Megan Heckeroth - The Golf Blog interview, Part 2

(photograph (c) megangolf.com)

The Golf Blog: Megan, we’ve seen you post some comments to The Golf Blog – thank you for your interest. Are you a regular reader of The Golf Blog?

Megan: I love the Golf Blog. It is one of a few blogs that mix competent commentary with open views and opinions from golfers at large.

The Golf Blog: Thanks, we try our best, but sometimes we have to "take a mulligan."

OK, so now seems a good time to actually talk about some golf. What was it like growing up playing golf in Oregon? Did you play at the same time when Jason Allred was playing? What other tour pros are from Oregon – are we missing someone?

Megan: Are you kidding me? How about Peter Jacobsen, Ben Crane, Alison Hanna.

The Golf Blog: Ooops! There goes our interview with Jake. Well, there's our one mulligan for the day ... We need to get out to Oregon. What should we know about playing golf in Oregon?

Megan: Oregon golf is wet. So if I’m in a tournament and all the players are moaning about the rain, I am going ... this is my hometown weather. Easy stuff. Of course, the players from Texas are happy when it’s windy.

The Golf Blog: How would you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your game?

Megan: My strength is my length, especially off the tee, and I have a great feel around the greens. My weakness is bunkers. We don’t like sand in Oregon. That’s why I moved to Southern California to practice my sand saves on those beautiful beaches in Malibu and Santa Monica.

The Golf Blog: You work with both a swing coach, Bryan Lebedevitch, and a sports psychologist, Dr. Joseph Parent. What’s the best tip you have learned from both so far?

Megan: Pay first. Score later. Naaaa just kiddin'... From Bryan, "Believe in your swing no matter how it looks." From Doc, "How to use peripheral vision when putting."

The Golf Blog: Tell us about a typical week in the golf season, from Monday through Sunday.

Megan: Monday – it’s my day about nothing! Just me and Bubba (miaow).
Tuesday – It’s airport-car rental-hotel check-in day.
Wednesday & Thursday – Practice rounds and Pro-Ams; and most importantly my side bets with the girls – just to keep that competitive edge during practice.
Fri-Sat-Sun Tournament days – when I have an early tee time, I use the afternoon to practice or go to a movie, or shopping, or check out the local hangouts…; If I have a late tee time, I sleep in, do a short workout routine, and then head to the range.

The Golf Blog: Most of your time must be focused on golf. But is there time to have a social life or go out on the town during the golf season?

Megan: You bet. I go out anytime I have the chance because it helps release competitive tension and takes your mind off golf. Just read my last blog post about my Las Vegas weekend before going to my tournament in Louisiana.

The Golf Blog: What’s the best part about being a tour professional? And the worst thing?

Megan: Seeing the world and meeting great people (and a few unpleasant ones too). The downside: For a homebody like me, being away for such long periods of time.

The Golf Blog: You are playing on the Futures Tour and Ladies European Tour. For those of us who don’t get a chance to watch either tour, can you tell us about the level of competition that you face on tour? What do you need to do to become eligible for the LPGA tour?

Megan: It is deep and getting deeper. Many girls have been playing since their early teens before they became eligible to join a tour; so the experience and the competition are definitely there. They just don’t get the same TV and media exposure because they are not broadcast. To become eligible for the LPGA in 2007, I either need to finish in the top 5 in the Futures Tour money list or make it in the top 30 in the LPGA Q-school.

The Golf Blog: You must be having a fun time traveling to different countries in Europe? Is it more difficult, though, getting adjusted to European courses that you haven’t played before?

Megan: While it is fun to visit so many different cultures, the European courses aren’t very different except that they have smaller greens. So accuracy and GIR are much more difficult to achieve over there.

The Golf Blog: Fact or fiction: The LPGA will overtake the PGA in terms of fan popularity.

Megan: I don’t think so. This is a male dominated sport (from a fan base standpoint), and therefore the PGA will always prevail over the LPGA. The ones that I see losing ground to the LPGA are the Champions and Nationwide tours.

The Golf Blog: Fact or fiction: Megan Heckeroth will be playing on the LPGA tour within three years or less.

Megan: FACT!


(photograph (c) megangolf.com)

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Megan Heckeroth - The Golf Blog interview, Part 1