U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 21, 1994

Judy Dickinson

LES UNGER: We have Judy Dickinson who at 66 is the co-leader but the low pro at the moment.

JUDY DICKINSON: Rub it in. Go ahead.

LES UNGER: Would you please share with us your non-par holes; how you did, only those.

JUDY DICKINSON: I bogeyed the second hole, I missed my -- I hit a 5-iron to the right of the green and chipped it about six feet by and missed it coming back. The next hole I put a 7-iron about three feet and made that for birdie. Then I 3-putted -- hit a 4-iron into the next hole and I 3-putted it. And number 6, I hit a 5-iron about 8 feet and made that for birdie, 5-iron. Number 12, I hit a wedge -- pitching wedge in the hole, made eagle. 13, I hit a 5-wood about 25 feet and made that for birdie. 15, I hit a pitching wedge about six inches; made that for birdie. 16, I hit a 6-iron about six or seven feet, made that. 17, I hit a 5-wood about 18 feet, made that for birdie. Then the last hole I hit an 8-iron iron. I pulled it left and 3-putted; made bogey.

LES UNGER: Judy, in counting the results published here, 13 of the last 14 years you were in the Open but not in 1989 when it was here. What was the story in that year?

JUDY DICKINSON: I was having twins.

LES UNGER: Good reason to be absent. How about a general assessment of the course and your play today. We had heard people talking about the length of the course and the difficulty, but there is a lot of red numbers out.

JUDY DICKINSON: I think, you know, this morning there wasn't a breath of air out there. We were talking about -- we probably caught the course this morning -- we were very lucky, there was no wind, a little bit of rain last night, I think, maybe softened the greens up a little bit so they weren't -- some of them held pretty well. The wind -- when we played yesterday's practice rounds, it really played long because the wind seemed to be in your face on the longer holes. But today, you know, it played, I think, fairly reasonable, you know, for an Open course. Not overly long.

Q. The top three names on the leader board have a combined 58 years of Open experience. Is that more than a coincidence? Could you analyze that for us?

JUDY DICKINSON: Well, I think any time you get into a major championship or a tournament on a harder golf course, probably a lot of experience you don't get to -- you know, if something goes wrong, you don't let it bother you too much because you know people are going to make mistakes. Everyone is going to make mistakes. You don't, maybe, get too concerned about it and try too keep plugging along that, I think, if you are out here a number of years, I think you learn that as opposed -- there are certain greens, I think, you know, to go at and certain greens not to hit at pins and that probably takes a lot of experience.

Q. What happened over on number 12?

JUDY DICKINSON: Number 12 I hit a pitching wedge into the hole.

Q. From how far?

JUDY DICKINSON: 100 yards. Made eagle. It hit, I think, pin high and came back and spun back into the hole.

LES UNGER: Carol Semple Thompson, describing her eagle, said she sculled the 5-iron 170 yards.

JUDY DICKINSON: I was talking to a USGA officials; she said, well, they were a little bit behind, so that really got them back into position.

Q. What was the last time you shared the lead with an amateur?

JUDY DICKINSON: I don't think I have shared the lead with an amateur. I was joking with Carner coming to the last hole, she said -- because she had -- on 17 she hit this shot right at the flag and I had actually hooked mine a little bit, she hit it right at the flag; ended up spinning down to the right -- to the right of mine. I looked at her, I said, "your way." She goes -- funny how that green is, but she had the same putt and I was able to make the putt because she missed hers, but we were talking at the next hole, she said "good putt." I said, "I know, just got to beat this "ami" (amateur) somehow." So we started cracking up. No, Carol played -- that is terrific, to go out and play a round like that, I think got everybody fired up looking at the board, I think.

Q. One of the biggest factors today in terms of weather, you know, how did it affect your play?

JUDY DICKINSON: The weather?

Q. Yeah, humidity and whatnot.

JUDY DICKINSON: I just think it was -- we were expecting to have rain probably all morning while we played and when we didn't get it, I think every hole that we went out, wind or rain, it was a plus. So I think it was just perfect to play this morning. We were very lucky because there wasn't any wind either. It was very windy yesterday, it was very difficult.

Q. Did you ever play with Carol or against Carol Thompson in your amateur days, and what were your impressions of her?

JUDY DICKINSON: I have never played with her. I didn't really play that much amateur golf, so I don't think I have ever been paired with her.

Q. Judy, everyone in your group is under par. Is it kind of a feeding frenzy, are you kind of off each other all day?

JUDY DICKINSON: I have always liked playing with somebody -- you know, with a group that is playing well and people making putts. I played practice rounds with Carner the last couple of days, then we knew we were paired together; I think that helped me too. Carner is a kind of player, no matter where she hit, a lot of times she will come up with par, so it is good to play with somebody that, you know, you don't have to hit it perfect to score; you don't have to apologize for not hitting it on the fairway and down the green so...

