucket hat and bright red shoes. For someone with such a slight frame, she hit the ball a country mile. Few had ever heard of the Washington State sophomore, but midway through the NCAAs, Welch sat in second place.
“I think she’s the longest I’ve ever seen,” said Cougar coach Walt Williams back in ‘03. “In my 11 years of being a college coach, I’ve never seen a girl that can hit it as far as Kim.”
Welch, who won 11 times at WSU, dropped the bucket hats when she turned professional and started wearing scarves. She still routinely smacks it 280 yards off the tee, a quality she believes helped her land a spot on the “Big Break.”
So what makes her suddenly ready for the LPGA? Simply put, she’s smarter.
“I think I’m strategizing more,” she said. “Not just going out and banging it wherever I want.”
The “Big Break” didn’t teach her that, but it did make her more confident around TV cameras and reporters. She used to get “super-nervous and kind of clammy” around the media. But now she’s comfortable with her reality-star fame.
Like the finale at Ka’anapali, Welch must script her own fate in Albany. Only this time, we’ll all know how it ends.
Posted: 9/4/2008
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