Hollis Stacy spent 26 seasons on the LPGA Tour and recorded 18 wins with four major championships. As an amateur, Stacy signaled that she would become a contender in golf when she won three consecutive U.S. Girls' Junior Championship titles (1969-1971), captured the 1970 North and South Women's Amateur Championship and earned a spot on the 1972 U.S. Curtis Cup Team. As a professional, she won the U.S. Women's Open three times -- in 1977, 1978 and 1984. She also won the 1983 Peter Jackson Classic in Canada, which preceded the du Maurier Classic as the LPGA's fourth major championship. [The fourth major has since become the Weetabix Women's British Open.] Stacy, now 52, lives in Denver and is involved in various charities and business enterprises. Here is what Hollis Stacy had to say to Lisa D. Mickey in the fifth installment of LPGA.com's "Whatever Happened To…?" series:

Q: Your last season on the LPGA Tour was in 2000. What have you been doing since then?
HS: I only play casual golf these days, but I missed it. So I became a committee member for the United States Golf Association's U.S. Girls' Junior Championship. I helped run the sectional here in Colorado for the U.S. Girls' Junior and I helped out on the state level. Now, I go to the national event and help organize that week. I love watching all the great swings and watching those kids -- players like Julieta Granada and Jane Park, who have gone on to bigger things. These young players are really great strikers of the ball. They're not just little girls. They showcase the evolution of the golf swing, which has gotten better over the years, along with better golf equipment.

Q: Do these young amateur players know that you won three U.S. Girls' Juniors and three U.S. Women's Opens?
HS: Yeah, the juniors do. They hear people say what I did and they're pretty shocked, but it's not like I'm out there giving bunker lessons to them.

Q: Aren't you currently involved in some new businesses?
HS: Yes, I'm an investor in a firm that makes tamper-proof security IDs and we're getting involved in making event tickets. I can converse about the product, but I'm not one of the rocket scientists, metallurgists or software designers involved in this. I can barely cut and paste on a computer. I'm also working with a product for golf course irrigation systems called "Aqua-Phyd," out of California. It ionizes water and makes it easier to go into the soil so you use less water and fewer chemicals. It's big in the ag-market.

Q: Are you still involved in golf course design?
HS: No. I designed one course 10 years ago, but I'm not pursuing that. I'm mainly just staying busy and catching up with my life and becoming more involved with charities. Living in Colorado, I've also learned to hike and ski and I'm probably a solid 20-handicapper in skiing. With the new equipment, you can do anything and I ski on the intermediate slopes.

Q: How would you describe your 26 years on tour?
HS: I had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself. When I quit having fun, that's when I quit playing on tour. I loved to win, but the great irony was that none of my friends were ever around whenever I won. I also thoroughly enjoyed playing in Japan because it was unique. I've been over there about 30 times. And I loved it when we played the Colgate Series and played all over the world in places like Singapore and Manila.

Q: Any favorite memories from your playing days?
HS: Well, I remember once I was in Japan playing against Noriko Kobayashi. I can count in Japanese, but I can't really speak the language. Anyway, Noriko had a four-foot putt that she missed. I was trying to be a sympathetic fellow competitor. In my bad Japanese, I meant to say, "That's too bad," but what I actually said was, "That's delicious." She kind of gave me a look. Here I was trying to be a part of the culture, but I butchered the language.

Q: From 1977 to 1983, you had 82 top-10 finishes with three years in which you won three tournaments in each year. What was that stretch of your career like?
HS: I had a great career. I had fun, I traveled the world and I left when I felt like it. In 1978, I lost my best friend and it changed my perspective. After that, I felt more in tune with the world. Ironically, to be a great player, you have to be out of tune. But it was a reevaluation of who I was and what I was doing. It just changed me. It made me want to continue to try to make my life rich and full and to give back. It made me want to keep in touch with my family back in Georgia.

Q: With multiple wins at the U.S. Girls' Juniors and Women's Opens, why do you think you played so well in USGA tournaments?
HS: Back in the 1960s, there were only three tournaments I could play in as an amateur: the Western Open, the state championship and the U.S. Girls' Junior. I loved playing USGA golf courses because they were tough and I felt comfortable and more at ease there. I just loved the challenge.

Q: How is winning the Open different than any other win?
HS: When you're a little girl, you watch it on television and you want to win an Open someday. It becomes a part of what you are. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I always expected to win it. I could always envision it. OK, maybe not three times. The third time was kind of shocking because I never led the event until the last hole. But everybody knows you don't win the trophy on the first hole. If you make a double, you have to forget it and still give 100 percent for 72 holes. And then of course, you're so nervous you can barely breathe for the last few holes. But it's just the best.

Q: Why did you decide to retire from playing?
HS: You just know it -- when it's time. Your insides know it. It was a combination of things for me. My body was pretty hurt -- shoulders, hips, elbows -- and I didn't realize it until I took time off and rested. I got to the point that I didn't enjoy the travel and being away all the time was really tough. It helped when I was winning events, but when the quality of my golf went down, well, I wasn't used to playing like that. At first after I left, it was difficult, but then it was a relief. I didn't travel at all for nearly eight months and it took me five years before I could get on a plane again and enjoy myself.

