ROGERS — Life for Karen Stupples on the LPGA Tour can sometimes seem a little like EastEnders and Coronation Street, the British soap operas she grew up watching in Deal, England.
Stupples, who played college golf for a year at Arkansas State in 1991-1992, is married to Bobby Inman, her former caddie. He now caddies for Beth Bader, who also happens to be in the field this weekend for the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club.
Inman and Stupples also have a 5-year-old son, Logan, who travels with the couple on tour.
It all makes for an interesting - and oftentimes hectic - life, but the family has found a way to make it all work.
“You have to be a little bit better with your time,” Bader said of the challenges Inman and Stupples face. “I think they do a pretty good job of that, and it’s nice to have your husband out here as well. He can take Logan while she’s out practicing and vice versa.”
After taking 10 months off following Logan’s birth, Stupples returned to the tour in 2008 and worked her wayback to prominence. She finished 29th on the money list last year at $397,081 and has $3,913,204 in earnings over her 13-year LPGA Tour career.
“What a great addition to my life, but with that comes a lot of work,” Stupples said of her son. “Playing professional golf and being a mother doesn’t come easy. We had our trials and tribulations with that, but every day I’m blessed by looking at him.
“He’s such a little star.”
Stupples, 39, has had some health issues over the past couple of years, but she is still plugging away on tour and
shows no signs of stopping
soon. After undergoing an
appendectomy two years ago,
she had two polyps and a cyst
removed from her ovaries in
March.
Although she is behind
pace to reach last year’s earn
ings total, Stupples has man
aged to compete in 11 of the
tour’s 12 events this year and
stands 54th on the season
money list with $86,909.
“Stuff happens when you
get older,” she said. “You just
live with it and you roll with it.
I came back too soon. I should
have taken some time off, but
I didn’t.” It isn’t a big surprise Stup
ples pushes herself so hard.
She always has.
After graduating from high
school in 1991, she decided
she wanted to leave England
to play college golf in the
United States. Using a place
ment agency, she discovered
Arkansas State was starting a
women’s golf program.
Stupples played one season
at ASU before transferring to
Florida State, where she played
two years before returning to
England.
“The studies were a little
bit of a strain on me,” Stupples
said. “It doesn’t come very
easy for me. I’m a bit dys
lexic, so being in school was
a tough thing for me because
back then nobody knew much
about [dyslexia] and there
wasn’t really a great deal of
help going on.” Stupples spent about four
years in England building her
amateur career while working
to save enough money to re
turn to the United States and
turn pro.
After earning conditional
status on the LPGA Tour in
1999, she moved up the mon
ey list each season over the
next five years, topping out at
$968,852 in 2004.
Inman served as Stupples’
caddie in 2003-2010 before
switching to Bader, which
allowed the couple to better
coordinate their schedules
to take care of their son. The
tour provides child care, but
with Logan starting school in
the fall, Inman will retire as a
caddy at the end of the sum
mer and head to the family’s
home in Orlando, Fla., to care
for Logan full time.
Stupples said she plans to
remain on tour as long as her
body and mind allow it.
“For her to juggle all that,I think she’s done really well with it,” Inman said. “Now that he’s getting ready to start school, she’ll miss him, but it will be easier for her in a lot of ways in the fact that he’s ready for it.”
Stupples at a glance AGE 39 (Born June 24, 1973) HOMETOWN Deal, England RESIDES Orlando, Fla.
COLLEGE Arkansas State (1991-1992), Florida State (1993-1995) NOTEWORTHY Has $3,913,204 in career earnings on the LPGA Tour. ... Stands 54th on the LPGA money list with $86,909 this season. ... Won the Women’s British Open in 2004, her only career major title. ... Husband, Bobby Inman, has been a caddie on the LPGA Tour for 31 years.
Sports, Pages 19 on 06/27/2012