Jane Blalock

I've known Jane blalock since I joined the LPGA in 1975. At that time she was one of the biggest stars on our Tour, having been Rookie of the Year in 1969 after a fine amateur career that saw her win the New Hampshire Amateur five times and the New England Amateur in 1968. In the course of her career, she won twenty-seven tournaments, although she never won a major, finishing second in the LPGA Championship twice. In 1972, she won the inaugural Colgate Dinah Shore Winner's Circle, which later was designated as a major. One of the most consistent players in LPGA history, Jane made 299 straight cuts from 1969 until 1980.

In 1972, the LPGA's Executive Board, reacting to accusations from players, charged Jane with cheating, claiming that she mismarked her ball on the green. Twenty-nine LPGA players signed a petition calling for her suspension, and the Executive Committee ultimately suspended her for one year. Jane sued and won a temporary injunction that allowed her to continue playing. She went on to lead the Tour with five wins that year, despite the incredible pressure she was under. Eventually, the courts found the LPGA in violation of antitrust laws.After winning twice in 1985, Jane retired from active competition, became a stockbroker, and started a golf management company. Her company started the LPGA Golf Clinics for Women program, and she played a key role in establishing the Legends Tour for LPGA players ages forty-five and older.

We visited at the World Golf Village during the 2007 Handa Cup, a Legends Tour competition between the United States and an international team. I'm happy to report that our team won. We began by talking about her decision to retire after the 1985 season.

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Coming into the 1985 season, I had gone three years without a victory, which was very hard to take. I didn't want to just be out there to play if I wasn't able to win. But earlier in the year I won the Kemper Open at Kaanapali, and then I won the Mazda in Japan. I shot a 64 on a legitimate par-73 course, which was my career low round. At the awards ceremony, I thought,It just doesn't get any better than this. But I also recall the feeling that my competitive desire was slipping away. I made a conscious decision at that point that I was going to retire. I wanted to go out with a win.

Was it like a spiritual awakening, an epiphany?

It was somewhat spiritual, I guess. I just really knew it was time. I've never regretted the decision.

Is that when you started your company?

No. Over the years I had made friends with a lot of people in the investment world, and the people at Merrill Lynch in Boston had told me that if I ever wanted to work as a stockbroker, they'd have a job for me. I started on the retail side and then moved over to institutional sales. I enjoyed it and was a stockbroker for five years. In that time, I played in a lot of local charitable events and outings, and I just thought they could be produced better. Also, back then more women were entering the workforce, so it seemed like a good opportunity. We started with four or five very good clients, but it really took off when I convinced Jan Thompson at Mazda to sponsor the LPGA Golf Clinics for Women. The Legends Tour came after that.

How has golf influenced your life?

There are a few ways. First, I never gave up on the golf course. I made 299 cuts, which I'm very proud of. If I shot an 80 in the first round, I wouldn't allow myself to give up. I felt that if you gave up once, you could give up at any time. Golf taught me perseverance. That's what enabled me to win. I'm the same way in business. If someone tells me an idea can never work, it just adds fuel to the fire. It makes me all the more determined to make it work. Second, golf taught me the importance of planning. You can't just show up and expect to play well. You have to have worked on every aspect of your game. In business, you have to have all the answers for any question you might be asked. Finally, you must be able to adapt as conditions change. That's true in golf, in business, and in life.

Was reinventing yourself as a businessperson scary?

It was exhilarating. I knew golf so well, but going to Merrill Lynch was a completely new world. I was forty years old and moving to a new city. I had to get a whole new wardrobe and make a new set of friends. But I needed new challenges. I needed to get out of my comfort zone. And your status changes because you're no longer recognized as a star golfer. It's kind of a shock when you realize that people don't know who you are or what you did in your former life. You have to deal with developing a whole new persona.

Are there any people you'd like to spend time with, not necessarily on the golf course but just to get to know?

Mikhail Baryshnikov would be the first name that comes to mind. He's the greatest male ballet dancer and I think probably the ultimate athlete. He was just beautiful to watch. The second person would be Helen Turley, who has been at the center of the American winemaking industry. She's been very successful in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men. I'm a wine collector, so I'd love to just sit down with her and try some of her favorite wines and listen to her explain why they're so special.

What was your most exciting moment on the golf course?

I have three, and they're all equally special. The first was winning the Triple Crown at Mission Hills. I beat Judy Rankin and Joanne Carner in a playoff. It was the only time my parents saw me win on tour. The second was winning the Kemper in 1985. I had never worked harder and was frustrated. I had come close to retiring a couple of times, so it ended a slump and unlocked the handcuffs. The third was winning my last tournament, because it allowed me to retire on a high note. Winning is a lonely experience, but it's the only reason I ever played. I never cared about the money. Winning was everything.How did you get through the controversy when you were accused of cheating? That must have been incredibly difficult.

I'm a very resilient, positive person. I believe in always looking at the sun, because that way you never see the shadows. I also had tremendous support from my family and friends and from the press.

How did it change you?

It made me stronger, but it also made me less trusting, which is not a good thing. But it didn't make me a harder person, which could easily have happened. What was scary, besides the charges themselves, was the fact that it snowballed. It dragged on for three or four years. It's interesting that I've received apologies from many of the players who made the charges, admitting they were wrong. I can take some comfort in that.

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Jane's life is proof that golf gives you many tools to reinvent yourself. She was always a great competitor, but she showed a lot of heart when she battled the allegations of cheating, which is about as bad an allegation as a player can face in golf -- a sport that prides itself on being a game of honor and sportsmanship. Winning five tournaments in a year when she was under so much scrutiny says a lot about her both as a person and as a player. When I think about Jane, I remember a quote from Winston Churchill: "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never -- in nothing great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honour and sense."

Excerpted from The Leaderboard: Conversations on Golf and Life by Amy Alcott
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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The Leaderboard; Conversations on Golf and Life

9781416535423

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