Amy Olson was going to do whatever it took to play the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, even if it meant playing a 36-hole qualifier while six months pregnant.
Olson found out she was expecting her first child on her husband Grant’s birthday, January 13, announcing it publicly in March via Instagram. The pair were married in June of 2017, and when the pregnancy test turned up positive, Olson wanted to have a little fun sharing the exciting news.
“He had a really early pickleball game and I knew he was going to be back at the house at like 7:15,” said Olson. “I had suspected for a couple days but I'm like, I'm just gonna wait until Grant's birthday. I took the test, it was positive. I wrapped it up, put it on the counter. When he walked in, I was just like, ‘Your gift is on the counter.’ And he's like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna go take a shower.’ And I'm like, ‘No, you should open it right away.’ He opens it and just his jaw dropped.”
After finding out about her pregnancy, the LPGA Tour veteran immediately reached out to her colleagues, trying to understand the challenges of playing professional golf while carrying a child and seeing if she might have enough time to squeeze in the U.S. Women’s Open before taking maternity leave. And what she learned was enough for Olson to decide to try and qualify.
“I was started texting like every mom on Tour going, how long did you play? At what point did you stop? And I was hearing (that the) max is kind of right around 28 to 32 weeks, depending on how you carry, who you are,” Olson recalled. “I computed that at the (U.S. Women’s Open), I will have just completed 30 weeks. I'm like, okay, it's possible. I'm hearing that it's doable. It’s Pebble (Beach) of all things. So I'm like, ‘You know what, let's just go out there and see what happens.’”
And what happened turned out to be remarkable. Olson traveled from her home in Fargo, N.D., to Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights, Minn., for a one-day, 36-hole qualifier, two rounds she’d play with a baby on board. She opened with a respectable even-par 72 which kept her in the conversation early, but Olson knew she’d have to put her foot on the gas on the second 18 if she wanted to have a shot at making it through.
“In my mind, I'm like, I've got to get to 4-under at least, maybe 5-under. The greens were a little slow so I was leaving (putts) short. I'm like, what do I have to lose? Just be aggressive,” Olson recounted. “Putts started going in the hole on the second 18. I shot even and then 6-under. All the magic happened in the second round when the wind was picking up. There was one point – it was maybe hole 11 on that second 18. I pulled my drive a little left, it hit a tree and it bounced forward over a bunker. I was like, that doesn't happen normally. This might be my day.”
Olson ultimately medaled in the event, finishing two strokes better than her closest competitors and earning a coveted spot in the field at the 78th U.S. Women’s Open. It was an unforgettable moment for the 30-year-old and being able to share with her future child that she was a part of history is something that Olson looks forward to. But it’s not the only cool thing the soon-to-be mother has had happen on the golf course in recent weeks as the baby appears to be helping his or her mother with her golf game.
“Playing in the Meijer (LPGA Classic for Simply Give), on Monday, I had a hole-in-one. On Wednesday, I holed out for double eagle. And I'm like, what is happening here? Baby has got some golf mojo,” Olson said. “Just little things like that, that's gonna be a cool thing to be able to tell a little boy or little girl, like, I got a hole in one, I got a double eagle while you were in me. All of those things, they're like shared moments. Obviously, they won't remember them, but I can tell them and it's something I'll hold on to forever.”
As she looks ahead to the challenge in front of her, Olson couldn’t be more excited to tee it up at Pebble Beach as the storied venue hosts the third major championship of the 2023 LPGA Tour season. Her fellow Fargo native Tom Hoge won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am last year, and while she’s trying to keep her expectations in check, Olson would love to do the same in an event that she’s come close to winning in the past, finishing second in 2020.
While just the opportunity to play a course like Pebble Beach is enough for anyone in the 156-player field, it’s even more so for a player like Olson who, in her 10th season on Tour, has watched the monumental growth of the women’s game up close and personally throughout the last decade.
“For me, it's been really cool to see over my 10-year career the different courses that we've been able to play and how it's just gotten better and better and better,” she said. “To be able to be part of this as we take the stage at one of the best venues, the best golf courses in the world is really special. I look back and I see how far we've come even in my career, and I think about 70 years ago when our Founders started this Tour. Did they even dream this was possible? Maybe, but I think they would be so proud of where we are today.
“I don't know what to expect. I'm trying not to have too many expectations. I'm hoping to soak it all up and enjoy being on the property. Then being able to do it with a baby, all of it is a little bit overwhelming. I'm trying not to put too much pressure or expectation on it, but truly just enjoy the week.”
And when it comes to motherhood as a professional athlete and being an #LPGAMom, Olson hopes to inspire others as she tees it up at Pebble Beach, reminding the world of just how incredible female athletes are, that mothers are some of the strongest individuals on the planet and can do anything they put their minds to, pregnant or otherwise.
“I think women are seriously incredible,” she said. “The women that have done this over and over and they work through it, or they're caring for other kids through it, or caring for parents, whatever. It takes a lot of selflessness and strength and courage to be able to do it. I've just gained an appreciation for it and I hope it's also just inspiring to others.
“I look so much up to all of the women who have walked through this journey and who have continued to do it even after kids. I'm not sure what my story will exactly look like. But being an LPGA player, is a huge accomplishment and I think being a mom is even a bigger one.”)
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