Winslow set to graduate to big leagues
NEW YORK – There is little doubt Andia Winslow would have been successful in anything she chose to do with her life.
The 23-year-old Yale graduate is already a Renaissance woman with a degree in sociology and a resume as a documentary filmmaker. All of that is on hold, however, as Winslow attempts to blaze a trail down a far different course.
On April 27, Winslow will be the first African-American in five years, and the fourth ever, to tee it up in an LPGA event. Awarded a sponsor’s exemption into the Ginn Clubs and Resorts Open at the Reunion Resort and Club in Orlando, Winslow’s dream is to work her way into the big leagues for good.
She wouldn’t be the first in her family. Uncle Kellen, one of football’s greatest tight ends, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Cousin Kellen Jr., is with the Cleveland Browns.
“She’s a typical Winslow. She wants to compete,” Kellen Sr. says of the niece who has been beating him on the golf course since she was 13. “A lot of doors have been broken down and opened. A lot of people have gone before her to create this opportunity. It’s her job to take advantage of it.”
Which is exactly what she plans to do.
Winslow, originally from Seattle, has moved in with her uncle, who works for the sports arm of Disney. She has taken a job in Golf Operations at Disney World, which affords her practice time, and tournament director Linda Chen has set her up with top instructor Brian Mogg. It’s as hard as she’s ever worked on her game and the most help she’s ever had with it.
“It was a dream of playing golf that I had since I was a youngster,” she says. “I decided that if I’m not going to try it now, I never will. So give it a shot, but if you do, give it all your time and attention. Orlando is a golf city. When I see Annika (Sorenstam) in the grocery store, that makes me feel that I’m in the right place.”
Winslow began playing when she was 9 after attending a clinic at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle, where Fred Couples got his start. Couples would return each year for a clinic and that got her hooked.
A superb overall athlete, Winslow joined the American Junior Golf Association circuit, her mom driving her thousands of miles to events because they couldn’t afford the airfare. It paid off. Winslow was the 1999 Minority Golfer of the Year and once cracked the top 50 junior players in the world rankings. She was awarded a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship to Yale, where she was the first black, male or female, to play for an Ivy League golf team.
Still, Winslow’s amateur career never quite blossomed.
After just a few weeks of working with Winslow, Mogg thinks that might change. “It may take a short while but I think she can be a top player on the LPGA,” says Mogg, whose first goal is to eliminate a flaw he found in Winslow’s swing.
If Winslow fulfills that kind of potential, she would fill a glaring void in women’s golf. Only three African-American women have played the LPGA – LaRee Sugg, Renee Powell and the legendary Althea Gibson, the only one of three to win a tournament.