With her swing and her confidence back, Bauer starts anew today in tour opener at Tucson.
By BOB HARIG
Published March 11, 2004
Beth Bauer has been part of the local golf scene for more than a decade, and yet when she celebrates her birthday Monday, there will be just 24 candles on the cake.
Sure, she's 10 years older than Michelle Wie, but as golf careers go, Bauer is still a baby in spikes. Keep in mind that the best female player in the world, Annika Sorenstam, is 33.
That is the golfer Bauer expected to be chasing after winning rookie of the year honors on the LPGA Tour in 2002. Instead, she changed her coach and her swing and struggled through a season to forget in 2003.
A long offseason followed, with plenty of time to reflect. Bauer, who lives at the Eagles in Odessa, took six weeks off and didn't touch a club. She visited Australia with her boyfriend, Shaun Clews. She attempted to purge the bad memories, then went back to work with her old instructor.
Bauer starts anew today at the Welch's/Fry's Championship in Tucson, the season opener for the LPGA Tour.
"I'm very excited," Bauer said last week while preparing for a month-long trip on tour. "I've been counting the days for a couple of weeks. I feel prepared more than anything this year. I got some confidence back. When I started back practicing again, I was excited to play again and working hard on getting my swing back. I just feel ready to play this year. I've gone back to a swing I can rely on."
The fact that she deemed it necessary to change a swing that helped her post six top-10 finishes and earn $480,909 in 2002, 18th on the money list, is a question Bauer fielded often last season as she endured her sophomore slump.
Bauer, who grew up in Clearwater and starred at Bloomingdale High and later at Duke, said the decision seemed sound and wasn't made in haste. She was ready to take the next step. She would work with a new instructor to tweak her swing and hit the ball farther. She would make a few alterations to her clubs. She would become a top-10 player in the world.
But like many golfers with the best intentions of trying to improve what might not have needed improving, Bauer regressed.
She averaged nearly two shots more per round and tumbled 47 spots on the money list. The LPGA's next great American player was battling to make cuts, missing eight out of 24. She had just one top-10 finish.
No wonder she was looking forward to a lengthy offseason.
"I honestly thought that was the way to go," said Bauer, who began working with noted instructor Mike McGetrick, who, among others, has helped Hall of Famer Juli Inkster. "I never really had a big-name teacher and I thought that was what I needed to become the best in the world.
"Unfortunately, my experience was not that great. I was trying to do the things to become a top-10 player or the best player I can become. In a way, I went backwards. I realize I have inside of me what it takes to become the best player. I just have to let it come out and do it my way."
Making matters worse, Bauer altered her irons. She put in longer shafts, thinking it would help her hit the ball farther. "You don't know until you're under the gun and have to play competitively," she said. "But more important was losing my golf swing."
Bauer is again working with Tampa teaching pro Justin Tremblay, 32, who will caddie for her this week, and perhaps longer.
Tremblay said Bauer needed to make some changes going into last year, she simply attempted to do so too late.
"Once you get some thoughts in there, it's hard to work and play competitively with all that," he said. "She called me in the middle of the year and said she had no idea which way her driver was going to go. I knew then she had no confidence. That was the strongest part of her game her rookie year. She's not the longest, but when you hit the fairway all the time, 250 yards out, and then hit 70 percent of the greens ... you're going to do fine.
"Now it's a matter of trusting it and going from there. I've played a lot of golf with her in the last few weeks. She needs to get back into the routine, get under the gun. She's driving it the best I've seen her. She's hitting it farther and hitting it straight."
Bauer admitted that last season took its toll. People were constantly asking what was wrong, if she was injured. The only thing worse than the questions was her wayward ball flight.
Now she is ready to turn the negative experience into a positive.
"I don't regret any decision I've made," she said. "It was a collective decision between me and my mom (Chris) and my agent. It was something we were all very excited about. We didn't realize it wasn't going to work out so great.
"I've learned so much that I'm going to take forward with me, who I can trust my golf swing to. I feel like I have a game plan, something to work on, and my golf swing feels great now."
