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LADIES PROFESSIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 18, 2015

Juli Inkster

KELLY SCHULTZ: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for joining us on this call today. We've had a very exciting day here in Des Moines as we announced Juli Inkster as the 2017 U.S. Solheim Cup captain. Great press conference with a lot of excitement here in Des Moines, and I have Juli right here with me.
Juli, I know it was an exciting day, a really fun press conference to get the season going. So excited for the Solheim Cup, more than a year and a half away. Just take me through the day; what were kind of the feelings like of having this announcement here in Des Moines?
JULI INKSTER: It was great being here in Des Moines because they're the ones that are hosting it, and to be able to have them ramp it up and get excited for the moment, it was great.
And then I got to have a couple of my peeps from the team‑‑ can I say their names‑‑ Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang here. It really made it special. I'm glad for that. I'm glad I can start telling people and get excited for 2017.
KELLY SCHULTZ: Some people think this is a little early to announce a Solheim Cup captain. A little bit in advance, but I know you were very eager to get this news out. Why was it important for you to get it out so quickly?
JULI INKSTER: Well, it's just hard lying to people and telling people I really don't know and I already knew. I just felt like since I was going to be the captain anyway that why don't we get it out and get it going, and then to have it in Des Moines, they were so excited, and I thought it was a great venue for it.

Q. Can you walk us through the process of how you learned, how the selection was made, and how long you've been sitting on this news?
JULI INKSTER: I've been sitting on it for maybe a little over a month. You know, the committee is comprised of five people, the commissioner, the player representative, which is Vicki Goetze‑Ackerman, the chairman of the board, Meg Mallon, and Rosie Jones. They got together pretty much right after the Solheim Cup and kind of decided which way they wanted to go, and they asked me afterwards if I'd be interested in doing it again, and of course I jumped at that opportunity.
So it just kind of came to fruition, and you know, it's been hard sitting on it because I've had so many people ask me would I do it again, are you doing it again, what are they doing, and it's just really frustrating not to be able to tell anybody. That's kind of why we decided to do it quickly.

Q. Is there a situation where you would not have jumped on it?
JULI INKSTER: No. I mean, even if we lost and they asked me to do it, I would have done it again. It was just so much fun, and it was just‑‑ it was an amazing experience for me. I know I grew as a person doing it, and some of my leadership skills I didn't think I really had, and I found out that I could, and that to me was amazing.

Q. When you referred to it in the release as "the biggest thrill of your career," would it have been as thrilling if Gerina didn't make that putt?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I think it would have. I mean, I knew she would, but the whole experience from the time I was named as Solheim Cup and having the players be there in Phoenix to picking out the uniforms and making the selections for the team, which was the hardest thing I ever had to do, it was just‑‑ it was all a really great experience for myself.
To have Pat with me and Wendy Ward, Lopez, just made it‑‑ it was just a great experience. Granted, we won, and things turned out well, but I still think it would have been an amazing thing even if we did lose.

Q. What's the allure of having a home game?
JULI INKSTER: Well, one, it's going to be harder because it's going to definitely be more pressure on the girls to play, and they're going to have to realize that. But in Des Moines I think the crowds are going to be amazing. Just from today with what was happening, and then a year and a half away, I think it's going to be just‑‑ the first fairway is just going to be lined, packed. They're all going to be wearing red, white and blue; they're all going to be chanting. So that's what you get up to play for, and to be able to do it in the United States will be great.

Q. Back when the Solheim Cup was played in Colorado, you were in contention for it there. When you didn't get it, you probably thought you'd never get it in the U.S., so was that the case, and does that make this more meaningful?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I think I always wanted to do it in the U.S. I mean, doing it in Germany was great, too, but I always wanted to be a captain in the U.S., and I'm glad I'll have the opportunity to do that, and I look forward to the challenge.

Q. Regarding the vision for the plan that you put together, you've talked about a lot of it. What was the most gratifying about your plan and its coming together?
JULI INKSTER: I just think the way they all bonded and really got to know each other and understand where everybody was coming from. You had 12 really different personalities and 12 different types of people, but everybody respected who they are and what they bring to the table, and it was just great to see them just all be as one. I just felt for a while it wasn't like that, and that's kind of what I wanted to achieve, and they were great.

Q. Just curious, listening to you talk about being in Des Moines today, of all the Solheim Cups you've played in the U.S., which site had the biggest energy to it?
JULI INKSTER: I'd have to say '98 Muirfield Village was amazing because they're very golf‑oriented, very knowledgeable about golf, at Jack's place. We stayed right on campus. Judy Rankin was our captain. It was definitely my favorite one of all of them.

