U.S. WOMEN'S MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 15, 2005

Mary Ann Lapointe

RHONDA GLENN: I know you've won your National Championship four times, what does this mean to you in the context of your career having won this United States National Championship?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Well, it has been a goal of mine to win something outside Canada, basically since I won that the first time to do something internationally. We had a close run at Worlds last year when Canada was leading, wins the last day and Sweden past us, and that was such a thrill. That's the most exhilarated I've ever been on a golf course. By having to miss the Mid Am last year because of the car accident, it was really high on my list to come back and play in it this year. I mean, the U.S. Am is probably out of reach, but to win the Mid Am is a real goal of mine for sure.

RHONDA GLENN: You'll get a shot at the U.S. Am because you're exempt into that the next year. I was not aware of the car accident. What happened?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE : It was the Sunday I was supposed to leave to come down Wednesday, the Sunday before that and I just got t boned in an intersection and I had bruising of the left rubs. There was no way I was going to be swinging the golf club next week, so I had to withdraw.

RHONDA GLENN: You got off to a very fast start in this match, you went almost 2 up immediately. At one point you were 4 up and then it sort of started to dwindle away. What were your thoughts at that time?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Kerry started to playing some solid golf and in the beginning. I was losing to her birdies, and I threw one back at her on 10 and she threw one back at me on 11, which that's what you want to see in match play.

I started to get a little loose with the driver on the back nine, but the same thing happened with Robin yesterday. So I didn't hit the panic button, and just kept saying that, you know, just trust it and it will come back. Like I said, I was standing on the 17th tee, I bogeyed four of the last five holes. I just said there's a lot of people that would want to trade places, you're 1 up with two to go, let's just get it going and was able to turn it around then.

RHONDA GLENN: You hit a perfect drive on the 18th hole. You were 1 up, Kerry was in the bunker up close to the lip. What were your thoughts at that point?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Well, that was probably the best drive I hit all day. That was just dead center, and I mean, I was a little bit concerned, it was a possibilities of getting in that left bunker. I thought about maybe hitting a 3 wood to bring it out of play, but, you know, you've just got to again you don't want to too long of a lay up shot either. I just said no, trust it, make a good swing and was really glad to see that come down the middle of the fairway.

RHONDA GLENN: If you could clarify, when was that accident you went through?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: It was three days before I was supposed to leave for last year's mid Mid Am. So it happened on Sunday night, my flight was booked for the Wednesday and the tournament historically starts, the first practice round is Thursday so, I don't know the dates.

RHONDA GLENN: What month was it?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: It was, if you check the dates of the Mid Am, I'm thinking it was September, but yeah.

RHONDA GLENN: You briefly touched about back home. How big is this with friends and family, and would you expound on that?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: I think it's huge. I think I'll find out tomorrow night. I think it's pretty big. I think everybody at home is really excited. I had lots of good wishes before coming here. I played very, very well in a tournament the week before this, and everybody sort of said, you know, keep it going and it can be yours next week. I came in here with a pretty good feeling because I had been playing so well.

You know what, there's so many good players here, and in match play, you just never know. You just never know. Stroke play you can be a little bit more sure of what the outcome might be, but match play, it isn't going to happen.

RHONDA GLENN: Tell us about your caddie, Joey, and her full name and the events she's caddied for and you how you met.

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: It's JoAnne Bush, is her full name and we just met playing various tournaments. She caddied in a couple of local events around Ontario. She used to be a good hockey player. She's been on the international team for Canada in hockey. So she's a very competitive person. She turned senior a couple years ago and is getting into some tournament golf and she's started using caddying as a way of learning about the game and she just loves and had to pull out and I said, okay, we're going to Texas. So it's been great.

RHONDA GLENN: Did you ever entertain the thought of turning professional?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Actually, I did turn professional when I finished university. I went to Ford International University, graduated in 1983 and went to Q School that fall. Missed the cut. I played the FUTURES Tour for a year and went back to Q School again. They brought in regional qualifiers, missed both regional.

