ROGERS -- Stacy Lewis meticulously plans every shot on the golf course, carefully considering all the elements and possibilities before striking the ball.
She's trying to take that same approach into motherhood as she and husband, Gerrod, prepare for their first child, due Nov. 3. The couple planned the event, so Lewis would only miss about half of the 2018 LPGA Tour events, and she hopes to return to the course in January.
Walmart extends tournament sponsorship
The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship will be a regional fixture for at least two more years as Walmart announced Tuesday a two-year extension as the LPGA tournament’s title sponsor.
The event at Pinnacle Country Club is in its 12th year. The two-year extension will run through 2020. Proctor and Gamble is the presenting sponsor of the tournament.
“We’re thrilled with the extension, which will take us to year 14 of the event and hopefully beyond,” said Tournament Director Harry Hardy of Octagon sports management which hosts the event. “The commitment that we received will enable us to continue to invest in all the programs that we’ve started and also continue to put on what we consider to be one of the premier events on the Tour.”
Stacy Lewis, the former Arkansas golfer, is the face of this event. She will be leaving the tour soon for the birth of her first child but plans to be back in time for next year’s event.
“I would not miss this tournament,” she said. “The support from Walmart and P&G is unbelievable. I know that they are able to do a lot around this tournament as far as raising money and doing initiatives and different programs. It’s become as important for them as it is for our tour, and I hope that we continue past even these next two years.”
— Chip Souza • @NWAChip
WALMART NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP
WHEN Today through Sunday
WHERE Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers
WHAT LPGA professional golf tournament
FORMAT 54 Holes
PURSE $2 million
WINNER’S SHARE $300,000
YARDAGE 6,331
PAR 71
DEFENDING CHAMPION So Yeon Ryu 65-61-69—195 (-18)*
HISTORY Tournament was started in 2007. First year was unofficial due to weather.
TICKETS GA is $10 per day, or $25 for the week. Children under 17 with ticketed adult free. All active reserve and retired military and families are free; Tickets for The Club are $75 per day or $200 for the week with food and drinks included in the price.
*— Tournament record
For more information, visit nwachampionship.com.
"It has worked out according to plan," Lewis said Tuesday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. "I'm going to play next week and then play two weeks later at the Marathon Classic, and that will be my last one. The tour moves over to Europe, and the travel just gets a little bit worse. I'm excited for the break."
Lewis will find out the gender Saturday at a gender reveal gathering, which will include blue or pink fireworks. She did say, however, her instinct is telling her it's a girl.
Shauna Taylor, who coached Lewis at Arkansas and remains very close to her former four-time All-American, said if Lewis is correct and it is a girl, a scholarship offer will be coming immediately.
"There will always be a spot for a little Lewy on our team," Taylor laughed. "I would love for my little girl and baby Chadwell to be teammates."
Lewis -- who won this event in 2014, tied for third in 2015 and tied for fourth last year -- said she is looking forward to playing Pinnacle Country Club. The length of the course is shorter, which plays more to her strength now.
"Obviously this golf course is not our longest, which I'm excited about because that will let me be competitive and stay in the mix," she said. "This is a homecoming for me. It's a week that I can really relax and enjoy because there's not a whole lot of work I have to do on the golf course. I just love being here. I wish I could live here, but I just love this week and getting to come back."
Taylor said the key for Lewis after the baby arrives will be balancing mom life with professional athlete life, but if anyone is able to do it, it is Lewis.
"Stacy and Gerrod are going to be amazing parents," Taylor said. "There will be an adjustment period for everyone. I know her wheels are already turning on how to balance everything with their new addition, and, if anyone likes a challenge, it is her. Stacy is very efficient with her time on the golf course, in practice and in workouts. That will continue to be the case after she finds her new normal with a little one in the house."
So far she said the pregnancy has not had much of an effect on her game other than losing some length off the tee.
"I am probably not hitting the driver as far, but the irons are definitely still going the same distance," she said. "There are quite a few holes on this golf course where you're not hitting driver anyway, so that's why I'm excited about this week. I feel like I can still be pretty competitive, where at the U.S. Open a couple of weeks ago, it was a lot of golf course for me.
"Right now, it's really just trying to manage energy more than anything. Taking a few more naps and resting a little bit more. Other than that, I think it's been pretty good."
The NW Arkansas Championship and the Arkansas women's golf team have a unique relationship, unlike any other in the country. Each year the No. 1 golfer on the Arkansas team gets a sponsorship exemption into this event, and the program gets three exemptions into the Monday qualifier. Junior Dylan Kim grabbed a spot this year by shooting a six-under 65 on Monday.
Kim and Lewis will be joined in the tournament field by former Razorback Gaby Lopez and current Razorback Maria Fassi, who earned the sponsorship exemption.
"Most of the players that we recruit have the dream of playing on the LPGA Tour one day, and there is no better measuring stick then teeing it up with the best players in the world while you are still in college," Taylor said. "I don't know of any other college program that has this kind of opportunity with a professional event."
Lewis played in the first tournament in 2007 and said she used that as a way to measure her game against the top players in the world at the time.
"This tournament in general has been huge for the Arkansas women's golf team," she said. "It's been such a great opportunity for the girls. It's just really cool to see what Shauna and the other coaches are doing and to be able to watch these girls and hopefully help them get to this next level."
Lewis has targeted a January return to the LPGA Tour.
"A lot of it will be just seeing how it goes," she said. "I definitely want to play, but how soon I'm not exactly sure. I will be eligible for a tournament in January, and I'd like to play in that.
"I definitely won't go to Asia with a three-month-old. We'll be a traveling circus. But I will just have to figure it out as I go. I don't know how my body is going to feel after this whole process."
There are some things even a meticulous planner can't plan for.
Sports on 06/21/2018