She has gone from top rookie to also-ran in a season of setbacks, but her will to win remains.
By BOB HARIG
Published October 2, 2003
Beth Bauer can often be spotted on the local airwaves, touting the Eagles Golf Club in Odessa, just one of several endorsements she secured based on a long history of success and future promise.
The former Bloomingdale High state champion who learned the game under her late father's tutelage, first at Airco in Clearwater and then at Summerfield Golf Club, grew up.
She was the LPGA Tour's rookie of the year in 2002, moved into her own home at the Eagles, endured the tough transition of no longer having her mother, Chris, travel with her, and forged a relationship with a young man who caddies for another LPGA player.
Off the course, Beth Bauer's life is a dream.
On the course, where it appeared to be headed that way a year ago ... well, that's another story.
"Just about everything this year has been a setback," said Bauer, 23, during a recent break from the tour. "I had caddie problems, I got a new teacher, everything kind of got jumbled up. I was trying to get stronger physically, there were so many things I wanted to improve, and looking back, maybe I needed to take baby steps.
"Maybe I needed to keep with my basic fundamentals that I've always had, taking it from there, instead of getting everything new."
What needed improvement?
Bauer, who has just one top-10 finish this season heading into this week's Longs Drug Challenge in California, sometimes wonders why she fiddled with new clubs or messed with her swing when the technique used on the old sticks brought so much success last year. She finished 18th on the LPGA money list with $481,000. She even sought the advice of a noted teacher, Mike McGetrick, whom she no longer works with.
But she is not the first player who attempted to get better and instead went backward. After all, most golfers feel they can not stay put.
"I'm not a very analytical person," Bauer said. "I've never really thought a lot on the golf course. This year, I get over the ball and I'm thinking way too much about my swing. I've never really had that a lot. That kind of set me back, too. It's easy to say go back and play golf, but it's hard to go back once you do that."
Having finished the 2002 season strong, with five of her six top 10s and the push to top rookie honors, it was natural to think Bauer might do better this season, that she might even capture her first victory.
"I don't think I really set my goals too high," said Bauer, who is 67th this year with $107,183. "I think people's expectations of me were very, very high. It was such a phenomenal year. It was a lot of fun. But I didn't really think about it. I was just playing golf.
"There was a lot of hype about what can you do next year. Maybe people were expecting more than I produced. But I'm still hoping to win many times."
Numbers tell part of the story. Last year Bauer ranked 28th on tour in driving accuracy and 35th in greens in regulation. This year she is 132nd in driving and 147th in greens.
And after breaking par in 48 of her 89 rounds last year, Bauer had a much tougher time finding red numbers, doing so in just 16 of 69 rounds. Her stroke average is 73.17, nearly two shots higher than last year.
Bauer said none of that had anything to do with firing her caddie, Doug Matteson, who worked for her during her rookie season. Bauer hired Dean Teske, who is the husband of LPGA Tour player Rachel Teske.
And during the spring, she broke off a relationship but started dating Shaun Clews, an Australian who caddies for Hee-Won Han.
"It's nice to have somebody to go to dinner with," she said. "He is a stable force there. He's a great guy, probably one of the best caddies on tour. There's a lot of positive energy that he brings to our relationship and my game. I never thought I would date a caddie until I met him. It's been going great. He's really changed my life. It's been tough on the course, but he's made it very enjoyable."
Bauer has rarely experienced failure. In 1997 and '98, she was the American Junior Golf Association's player of the year. While at Duke for two years, she twice won the Atlantic Coast Conference individual title. And when she did have a setback, unable to earn her LPGA card in 2000, she bounced back on the Futures Tour in 2001 as the circuit's player of the year.
Now, there are signs of a turnaround, Bauer said. Three weeks ago she finished second at the Astra Korean Women's Open (but collected the first-place check because the winner was an amateur).
And although she is unlikely to qualify for some of the LPGA's season-ending events, that's okay, too. Bauer wants to use the time off to her advantage and start strong next year.
"It's been a tough year as far as accepting some of my not-so-great tournaments," she said. "But I'm still very optimistic. I'm definitely playing better. I think my swing is coming around a lot. It's probably better than it was last year at this time. It's just a matter of making some birdies and getting the scores going low again."
