Chapter 20

Dinner was exceptionally good. The Stenstroms treated me to one of the finer restaurants in the area. I was worried I would be severely underdressed but the clientele was very casual. Bailey looked stunning as usual. There is something to be said for 6-foot-tall blonde women.

After we had gone back to her suite to change, her dad asked me for another visit to the balcony.

At least Bailey had me prepared for the "don't-rush-things" portion of the speech. She didn't have me prepared for the rest of it though.

"I like you," he said. "Moreover, I've come to respect you in just the few days we've known each other. I want your opinion on something.

"As you know, Bailey is trying to decide about her future. Meeting you has thrown another element into the decision, as I hope you're aware."

I really wasn't aware, but I kept that to myself.

"Do you think she should go to college or turn pro?"

I was wholly caught off guard, but I think I rebounded nicely.

"Mr. Stenstrom, I would not presume for a moment to know what's best for Bailey," I told him. "I'd be happy to share my insights about what I've seen and learned at college, but that is the whole of my knowledge. I will be happy to present what I believe to be her options in the matter, but I'm not qualified to give an opinion on what's best for her. That's for your family to decide. I'm sure whatever decision you make will turn out fine."

I had apparently rebounded better than I'd hoped.

"My wife was right," he said. "I'm not talking to a boy here. I half expected you to try to sell me on sending her to Kentucky. Honestly, I half hoped you would try to sell her on going to Kentucky. But I am interested in what you have to say."

I had always figured her dad was the one interested in having Bailey turned pro. Maybe I was wrong.

"Well, first, I'll tell you I've learned more at college outside the classroom than in," I said. "You have to keep in mind, my situation is wholly different. I had no options for gainful employment. Bailey does. I had no options for family support. Bailey obviously does. I had one choice and that was to succeed. I've done my best to take the path that leads to success.

"But Bailey has a multitude of choices. I'm not sure I would have been happy to begin working at 18 even if I had the option. I don't know if I was mature enough to handle it — heck, I don't know if I'm mature enough two years later. I also can tell you from fall football season that it is a grind. I mean a constant grind of practice, travel and meetings. I doubt the LPGA Tour is any different. I would guess it's going to be worse because I play only once per week. Bailey would be playing three or four times a week and spending a lot of her free time traveling to the next event.

"But being on my own has taught me, most of all, that I can be on my own. I have to decide everyday — with very little input from anyone else — if what I'm doing is right. I won't lie and tell you this is not an acquired knowledge. It is and I screwed up plenty of times along the way.

"Bailey and I have talked about this some. Well, she's talked and I mostly listened. I know she's committed to playing in the Women's U.S. Open in late June and Women's U.S. Amateur in late July. I also know she is allowed four wild cards and has not selected which events she plans to play in.

"If I may offer a suggestion, and it's not something I've mentioned to Bailey, I think you might consider a test run. I would suggest she select a college with a solid women's golf program. I know Duke is excellent. I've heard Florida and Georgia are good, but I'm not sure of any others. I would assume the farther south you go the better it is, like all spring sports. But during the summer, take her wild cards during the weeks between the Amateur and the Open. Let her see how she likes the daily grind of travel and weekly competition. I gather Bailey has had mostly success on the golf links. I can relate to that through football. But I'm pretty sure that, in the eight-week trial run, she'll get a couple of tastes of failure, too.

"Believe me, the first taste of failure you get when you think you're pretty good is a humbling experience. She earned enough points last season on the Tour to get her card without Q-school, if she does well and enjoys the grind, maybe she should go pro. If she doesn't like it, she should head off to college in the fall and try again the next summer.

"Of course, until she's sure, she can't accept any money or endorsements or she won't be able to play in college — even if she returns the remunerations to the source. The NCAA will want to make sure that your expenses are documented and the income is above board. Once you go pro, you can never go back.

"That's just my suggestion, but I have given a lot of thought to what Bailey has told me — although I'm sure I don't have all the information."

Mr. Stenstrom asked me about Kentucky's women's golf program.

"To be honest, sir," I said. "I'm sure they have one, but it's most likely not very good. The women's volleyball team is good and they get a lot of publicity even though they're non-revenue. But I haven't heard anything good or bad about the golf team."

We joined a worried Bailey and her mom inside the suite.

"I guess you'd like to know what we were talking about," her dad said with a grin. "I was asking R.J. his opinion about your future. He had some interesting insights and a suggestion I think you should consider. This is your decision completely, Bailey. Your mom and I will offer our opinions, but you have to decide. R.J., would you mind relating to them what you told me."

I felt a little odd being included in a family matter, but since the decision wasn't going to be made tonight, I guess it wouldn't hurt.

I told them the scenario I thought might be best and gave them a little more information that I hadn't given her dad.

"That means you'll be playing at Pinehurst in North Carolina, then up to New York. You'll have a week off in Virginia before the U.S. Open, then to Ohio and Florida," I said. "It'll give you a week off before the U.S. Amateur which is in Illinois this year. If you toss in a warm-up tournament or an extra week of practice before the U.S. Open, it'll mean six tournaments in eight weeks. It should let you know if you want to be a pro golfer or a college student pretty quickly."

Bailey's dad spoke again.

"Judy, R.J. is of the same opinion you are," he said. "She should go ahead and enroll in college. No one says she has to attend if she decides to go pro. But at least that option isn't closed."

Bailey was appraising me.

"Why haven't you told any of this to me," she asked. "After all, it is my decision."

I told her I hadn't mentioned it because she hadn't asked.

"I figured if you wanted my opinion, you'd tell me," I said. "You're pretty outspoken about when I should speak."

I was joking, of course, and she started to laugh.

"You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?" she said. "Thanks, I think."

I laughed again.

"Hey, your parents aren't the only ones who don't want you to rush into things," I said.

For the next hour we talked about golf programs and campuses. I'd seen the campuses at Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Auburn the previous fall. Bailey asked about UK, and I told her the same thing I'd told her dad.

"But golf isn't a team sport specifically," she said. "My first year of high school I was on a lousy boys team and I still did well. Did you consider the quality of the football program when you picked Kentucky?"

I told her by the time I came to Kentucky it was pretty much the only place I had to go.

"But when I picked Notre Dame I didn't," I said. "I knew they had a good history, but at the time they weren't faring well. I based my decision mostly on the atmosphere and the academic reputation."

Bailey told her dad she'd like to visit UK on the way home and her mom and dad agreed almost instantly. Suddenly things were moving a little quickly.