Corey Weworski at the U.s. Women's Mid-Am (USGA photo)
VERO BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 7, 2018) – For a self-described competitive golf junkie,
Corey Weworski has a very low-key demeanor. But the 56-year-old simply loves tournament golf. It makes her rise to the occasion.
“Once I stop competing, I’ll probably give up golf,” said Weworski, a veteran of nearly 40 USGA championships. That’s not likely to happen any time soon.
Weworski opened the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur with rounds of 72-73 at Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club to easily advance to the match-play bracket. Weworski will take the No. 2 seed behind medalist Pamela Kuong, who came in with a 1-under total after rounds of 74-69.
Stroke play, Weworski says, is the stressful part.
“I never think about my score,” she said, but Weworski is clearly in the moment.
She’s an athletic presence, with her sandy blonde hair rolled up neatly inside her ball cap. As high winds tested the rest of the 132-woman field on Sunday, Weworski reminded herself to keep her powerful-yet-fluid swing in check. She horseshoed a par putt around the hole at the par-3 15th – one-hopping up and down in a quick burst of frustration – but dropped a 25-footer for birdie at No. 17 to finish with 73.
Weworski can set up birdie opportunities for herself where other players struggle with length. She’s one of the longest players in the field but isn’t sure exactly what she averages off the tee. Weworski only knows that Orchid Island calls for plenty of 3-woods. There’s water on 17 holes here.
Last month, Weworski advanced to the third round of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur before falling to four-time champion Meghan Stasi.
“I never ever said, ‘This is going to be my hole,’ ever. I don’t do that,” she said, and that’s something she learned from winning her own USGA title at the 2004 Women’s Mid-Amateur. Once the bracket is set, there are no easy matches.
Weworski’s ball marker – the number 54 – gives a window into that mental game. She began working with the coaches at Vision54, a golf performance program, in 2010, and her son Tyler followed suit in 2015. Sometimes Weworski will use what she has learned through the Vision54 program to help her son as he charts a path through professional golf.
It’s the rare mother-son combo that competes at the level that Corey and Tyler do. Tyler, 28, turned professional after playing college golf for Texas Tech. While his mother, a former college golfer at Sacramento State, competes at the Senior Women’s Amateur, Tyler is preparing for the first stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He first entered Q-School in 2012, and has played tournaments on the Web.com Tour, Canadian Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
Both Corey and her husband Joe are golfers, and both played a role in guiding their son to the game. Both have also caddied for Tyler as he has navigated the mini tours.
“It’s not cool if your mom is caddying for you on the Web.com Tour,” Corey said laughing, though few other moms or mom caddies are probably USGA champions.
Tyler is invested in his mother’s game, too. He always remembers to call, Corey said, during tournaments, and after Saturday’s first round at Orchid Island, Tyler’s instructions were for his mother to work on her two-footers.
“The support from the family is unbelievable,” said Corey, who also received a call from younger son Ryan, 26, who is currently working on a masters degree in finance. Ryan is the kind of player who likes golf for the entertainment aspect, and you’re more likely to find him playing in flip flops than grinding over a putt.
The boys, it seems, represent both competitive sides of their mother.
View results for U.S. Senior Women's Amateur
ABOUT THE
U.S. Senior Women's Amateur
The USGA Senior Women's Amateur is open
to female golfers with a USGA Handicap
Index not exceeding 14.4, who will have
reached their 50th birthday on or before the
first day of the championship. It is one of 14
national championships conducted annually
by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for
amateurs.
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