Livescore
What began as a way to network with other professional women has resulted, seven years later, in Shakopee resident Kristi Peterson playing golf at the LPGA Amateurs Golf Association National Championship.
Peterson’s team, the Minnesota Metro chapter, recently tied for 23rd place out of 32 teams competing in the tournament, which was held in Tampa, Florida.
“I was looking for more women to golf with and make some connections and network,” Peterson said. “I googled ‘women’s golf Twin Cities’ and found this organization and joined. It took off from there.”
When Peterson first started, the organization was called the Executive Women’s Golf Association. Since then, the Ladies Professional Golf Association took it over.
Peterson’s team qualified for the national championship by first winning its local championship and then placing second out of 12 teams at the Upper Midwest Regional Championships in Lake Geneva, Wis.
One of the LPGA’s goals, Peterson said, is to grow amateur golf.
“I think (that’s) a very smart move on their part,” Peterson said. “Women golfers are always looking at growing the game in that sector and providing more visibility to women in the game of golf.”
Golfers of all skill levels can get involved, too. There are leagues for everyone from the beginner to the expert golfer. Peterson herself didn’t even golf for the first time until college.
“I needed a PE credit to graduate and I thought I’d take a golf class and it would be fun,” she said. “I bought myself a set of clubs and when I graduated I moved here to the Twin Cities and they just sat at my parents’ house. Through a process of work and a few other women I got back into it, and the rest is history.”
To top it off, Peterson has become close friends with many of the other women in the organization. They’ve traveled together to Germany and Des Moines, Iowa, for the Solheim Cup, and next September a group of them are planning a trip to Scotland for the Solheim Cup.
“I will say the ladies I’ve met through this organization have been fabulous, and some of them are the best friends I’ve ever had,” Peterson said. “We do a lot together outside of golf. Some of us have a lot of common interests. It’s been fun, we go to concerts together, baseball games, just socialize. It’s a great organization of women supporting women.”
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