(NEW YORK) — As pregnant LPGA Tour veteran Amy Olson heads into her third and final trimester, the professional golfer will tee off at the iconic Pebble Beach overlooking the Northern California coastline.
The 30-year-old LPGA star, who is six months pregnant and shot six-under during a one-day 36-hole qualifying round for the upcoming 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, told reporters recently that her baby already “has got some golf mojo.”
While playing the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club last month, Olson notched a hole-in-one and a double eagle leading into the weekend.
“Just little things like that, that’s gonna be a cool thing to be able to tell a little boy or little girl, like, ‘I got a hole in one, I got a double eagle while you were in me,"” she told reporters ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open. “All of those things, they’re like shared moments. Obviously, they won’t remember them, but I can tell them and it’s something I’ll hold on to forever.”
Olson found out she was expecting her first child with husband Grant Olson in January, announcing the news publicly in March via Instagram.
At the time, the LPGA reported that Olson reached out to her fellow competitors on the tour to get an understanding of any possible challenges of playing at her level while pregnant.
“I was started texting like every mom on Tour going, how long did you play? At what point did you stop? And I was hearing (that the) max is kind of right around 28 to 32 weeks, depending on how you carry, who you are,” Olson recalled, according to the LPGA. “I computed that at the (U.S. Women’s Open), I will have just completed 30 weeks. I’m like, OK, it’s possible. I’m hearing that it’s doable. It’s Pebble (Beach) of all things. So I’m like, ‘You know what, let’s just go out there and see what happens."”
Her May 22 qualifying round at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, opened with an even-par 72, but she said “all the magic happened in the second round,” and she went on to medal in the event, beating her closest competitors by two strokes for a coveted spot in the field at the 78th U.S. Women’s Open.
Olson already came close to topping the leaderboard at the storied golf venue in 2020 with a second place finish.
Now, in her 10th season on the LPGA Tour, Olson has her sights set on the $10 million purse. She will join the 156-player field at Pebble Beach looking to win her third major championship of the season.
“To be able to be part of this as we take the stage at one of the best venues, the best golf courses in the world is really special,” Olson told the LPGA. “I look back and I see how far we’ve come even in my career, and I think about 70 years ago when our founders started this Tour. Did they even dream this was possible? Maybe, but I think they would be so proud of where we are today.”
While Olson said she’s “trying not to have too many expectations,” and is soaking everything in, “being able to do it with a baby, all of it is a little bit overwhelming.”
“I’m trying not to put too much pressure or expectation on it, but truly just enjoy the week,” she said.
She also said she hopes her presence as a soon-to-be mom and professional athlete at one of the game’s most famed venues will remind others just how incredible female athletes truly are.
“I think women are seriously incredible,” she said. “The women that have done this over and over and they work through it, or they’re caring for other kids through it, or caring for parents … it takes a lot of selflessness and strength and courage to be able to do it,” she said. “I’ve just gained an appreciation for it and I hope it’s also just inspiring to others.”
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