GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN | Playing at the 29th week of her pregnancy, Brittany Lincicome reeled off four birdies during her second round at the family-friendly Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give on Friday, leaving the soon-to-be mother of two at 6-under par overall.
Meanwhile, Gerina Mendoza, who has a four-year-old son, A.J., shot the second lowest first-round score of her career yesterday and entered the weekend in a tie for ninth with Jessica Korda and Paula Reto.
"I have felt awesome through the whole thing. I'm just trying to play a few more weeks to help the time go by a little bit quicker, and I'm starting to play really well. So now I don't want to shut it down after next week, but I'm obviously just super excited for the future," Lincicome said of playing while expecting.
Baby plans aside, Lincicome said she's going to stick to the same approach and hit as many fairways, greens, and birdies as possible.
"A lot of the par fives are reachable, which is great, and hopefully, this wind dies down a little bit. Obviously, when the pins are tucked, you play conservative on those holes, don't do anything crazy, and then just hopefully make more birdies," she said.
Brittany is expecting another baby girl in the fall and says her mom and dad have been the biggest help on tour, keeping an eye on her first child, Emery, as she watches her mom compete. However, tour-mom life comes with many unexpected challenges off the golf course.
"Well, normally, I would go take a nap today, but it looks like we have to go to a walk-in clinic. (Emery) had a fever of 102 yesterday, so I don't know what's going on. But we'll figure it out," Lincicome said.
Mendoza said being a mom on tour requires balance and puts everything into perspective.
"I think it's kind of a double-edged sword there. You have other priorities, but at the same time, you still want to play good golf. You don't want to just come out here going through the motions. When you have kids, a bad round is not the end of the world, and my son doesn't know whether it's good or bad," she said.
Since becoming a mom, Mendoza said she puts extra effort into being focused on the golf course and always strives for more consistency in her game.
"I think the hard part about golf is trying to find what that recipe is to simplify things. You can always say one shot at a time, but it's very hard to do. Once you find that groove of doing that, it's a great place to be," she said.
The Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give had record attendance last year and is expecting an even higher turnout this weekend. As a result, Meijer created a welcoming atmosphere on the course for young children of, spectators and players.
"We are a family company first,” said Christina Fecher, senior manager of communications for Meijer. “Much of what you see on the course caters to families. We have a lot of food, and our concessions are no more than $4. Our tickets are very affordable. We have discovery land out across the course where kids can kind of go and relax and just be kids. So, there's something for everyone on tour, especially families.
"In discovery land, there is free protocol ice cream,” Fecher said. “So kids can go and get some ice cream and kind of chill out and play games and shoot a basketball and cool off in the air-conditioned zone.”
The kids want to be cool, but on the course the moms of the LPGA Tour hope to remain hot for the weekend in what is turning into a low-scoring shootout.
)
)
)
)
