She tried hard not to compare herself to her former teammate. And she fought the pangs of jealousy and resentment of being left behind.
But JENNIE LEE, who played for four years alongside Duke University teammate AMANDA BLUMENHERST, finally came to terms with the timing of things. She learned that her former teammate was ready to move on to the LPGA, ready to win the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament last fall, and ready to finish second in one of the LPGA’s 2010 tournaments.
And as their respective professional careers unfolded last season, Lee was forced to recognize that she was not inadequate as a professional just because Blumenherst was ready to move on to the LPGA. Lee learned that she had some more work to do and that last year’s off-season offered one of her biggest life lessons.
“Coming up short at the sectional Q-School last fall propelled me to think about what my weaknesses were and to use the off-season as a good reflection time,” said Lee, 23, of Henderson, Nev. “I could get mad about how I played or I could do something about it.”
And while it would be easy to dismiss this as a case of two closely matched former collegiate and U.S. Curtis Cup teammates competing for the same things with one coming out on top and one feeling short-changed, consider that Lee and Blumenherst have known each other since junior golf. Their golf lives have had a parallel path with success along the way.
Both were solid student-athletes who were recruited by the same university with a women’s golf program that is known as a regular NCAA Championship contender. Both were on the Duke team as freshmen that won the 2006 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship -- the school’s second consecutive national title. And both were sophomores when Duke scored its “three-peat” with a third straight NCAA team crown in 2007.
By their junior year, Blumenherst and Lee were now upperclassmen and, says Lee, “were trying to learn how to become leaders of the team.” Duke finished third at the NCAA Championship that year.
In their senior year, the two players grew closer as their team struggled. One of their top players left after a semester. Another key team member suffered with an illness, and even Duke Coach Dan Brooks was sidelined for several tournaments with an inner-ear illness that sent the team on the road without him. The team needed their senior leaders and turned to Blumenherst and Lee. Those two college players cared enough about the team to take leadership workshops so they could step forward to help.
“Things just kept happening and Amanda and I talked a lot about how things were so different than they were when we first came to Duke,” said Lee, a college All-American who was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Southern California. “That year, a lot of the team’s energy was put into stuff that was not golf-related.”
Duke finished sixth as a team their senior year and on the last day of the NCAA Championship, Lee says she and Blumenherst together “cried our eyeballs out.”
A few weeks later, both women graduated, turned professional and went their separate ways as rookie pros. Lee focused on the Duramed FUTURES Tour and played in 10 events last summer, making nine cuts and finishing in the top 10 three times. Blumenherst signed with a large management company and bounced between the FUTURES and sponsor exemptions on the LPGA Tour.
And while Blumenherst’s career seemingly jumped on the fast track, it became easy for Lee to look at herself and ask what she was doing wrong? In retrospect, the second-year pro now knows she should have been telling herself that every player develops differently, and in her own time.
“I had to let go of the comparisons,” admitted Lee. “Obviously, Amanda has her LPGA card and is doing very well this year, but I think that my being here on the Duramed FUTURES Tour is another example of how people all develop differently even if you have done a lot of the same things. What I’ve had to say in my heart is that I am here for a reason and I am myself for a reason. I’m never going to have blonde hair and blue eyes, but I’ve learned to value myself more.”
With a new attitude this season and a desire to continue her personal and professional development, Lee kicked off 2010 with a tie for 10th in Winter Haven, Fla., and then posted a career-best, runner-up finish in the Tour’s second tournament in Mexico. This time, there was no pity party when Lee showed up to play.
“If she’s having a hard time, her mental game is good enough that she can break through the bad stuff,” said Tour member Hwanhee Lee of Las Vegas, who has known Lee since they were children in Southern California. “Jennie believes in herself.”
Ironically, it took Blumenherst’s move to the LPGA Tour for Lee look at herself differently and to see the value in what they had shared together as college golfers.
“Being on the same team and using the same facilities at Duke, she made me better as a golfer,” said Lee. “As teammates, you feed off each other.”
While they are now playing on different tours with different travel schedules, Lee and Blumenherst still keep in touch. They exchanged some text messages this spring after Duke won the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship. And when one of them breaks through and wins on her respective tour, you can bet the texts will again be buzzing back and forth.
But without the player who has pushed her to be her best for so many years, this season is different. Blumenherst is not camped out on the range or playing in the next group. She has moved on and Lee knows she will have to continue working hard to once again share a similar experience where the top players should be. She also knows her future has as much to do with how she manages her emotions as an achiever, as the technical progress of her game.
Now, rather than feeling resentful about her friend’s fast climb, Lee is eager to see what she can do this season on the LPGA’s developmental tour. It’s almost like the raw honesty in the line from Sheryl Crow’s song that reminds her that “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got” that will finally get her to where she wants to be.