Q. When the U.S. Senior Open was in Des Moines in the late '90s, it set all kinds of spectator records. It was really an incredible turnout. How big a deal do you think this is going to be in two years?
JULI INKSTER: We're going to beat that. It's going to be huge. I can feel the vibe here. It's going to be an amazing event. The ladies are going to be surprised at how many people are going to be out there watching and supporting this, so I think this is a great venue for it.
We do really well in these communities, and I'll do everything I can to get it going.

Q. Given that it's such a long lead time and you have been named already, is there a lot to do for the next year or so, or will you still compress most of the work into the year before?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, there's not much to do this year, aside from picking out uniforms, which I'm very good at, so that's pretty much it. We'll try to do it a year before kickoff, sometime in August, so we'll do that, but other than that, things don't really ramp up until '17.

Q. We have to talk about Suzann's concession. Looking back at it, that whole controversy there, good things and bad things about it. Given the fact that people were talking about the Solheim Cup for a long time, but maybe not a good thing is that the Sunday after by the Americans kind of got overshadowed a bit. Does that bother you at all?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, I don't think it got overshadowed. I think everybody realized how well the team played. Yeah, I mean, I would like to have in 2017 no controversy. I mean, that would be awesome. You know, it happened, and we got a lot of publicity about it, but I would just as soon get publicity without something like that happening. I think it was great for women's golf as far as the golf that was played that week was amazing, and that's what I think people should focus on.
But it's going to be brought up every two years no matter what, so that's just part of the social networking that we live in.

Q. You mentioned about your leadership and just having some question about how you would be as a leader. Can you expand on maybe what your concerns were and what you were happiest with in the way that you led?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I kind of fly by the seat of my pants. I mean, I'm not really the most organized person in the world. I just kind of‑‑ I do a lot just kind of spur of the moment, how I'm feeling as far as my heart and my gut reaction. Sometimes that doesn't work when you're trying to run something, but luckily Pat is very organized, and Chris Garrett who I worked with is very organized, and they kind of kept me on the up‑and‑up.
I would have to say I am kind of a rah‑rah cheerleader type. I have a lot of faith and a lot of confidence in my team, and I try to portray that, but sometimes people don't like that style.
But I feel fortunate that I know my team because I've played with them a lot and I hang out with them a lot, so I just try to just be myself. I didn't try to do anything differently that I wouldn't want done when I was playing.

Q. Now that you have Germany under your belt, what will you change next time?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I'd like to have like a lead going into Sunday. That would be nice. You can put that in capital letters, so the team knows.
You know, I've thought of that, believe me, a lot. I'm not sure I'd change much of anything. I thought it went really well. The only thing that next time when we have a big deal I'll bring the credit card. I forgot the credit card. But other than that I think everything turned out pretty good.
As we get closer and things start popping up, you know, I might switch some little things, but I liked the way it turned out.

Q. There was this whole issue with the American women about the style‑versus‑substance deal. It seemed like you really rubbed off on them. Some of the extra rah‑rah stuff is gone. Was that something that you kind of dictated, or did they just kind of follow your lead? How did all of that happen?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I didn't really dictate it. I suggested it. But then‑‑ you know, I just wanted them to get back to playing golf. That's what they do week in and week out. And if they wear face paint when they play regularly on Tour, then have at it, wear face paint, but I don't see any of them wearing face paint. I just kind of wanted to get back to playing golf. Having fun, definitely. We had a lot of fun, but just getting back to the basics of golf.
I just think sometimes you can put so much energy into all that stuff that you really forget why you're there. We were there to play golf, to bring our (indiscernible) and play some golf, and that's what the team did.

Q. What do you think the state of the American game is because it was under some fire there for a while.
JULI INKSTER: Well, I think it's always been under fire. I think it's always an issue, bringing up when our No.1 player was Stacy Lewis. I would love to see some good young player players come up and play. I think Alison Lee on the team this year was a big hit. She brought some of that Southern California swag with her, and she wasn't used to losing. She had been on successful Curtis Cups and Junior Solheim Cup teams. I would like to see some good young players come up.
But if I had the same 12 players that I had this year, I would be very happy with that, too. We'll just have to see how this year and a half plays out.
KELLY SCHULTZ: I think we can wrap it up. Thank you all for joining us today. We appreciate it. I know it's a little late on a Friday afternoon, but very exciting news and we had a fabulous day here in Des Moines and we're really excited about what's going to be taking place here in 2017 and look forward to working with all of you as we get ready for the second go‑around of Juli Inkster as the U.S. Solheim Cup captain. Thank you very much.

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