Q: Your career overlapped with some of the LPGA's greatest players, including the likes of Mickey Wright, Joanne Carner, Nancy Lopez, Betsy King and more recently, Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak. How are the players of these different eras similar or different?
HS: I played with Mickey Wright in one of her last tournaments. It was in New Jersey and I was in a five-way playoff with Mickey, Nancy, Bonnie Bryant and Jo Ann Washam. We drew straws and Nancy, who just was the cutest thing, looked at everybody and said, "Good luck!" Mickey hit this 6-iron and draws it in there to three feet from the hole. Nancy hit it to 25 feet. I was totally intimidated and missed the green to the right for my two-putt bogey. But Nancy made this unbelievable putt that broke seven feet and went in the hole. She went on to win. That was one era moving into the next. As far as personalities go, JoAnne [Carner] is just hysterically funny and Nancy was always fun. Mickey and Karrie Webb were both shy. But I don't see where any era is better than any other era. The conditions and equipment were inferior in the past and that has improved, but the same scores still win. The biggest difference is today's talent is deeper and now there might be 30 players at eight under, rather than just a few.

Q: The Metropolitan Golf Writers named your family as the 1985 "Family of the Year." Were there a lot of golfers in your family?
HS: Well, my dad Jack Stacy, whom I lost one and half years ago, was an All-Conference football player at Clemson in 1941. He went to World War II and fought under General Patton and was injured in the war. He and my mom Tillie had 10 children. I was the fourth oldest. We were reared playing golf, tennis, swimming, baseball and football. I think we were blessed with some good genes. My mom was on the U.S. Girls' Junior Committee and later on the USGA's Women's Committee and played to about a 10-15 handicap. My brother John was the best player, but he had a temper. You could say he had a battle with golf, but he won the Georgia State Junior at age 15. Another brother, Tommy, play golf all around Asia during the Vietnam War and he played in Thailand with the generals. My sister Amy played tennis, while Martha played at the University of Georgia and Ann played at Indiana. Jean played on the mini-tours for a while. Martha [Leach] is still a ranked amateur and played in the U.S. Women's Mid-Am. I was the only one who turned pro.

Q: So did the Stacy clan come out to watch you play on the LPGA Tour?
HS: My family loved it and they came to my tournaments in Atlanta and Hilton Head [S.C.]. I won my first tournament in Atlanta at the Lady Tara Classic in 1977. I birdied five of the last seven holes to beat Big Mama [JoAnne Carner]. My dad was shot in the hip in 1944, while he was on patrol in World War II, so he had a hard time walking. But he followed me on the back nine of a very hilly course and I knew I'd better perform. They were all there and it was very exciting.

Q: Coming from an athletic family like that, would you say you were groomed to play golf or was there something else you wanted to do?
HS: I didn't know what I was going to do but I loved to play golf. Once JoAnnne turned professional after her great amateur career, it was OK for other women to turn pro. And then Laura Baugh did it. It was like, 'Oh, this is going to be fun.'

Q: What do you miss about tournament golf?
HS: Really, the social aspect and seeing my friends, like Bonnie Lauer and Debbie Massey. We certainly had a lot of fun.

Q: What are you most excited about in this stage of your life?
HS: Just the possibility of making changes and giving back. I'm involved in Denver with feeding people who need food. It's called "Project Angel Heart" and it's for people with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, kidney failure and HIV. We're getting ready to serve our two-millionth meal since the mid-1980s and it all started with a plate of lasagna. I help raise money and awareness for the program.

Q: Do you have time for any hobbies?
HS: I love to cook. I work out a lot more than I ever did. I live a normal life with nothing too exciting. I'm happy being home with two dogs -- a standard poodle and a Golden Retriever that I rescued. I'm also a Denver Broncos fan. I became one when I moved here and all of a sudden, I saw [former Denver Broncos player] Terrell Davis run. He's from Georgia, so I became a fan.

Q: How much golf do you watch on TV?
HS: I love watching women's golf. I love watching the girls play and I was glued to the set when Julieta won the ADT Championship. It's exciting for the tour and their web site is wonderful. It helps me know what's going on.

Q: How do you feel about today's LPGA Tour and its players?
HS: I love the direction the tour is going in now. I'm thrilled with the leadership and new hires. I see a bright, bright future for women's golf. Today's players deserve the best and I'm just very happy for them. I love watching Lorena Ochoa -- what is she, size 4 and hits it 300 yards? And I enjoy watching Natalie [Gulbis] and Seon-Hwa [Lee]. She's a great little rookie! I think it's funny the way players on the LPGA Tour today hug after every round. We never did that. But there seems to be good sportsmanship at the end of the round, so I guess that's a good thing. At the higher level, Commissioner Carolyn Bivens was hired to make some changes. Changes aren't always easy. But overall, I like what I see on the tour today.

Q: What would you like to be remembered for in your career?
HS: Just for being a nice person. That's the most important thing. You can be competitive and still be nice. JoAnne [Carner] and Nancy [Lopez] were. They're great people with great records in golf.

Q: Are there any goals still on your list of things to do?
HS: I just want to help make a difference. Whether it's helping a company or the LPGA Tour or girls' junior golf or becoming involved in my community, I'd like to make a difference.

Q: One last thing. As a native of Savannah, what did you think of the book and film, "Midnight In the Garden of Good And Evil?" How do you like the way your hometown was portrayed?
HS: The book is silly. Sure there are families like that, but my family was solidly middle class and Savannah is a poor town. I hung out with the Irish Catholics and I hung out with the Jews. I went to Savannah High and we were integrated. I guess the book was good for our local economy, but sometimes it's a little annoying when I go home to visit my family's cemetery and the tour bus is there.

Story by Lisa D. Mickey. Mickey is a former senior editor at the Golf Digest Company, where she covered the LPGA Tour for Golf World and Golf For Women magazines. She is a co-author of “Champions of Women's Golf: Celebrating 50 Years of LPGA Golf” (2000) and was a contributing writer of The Solheim Cup coffee-table edition book (2005). She currently writes the web stories for and serves as director of communications for the Duramed FUTURES Tour.