THE ANNIKA DRIVEN BY GAINBRIDGE AT PELICAN

November 14, 2024

Brittany Lincicome

Pelican Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Brittany Lincicome after her first round at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

I know you just looked at your scorecard. Let's ask about the day today. Even round. Have to be happy with that.

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, if you would've seen that front nine you would've thought, oh, my God, she's going to shoot 85 today.

You know, finally got a birdie on the front which helped, and then a bogey the next hole of course. Then just trying to calm down the nerves. Like I don't know what happened after having kids or taking time off and coming back, but my brain just doesn't quite -- my body and my skills feel like they're there and then my brain gets in the way.

So it was nice to finally calm down a little bit on the back nine. Had a couple birdie chances. Then to birdie 18, I felt like it was an eagle or a hole-in-one because, I mean, I told myself if I could make bogey on 18 that's a great score.

That was pretty cool.

Q. I know you mentioned earlier this week that you thought the nerves would be there on the first tee. Were they?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, especially because I normally hit driver off 1 and today I had to hit 3-wood because it was downwind and driver is my favorite club. I love my driver; 3-wood is not so much my favorite.

To have to hit my 3-wood made me a little bit nervous, but we did okay.

Q. Husband on the bag; did he do a good job?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, crushed it. Did super good. Just need to be a little bit more careful of missing it in the wrong spots. You know, when you have the local caddies they're like, oh, you can't miss it long on 2, can't miss it long on 3. I missed it long on both of those holes in all the wrong places.

Tomorrow we can make it a little bit easier on ourselves if we can miss it in the right spots tomorrow.

Q. Can you take us through 18 just real quick?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah.

Q. You do remember that?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, perfect. I can remember 18. Downwind -- doesn't matter if that hole is downwind or into the wind, it's always hard. Downwind obviously it's not going to stop. It's going to skip and roll out, so I might not even be able to hold the green.

Luckily had a 7-iron in which helped. A full 7-iron. Couldn't miss any bit of it to make sure I covered the water. But pushed it actually five yards right of where I was -- I was trying to do far left and pushed right at the pin; kind of got lucky there.

Obviously picked the right club to make sure we could cover everything.

Q. Did you feel many emotions out there? Did your brain go ahead to what's coming or were you mostly focusing?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: I actually stayed pretty focused today. Thinking tomorrow -- my dad already mentioned he wants to caddie one hole, maybe the last hole. It's already killing me to think how that's going to be. I'm going to be in tears. Luckily it's only a par-3. Maybe I can hit the tee shot and it'll be fine.

Q. Yeah.

BRITTANY LINCICOME: That'll be pretty cool. He started my career. To end my career, it's pretty cool.

Q. Who all is coming out tomorrow?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Whole fam: mom, dad, girls. I don't know in what capacity. Maybe stay in the clubhouse for the first 15 holes and maybe come for the last couple. Emory obviously has been out with me her whole life. She understands you got to be quiet. Sophie is a little bit more spunky and I feel like she'll be in the water hazard if I'm not careful.

Q. Do you remember the first time your dad caddied for you?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Oh, yeah, it was my rookie year. Just us going out there having no clue what we were doing and trying to figure it all out.

Q. Did he caddie for you like as a junior golfer too?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: We didn't have too many tournaments where parents could caddie unfortunately. He caddied my first year and a half on the LPGA and then I fired him. (Laughter.)

Q. And then obviously so many players have retired. What is your theory on why we have more? Is it because financially you guys are in a better spot to be able to make that jump?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah.

Q. Or...

BRITTANY LINCICOME: That's a great question. I was going to say it's just when players have kids and they realize it's a little bit harder than we thought it would be even with daycare and all the help we have.

Lexi, Ally Ewing; I don't know what's happening. I don't think anybody is going to play 20 years like the older generation did. They're just going to play fewer years. Kind of get after it early and then retire I guess.

Q. Why do you think that?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: I don't know. I love being out here. I love competing. Just being in contention on a Sunday coming down the stretch, there is nothing like that going through your veins. The girls that are retiring are still really good. I don't get it.

Q. Is that why it can be so hard to hang it up, too?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: I think so. Like I started playing when I was nine and I'm 39 now; been playing for 30 years. It's kind of like your identity. It's who you are as a person. Oh, I'm a golfer. So now it's like, what am I?

Obviously I have kids and I'm a mom now. I think the transition is hard for a lot of people.

Q. You were a big part in changing the maternity policy, right, you and Stacy?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, for sure.

Q. How would you describe it now to where it was 10, 15 years ago?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, it used to be you could only play a certain amount of events. Now it's have at it. You want to play until you're nine months pregnant, go for it. Which is cool. I thought it helped my pregnancies go by quicker to play as long as possible.

The maternity policy is way better. If you want to take a year or two off after having your baby you can do that now, which is great.

Q. Lastly, what's your advice to players who have maybe been out here a few years -- maybe late 20s, might be married -- what's your advice to them on potentially starting a family and not waiting?

BRITTANY LINCICOME: Yeah, I mean, I think go for it. We have a great daycare on Tour. The one lady has been out here longer than I have been out here, which is pretty we'll cool. Getting to know them before you have kids you're comfortable with them already, so you feel comfortable leaving your kid with them.

It's been a blessing to have them. Obviously my mom and dad travel, but if you can have a little bit of help or even just have one, it's totally possible. You can do it. No problem.