U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 1, 2021

Dana Ebster

Brooklawn Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Dana Ebster, what a week.

DANA EBSTER: Thank you.

Q. Try to wrap it up for us.

DANA EBSTER: Oh, my gosh. I don't know if I can. It was amazing. I loved it. So much fun. I'm so excited. I had great people to play with which made it nice and relaxing and I got to see a lot of old friends.

Some of them that didn't remember me and then they said, oh, because I have a new last name, so...

But, oh, my gosh, it was so much fun. Walking down that last hole and my marker turned to me and said, Are you enjoying this? And I go, Yes, I'm so bummed that it's going to end.

Q. Doesn't have to end forever, because you just found out you're into next year.

DANA EBSTER: Yes.

Q. What does it mean to not have to qualify?

DANA EBSTER: Oh, my gosh. Well, you know what's funny is when I was in the desert playing golf with my friend Katherine, we got paired up with these two people and they were from Ohio. They were members at the club, and so I took his business card and he goes oh -- never even met the person. Well, I mean, right then. Didn't play one hole with them and he said, Oh, you can come stay with me. I go, okay. He was out there getting married, so...

Q. Have to ask about the ball marker in the ear. Is that something from...

DANA EBSTER: Well, okay, so my mom, when I was in junior golf she would make skirts for me. Like now they're call skorts, but they were skirts when I was a kid, and they didn't have pockets, so I would put a marker in my ear and then might tee I would slip in my shoelaces.

So now today I noticed -- well, after the first day somebody needed a flat marker, and so I said, oh, I better keep a flat marker in my ear.

But I have the picture of my two kids on it. (Laughter.)

Q. Speaking of that, it's been a family affair out here for you this week with mom and your kids here.

DANA EBSTER: Yes.

Q. How exciting is it to not only play as well as you did, but be into next year for another family affair?

DANA EBSTER: Yay. I get to be here next year. It was so nice for my mom to be here and my family, my daughter, my son, my husband, and my friends, all my friends coming out. I'm so excited.

And then I had friends that would send me like videos every morning, good luck, and it was -- I can't explain it. It's just I'm like -- I'm just on like Cloud 9. So excited. I love it.

Q. Two questions. Did you hear from members of your golf team?

DANA EBSTER: Yes, because I also -- I'm the assistant coach of the girls' and the boys' team, and so couple of the guys texted me and a few of the girls did, too. And the coach, you know, she was like, Can I have your autograph? I was like, no.

But you know what? They're super excited and I'm so excited that now we can get back to it.

Q. I saw Annika's husband tweet a picture of the two of you.

DANA EBSTER: Yeah.

Q. What was that like? Were you meeting her for the first time?

DANA EBSTER: Yeah. And I was over at the chipping green and I told my son, I said, We should go up and move those balls because she's coming over to chip and they're in her way. She started walking up to the green to move them and her husband, who is caddying for her, he goes, Good round, and I go, Thanks, and he goes, Can I get a picture of you and Annika, and I'm like, Yeah.

I was like, Of course, and then we took a picture and I said, Can I get a selfie? That's my thing, I take selfies. So that was fun. Then we chatted a little bit and then --

Q. Did you post the selfie on Facebook or something?

DANA EBSTER: I think so. My social --

Q. Social media coordinator did?

DANA EBSTER: I don't have Twitter or Instagram. I have a Facebook but I haven't been on in five years, maybe six, seven.

Q. You said on the first tee you were excited to get started and didn't want it to end because you have to go back to work. I take it Tuesday morning we're back to pulling carts.

DANA EBSTER: Oh, yeah. Actually Jeremy, who's our head pro, he called me last night and left me a voicemail and saying, Sorry, I put you on the schedule for Tuesday morning. We need you at 4:00 in the morning because we got a junior tournament, and I'm thinking, Seriously?

I go, Okay, I'll be there. And then he called me and he goes, I'm just kidding. Oh, okay, great. (Laughter.)

Q. Having played the course, knowing it now as you do, what is your take on what Annika has done in this tournament?

DANA EBSTER: Oh, my gosh. She's amazing. I'm not quite sure how many under she is, but last I saw she was 12-under were I'm like, wow, because these greens are really difficult. The length, I had a lot of 170, but I'm not really a long hitter.

But I'm -- I was thinking, Wow, you got to hit it in the right spot here. The greens are amazing. Spencer and Ben have done an amazing job with the greens. The pin placements were very difficult today, I thought. The grass, the fairways were pure.

I mean, everything was great, and as long as you hit the ball in the fairway and you hit the green and, you know -- the only thing I could go back and look and see did she make any like big putts?

Because that would be only way you could go under par today. Because it was tough. I thought it was very difficult.

Q. Thank you for a great week and we will see you next year?

DANA EBSTER: Yay. (Applause.)