Welch’s big secret is out

The media relations department for the Duramed Futures Tour recently updated Kim Welch’s list of accomplishments, adding a victory, of sorts, that the former Washington State University all-American golfer earned almost seven months ago.

It wasn’t an oversight, or a matter of some publicist being slow on the draw.

It was just that Welch had been sworn to secrecy and was unable to tell the world about winning The Golf Channel’s reality show Big Break Ka’anapali last winter.

But after the last of the Big Break’s 12 episodes, which were filmed on the island of Maui during a two-week span in December, aired earlier this month, Welch was free to discuss her experience as one of the 12 women invited to compete in the golf skills elimination competition.

And “Winner of the Golf Channel’s Big Break: Ka’anapali series (2008)” was added to her Futures Tour bio.

“At first it was hard keeping it a secret,” the 25-year-old Welch said earlier this week during a phone interview from Syracuse, N.Y., the site of this weekend’s Futures Tour stop. “I really wanted to tell people when I first got back home, but as people asked me more and more about it – especially my family – I just decided to have fun with it and tried to convince people I was going home each episode.

“In the end, it was more fun to keep the whole thing a secret and just mess with people.”

Welch, who was a four-time All-Pacific-10 Conference performer and 2003 first-team NGCA All-American during her stay at WSU, watched the final episode of Big Break with family and friends in her hometown of Sacramento, Calif. In that last installment, she defeated Sophie Sandolo, the other remaining competitor, 4 and 3, in an 18-hole match-play event that determined the winner.

As a result of her victory, Welch earned an exemption into the 2008 Navistar LPGA Classic, which will take place in Prattville, Ala., Sept. 25-28, along with free entry into every 2009 Futures Tour event. In addition, she won a BMW Z4 automobile, which she has yet to receive, and a $10,000 endorsement contract with Adams Golf.

Understandably, Welch and her friends did a little celebrating after the Big Break finale aired.

“We just had kind of viewing party, and I wasn’t really paying any attention to my cell phone,” she said. “But later that night, when I checked it, I had 80 text messages, 100 e-mails and 25 missed calls.

“It was just crazy.”

Welch packed up her new-found celebrity, grabbed a red-eye flight out of Oakland the following morning and headed east to rejoin the Futures Tour, where she ranks 11th on the money list, having earned $18,699 in the 11 events she has entered. If she finishes in the top five, she will earn an exemption into next year’s LPGA Tour.

While the thought of getting an opportunity to compete against the LPGA’s best later this fall is exciting, Welch is trying to not get ahead of herself.

“It’s going to be a great experience, and I’m sure I’ll be even more excited when it gets close to the (Navistar) tournament date,” she said. “But for right now, I really have to just focus on what I’m doing out there on the Futures Tour.

“Because it’s only one LPGA tournament, it’s not going to make or break my career. It’s going to be a great learning experience, and I hope I play well. But if nothing else, I’m going to gain a ton of experience, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Looking back on her Big Break experience, Welch admits to being a bit stressed out during the competition.

“We had a lot of fun with it, but at the same time, it was stressful,” she said. “You’re up at 5:30 every morning during the filming, and in bed at 11 at night, so it was a ton of work.

“It was something I’m really glad I did, but it’s something I wouldn’t want to do again. One of those kinds of experiences is enough.”

Welch claims she had “zero expectations” heading into Big Break Ka’anapali.

“I went into it just not wanting to be the first one eliminated. That was my main goal,” she said. “I’ve seen really good players get kicked off early on that show, so you never know. If you have one bad day in a normal tournament, you’ve still got a chance to recover. But if you have one back day on Big Break, you go home.

“Personally, I went in just wanting to have fun. If I went far in the competition, great, but if not, I still had a nice two-week vacation in Hawaii, so it wasn’t going to be a bad thing either way.”

Welch also made a couple of new friends during her stay in Maui, and insists the seemingly snippy nature of some of the contestants wasn’t as bad as it sometimes appeared on the telecasts.

“We all got along really well, for the most part, and had a great time,” she said. “We had a lot more fun than what they showed on TV, obviously, because they want to build it up and create a lot of drama and all of that. We had a really good time, and I walked away with a couple of really good new friends.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”