Q. So, how was Carner playing?

JUDY DICKINSON: She played pretty well. Jan was playing pretty well. The whole group was playing well. I think that helped because we were all playing well.

Q. Jan got into some trouble at hole number 5, she was mad about -- maybe you saw her ball was on some sod that--

JUDY DICKINSON: I saw her ask for a ruling on 5. I don't think they gave her a drop. But I didn't know exactly what it was she was asking about.

Q. Was there new clumps of sod?

JUDY DICKINSON: I don't know. I didn't walk over there. They have an official with each group. The official went over there and looked at it. I saw that she didn't get a drop. She ended up making double there. Then she came right back.

Q. How far away was your 3-putt on 18; way off --

JUDY DICKINSON: I was all the way on the left fringe, so it was good. It had that big mound and actually was slower down that hill than I thought it was. I probably could have 2-putted, but it was probably about 40, 50 feet.

Q. How about on the third hole where you 3-putted?

JUDY DICKINSON: Third hole I was -- pin was back right and I was back left, and I just totally misread it, and the ball broke strongly. I ended up like six, seven feet below the pin to the right and missed it coming back up the hill. I just totally misread that one. I had a hard time on some of the putts starting out; getting a feel for the greens, but as we went along, I got a little bit more comfortable.

LES UNGER: Were they that different today than practice days?

JUDY DICKINSON: The hard thing I am -- well, there is a lot of, you know, with all the mounds in them, they are not just break right, break left. There is a lot of double breaks, and there is a lot of different speeds on the green if you are going up hill. They are very slow, but if you get on a slope, plus with the grain, all of a sudden it is very, very fast and you can go from very slow to very, very fast. So, sometimes it is hard to -- if you have a longer putt with some breaks, it is hard to get the speed on them.

Q. The eagle over on 12 started a real strong 6-hole stretch for you. How important was that for you mentally?

JUDY DICKINSON: Well, I just -- I had been kind of, you know, going along and hitting it. I just missed it like a three footer at 9 for birdie, and had a fairly good birdie putt at 10, and left it short at 11. So I was kind of waiting for something to happen, and that really got me going; to all of a sudden get to two under, that really got me going; then because I was kind of messing around with it and couldn't quite get under par, so that helped.

Q. Do you think it is conceivable for an amateur to actually win the Women's Open?

JUDY DICKINSON: Sure, I think an amateur could win the Open. Like I said, I hadn't played with Carol, I don't know her game. I don't -- I really don't -- I don't know how -- I guess, obviously she played well today, so -- but sure, I think an amateur can win the Open.

Q. Are you putting better nowadays than you were a couple of years ago?

JUDY DICKINSON: I am a streaky putter. It is probably still the, you know, the most nervous part of my game. When I get it going, I am good. And I have started putting better the last three or four weeks. I have started putting better each week, so I am kind of on an upswing that way, so...

Q. What is your approach getting ready for an Open course as opposed to courses that you see week to week on the regular Tour; something you have to work out on the practice rounds?

JUDY DICKINSON: The biggest difference is, I think, the tour we don't play a lot of the older courses anymore. We play a lot of the newer, and a lot of resort courses, and public courses. A lot of the older courses, I think, have greens that are much faster than when we play -- what we play all year. They have much -- like, mounds like this. We very rarely play courses like that during the year, so I think that is the hard part; coming in here is getting -- lucky thing for us is last couple of years we have been coming from Wykagyl which the last two years is a terrific -- they could hold an Open on it very easily. It is a terrific golf course, and coming from there, you have to be long there, drive the ball, work the ball, and the greens are normally very fast so that really helps playing there, I think, that week; then coming to here because you played a very difficult golf course before coming in here.

Q. What do you expect the remainder of this weekend?

JUDY DICKINSON: As far as scoring?

Q. Yeah, your game.

JUDY DICKINSON: Well, I think this is the kind of golf course that, you know, if you just keep it in play -- and the important thing out here, a lot these greens you got to get your approach shots on the right side of these mounds on these greens that are split in the middle with the humps. You have got the difficult putt if the pin is on the left side of the mound, and you are on the right side, that is the key. Sometimes you are better off short; putting straight up through the mounds and the pin high, you know, trying to -- so if you just keep it in play -- it just depends on the weather. That could be a real factor out here. If that wind gets blowing, it is going to be a lot more difficult. I was hoping to just keep -- you know, when you get under par at the Open, all I was thinking today was just get as many as you can because if it gets bad, you are going to give some back somewhere. So, you know, get as many as you can now, lock them, so...

Q. So, in other words, the scores could be a lot higher this weekend?

JUDY DICKINSON: Oh, sure. If it gets -- yesterday it was really hard to play with that wind, and if it gets blowing like it did yesterday, the scores will go right up.

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