This week’s Volunteers of America Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC marks a homecoming for several Texans.
“It’s fun,” said Saginaw native and Ft. Worth resident Angela Stanford. “I love being at home, I love being in Texas. I think it’s fun to have the Tour here.”
Fellow Texan Brittany Lang echoed Stanford’s statements.
“It’s great, it’s great that you get to stay at home,” Lang said. “It’s definitely a lot more work as well because you’re running around trying to promote the tournament, do some different things with the tournament. But there’s nothing like playing in Irving and sleeping in your own bed, driving your own car.”
While Gerina Piller may not be a Texan by birth she has made her home in the Lone Star state.
“I would say this is technically not my home state but I live here,” Piller expalined. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool to be able to stay at home and just kind of have that hometown feel and it’s kind of like playing a home game. You have people that come out that are going to be rooting for you.”
The trio will be part of a group of 16 Texans who are in the field this week at Las Colinas.
Piller Household Enjoying Recent Success
Gerina Piller and her husband, PGA Tour player Martin Piller, had an all-time week prior to the former’s arrival in Irving on Tuesday. Last Sunday, both Pillers were in contention for wins as each came away with a top-5 finish; Gerina at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic (T3) and Martin at the Valero Texas Open (T4).
On top of their success on the course, Mr. and Mrs. Piller are also featured in a recent commercial spot that highlights their competitive nature off the course. Gerina said the two were able to catch up briefly after finishing last week before each headed back off to the next tournament on their busy schedules.
“Yeah, the crazy life we live, I caught a redeye from San Francisco back home and he was there to pick me up in the morning,” said Piller. “He was flying to the Zurich, but his flight wasn’t until 8:30 so we got to hang out for the day, have breakfast and just kind of vegged out on the couch. That’s kind of our way of celebrating is going home and doing nothing. We’re pretty exciting people.”
Gerina’s T3 finish at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic was her highest of the season, in addition to being her fourth top-10 of 2016, all of which have come in her last five starts. Her recent play has vaulted her into No. 20 in the Rolex Rankings as she also claimed the fourth position in the current standings for the United States at the UL International Crown in July. For Piller, the honor of playing for Team USA was something she hadn’t given much thought given that she began the year behind several other highly-ranked Americans.
“It would be pretty awesome,” Piller said of the opportunity. “Anytime I can put on the Stars and Stripes is a great honor for me. I didn’t even know if that was even possible for me to do this year, and so it hasn’t even been in the back of my mind. To be in that situation, obviously there’s a lot of golf to be played.”
Busy Week Ahead For Angela Stanford
The Volunteers of America Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC marks the start of a busy week for Angela Stanford. Not only will Stanford be competing in the event but she has her “Let Your Light Shine” charity golf tournament next Monday in Ft. Worth.
“Yeah, this is actually our 10th year to have the event,” Stanford said with a smile. “We started in 2006 and it used to be just nine holes of glow golf and we turned it into 18 holes full out pro-am event. It’s at Mira Vista Country Club in Ft. Worth and it supports my foundation that I started in 2009. We give scholarships to kids with cancer or family members with cancer. We started giving scholarships in 2012. We’ve had about five graduate, we still have 13 receiving the scholarships. It’s pretty cool. It’s been cool to see these kids kind of grow up but also to help them with when your family’s hit by cancer, so many things change. We’re trying to help those kids kind of stay focused on something positive in their life and keep going.”
The growth of the Angela Stanford Foundation and it’s charity outing is something that the five time LPGA winner is particularly proud of.
“It’s been pretty cool,” Stanford said. “I actually started looking back at pictures from the first year and just, it was just so neat because I didn’t know then that I would be sitting here now having a 10th anniversary for the tournament. And to just to be able to help the community and help kids, it was always my goal and my intention, just we’ve been extremely blessed to keep going.”
Lang Has Fond Memories at Las Colinas
Brittany Lang’s best finish at the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout is a tie for 30th place, yet the tournament is particularly special for the native Texan. For one, Las Colinas Country Club is just under 40 miles south of her hometown of McKinney, Texas. It’s also the site where her husband, Kevin Spann, got down on a knee and proposed to his future wife on the 9th green in 2013 after the third round of play. The proposal was caught live by Golf Channel’s television cameras and the happy couple can re-live the moment whenever they like by watching it online.
“Yeah, it was pretty special,” Lang said of the moment. “I definitely didn’t expect it and it’s cool that we have that on video. Of course it’s so Kevin to do something like that, he’s very loud, but it was really cool. I’ve watched it a bunch so it’s cool that we always have that. Our family and friends were here and we’re here at home to celebrate. Yeah, when Kevin and I come out here and play practice rounds and stuff. We’re always like, “This is where it happened,” so it’s always cool to have that moment.”
Lang, who has two top-10s on the season, is coming off of a strong T13 finish at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in difficult, windy conditions. The No. 40 player in the Rolex Rankings noted that the players will be challenged by the greens at Las Colinas, and might be able to take advantage of storms that could hit the Dallas area this week.
“I think you have to do your homework on the greens for sure because they break a lot and they can be a little bit tricky,” said Lang. “Yeah, it’s a great course. The forecast looks to be decent. I know we’re going to get some rain, which I think will help us throw some darts in there with the greens being a little bit softer. Yeah, I think just doing your homework on the greens and just hitting some good tee balls and hitting fairways.”
)
)
)
)
