U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 14, 1995

Dale Eggeling

DALE EGGELING: Let us just go ahead with the round and then we will comment afterwards. I was playing very steady. First four holes and then my first birdie came on number 5, par 4. I have got some little cheat notes here too - if I can read them. Into 5, 177 yards to the pin, hit 5-iron within 13 feet to the pin above the hole - where you don't want to be. I just coaxed it down there and it went in the hole. We get to No. 7, let me think, 7, great par 4, had -- what did I have there -- hang on a second. I had 185 yards to the pin and I decided to hit my 4-wood -- my 7-wood into the green. That is a little club we put in the bag this week for this course being a little hilly, the 7-wood, as a tendency to be more useful than a three or four. I knocked that in within 6 feet; made that for birdie. Then a key putt for me was on No. 8, the par 3, I hit an 8-iron about 10 feet above the hole. That was a scary putt because. That was like dead down grain. I just grazed the top of the ball; it just barely got in, but it went in. Routine par on 9, which is really a bummer because you pretty much expect to make a birdie there and it is a sneaky hole. You got to be really careful on that hole. There are some girls that can hit it long enough and go for it in two, but I am playing it like a par 5. I am laying it back far enough so I am not tempted to go for it in two. My only bogey of the day came at number 10. I hit it in the fairway, bunker left, where you don't want to be; hit it out short of the green about 45 yards, chipped it up about 20 feet short and again, that is a putt that you don't want to have because you are down grain there. I made bogey there. Then the rest of the round is pretty much even par.

DALE EGGELING: Yeah, couple of birdie opportunities, but I didn't capitalize on them. But other than that, I pretty much got the putts. My second shot on the greens and halfway, decent positions, couple of them that I didn't -- I was very, very careful with them. That is the big key. You have to be very, very careful on the greens.

DALE EGGELING: Boy, that is hard to tell. It is -- the course was so different from yesterday afternoon. The course -- the air was a lot lighter yesterday. The ball was flying a little bit farther; plus it was a little later in the round and you have - are getting a lot of more roll out of the fairway. Today, playing earlier, the fairways were a little bit softer; the greens were softer and holding a little bit different. It was a totally different golf course today, speedwise, so who knows... You never know in The Open.

DALE EGGELING: You mean when I have been sleeping? (laughing). Well, basically, I owe it all to my husband because he finally just kind of gave me a little bump in the backside saying, "listen, you are 41" -- well, at the time, I was 40 years old, "what are you going to do with your career. Are you just going to keep piddling around with it. You have got goals and you are just not doing anything. Why don't you just set aside your horses; start accomplishing some things around the house that you say you always want to do and you never do. Just start accomplishing things, getting things done, getting more organized" - which I am notorious at not being, and just refocusing, and spending a little bit more time mentally on the game and physically. That is about the only difference. I am just -- I am in tune mentally.

DALE EGGELING: Well, not really. It has taken awhile, but I finally decided, hey, I am 40; how much longer do I anticipate playing the game and you better get with it because my time is running out.

DALE EGGELING: What is it, honey?

MIKE EGGELING: You are just focusing more on the course, not quite as distracted off of the golf course. Spending your time practicing and getting out there instead of two hours in the locker room.

DALE EGGELING: Now, now, now ... That is not -- that is not nice. It is true!

DALE EGGELING: I think you can put that on the record. That is fine. That is the truth. I do kind of get lost in there and start gabbing, but other than that, I really don't gab that much, so you get caught up in the cackle in the locker room.

MIKE EGGELING: Yes.

LES UNGER: Is that how you met?

DALE EGGELING: Yeah, he was captain of the golf team; I was on the women's golf team in college, so we have known each other for a while. But it is kind of neat, too, being out here in Denver because Mike is originally from Denver and I have got a lot of relatives out here, so it is really nice.

DALE EGGELING: Colorado Springs. I have never been here and it is beautiful.

DALE EGGELING: Oh, God, yeah.

DALE EGGELING: Oh, it was ugly on Tuesday. I couldn't get the ball knee high to the grasshopper off the tee. I was hitting these squirly low-line shots. I was overly trying to get the ball up in the air. My swing just got real crappy. And then we had a little bit of a verbal confrontation and a little realignment with just -- basically, it was my setup. Because I was starting to get a little bit closed down and coming over the top of it, so we just got a little bit open, backup, and a little bit more parallel left and started swinging at it. It is like it was like a bad dream. You have a bad dream one day; go to bed; wake up and everything is just like it was never there, never happened.

DALE EGGELING: After I got -- well, yesterday I was a little worried on the 1st hole because I popped my drive up; then I hit my second shot short of the green; ended up making par. Then on the 2nd hole, I made a side winding 30-footer for birdie and I am thinking, okay, then after that, it was like, I forgot it all. I kind of got relaxed. And then just started playing. I forgot about my swing and just started swinging at it. No swing thoughts...

DALE EGGELING: Definitely. In The Open you want to try to get as many birdies as you can and just hang on. But that is a big key, just keeping it -- basically just keeping it in play; in the fairway; staying out of the roughs and whenever you see those mountains, you always are going to be trying to putt up to the mountains - at least, you try.

DALE EGGELING: We had a match on Tuesday. No, not Tuesday, but Wednesday we had a match. It was Donna Andrews and Michelle McGann against myself and Lori Garbacz and I lost big time.

DALE EGGELING: No, no. It would have probably been about 4 over. Yeah, about 4 over.

DALE EGGELING: Yeah, I did. In fact I need to go cash a check right now.

DALE EGGELING: What was it last year? Because I was.

MIKE EGGELING: 67, 73, so Helen was killing everybody.

DALE EGGELING: Yeah, nobody noticed what anybody else was doing because she was running away.

DALE EGGELING: Well, what I am trying to do is I have always had horses. I have always been involved with them. Eventually when I do retire, I would love to raise hunter jumpers and barrel (phonetic) horses, western and English. I just love all aspects of horses. I love showing. I love competition, so hopefully after I retire, I can get in competitive showing.

DALE EGGELING: Yeah, the thing is where the stable is where I have got the horses too, it is not like it is in our backyard, which is unfortunate. It is like 40 minutes away, so by the time you get out there and by the time you pick and shovel and brush and exercise and cool down, you are spending a good eight hours a day out there just on -- well, one and a half horses, eight hours -- you need a full day for two. It is very time consuming and it is not fair to everybody else to spend that much time right now. So...

DALE EGGELING: Thanks.