The year traveling on the FUTURES Tour I just had a taste of what it's like, and it just wasn't for me. We were engaged to be married in December of '04 and I just made the call to be reinstated as an amateur, so it was about 13 months, pro career.

RHONDA GLENN: How does amateur golf, to you, compare to professional golf?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: I mean, I think it's great. And I can remember once, a girl I know, a Canadian that's played on the LPGA Tour, and she said to me, "I just can't imagine going back and playing for trophies." I just looked at her, I said, I have had such a ball and I've traveled the world for Canada playing internationally. I play my heart out for six months and then I put the clubs away for six months.

I think it's a great mix. I'm able to travel and at the same time have a great family at home and work a little bit. My husband would say a very little bit. But it's just been great. And the people you meet, and especially the Mid Am, it's such a huge difference, the Mid Am to the Am. And people understand that you've got other commitments and it not the end all, be all; it's just to go out there and meet some new friends and have a good time playing.

Q. What year did you gain your amateur status back?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: I turned pro in September of '83. I applied to get my status back in October or November of '84, and I was reinstated, I think they made me wait a year and a half, so it was spring of '86.

Q. Sort of an obvious questions, Canadians playing in this heat and humidity in Texas, what sort of challenge does that present to you or other Canadians in the field?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: I think personally I enjoy the heat. In a lot of ways, the hotter the better. The humidity makes it a little tougher. I don't like to wear a golf glove but when you get in the humidity that we have this week, I have to wear one. That's a bit of a change, and certainly something I don't like to do, but you have to. You just can't hold on to the golf club.

These old bones as 45, to have a little bit of heat and stay loose, I prefer the heat, as opposed to the cold.

RHONDA GLENN: Getting back to the match, you really hit the ball straight on the front nine, and you really didn't miss a tee shot until the eighth hole. Was there any swing thought you had in there after you started hitting some tee shots right that you had to go back to to refer to make your game straighten out a little bit?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Yeah, I mean, it is a tendency of mine. I like to hit a draw, and so I go one of two things: You either start getting a little too hooky with it or you get the block. And it's basically the same thing. If I get taken away with my hands and not making a good turn, I'm going to do one of two things. I'm going to come down quick with the hands and hit the hook or slide my hips because I haven't loaded, and that's where the block comes from.

So tendencies that I have, and I know what to do but sometimes making it sometimes is a little harder but just have to trust it and I just have a couple of simple X's, you can't get too mechanical out there, and it's just to stay positive and just to say that's not like me to hit a shot like that, and just keep trusting your swing, it will come back.

Q. Kerry missed her third shot to the final green, you're 1 up and she has to win this hole to make the match continue, then you hit a beautiful iron into that green. Would you walk us through that, tell us what club you hit, and what your thoughts were from the time you prepared to hit that shot until the time you got to the green?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Yeah, I mean, best drive I hit all day was on 18, and it's actually where I was both stroke play days, and I just fired a 4 iron right on the green both times. We talked about it two days ago with my caddie, Joey, and another friend from Canada that played in the tournament. And we talked about if you're even or if you're 1 down or if you're 1 up on 18, you know, strategy about what you're going to do. Obviously being 1 up, I mean, you have to lay it up. When Kerry I saw she had the bad lie in the bunker where she was very close to the front lip, I knew she wasn't going to be able to hit it down there that far, and I mean, just I laid up against in the semifinals, Robin Burke, same scenario. I was 1 up there, and did the lay up and it worked out just fine.

After I did the lay up shot and then Kerry standing over her third shot, Joey and I were saying, "Boy, that's a tough shot when you're 1 down." You basically have to go at that flag. Kerry hits a little bit of a cut, and the wind is blowing to the right toward the water and I'm thinking, "Man, that's a tough shot." She really can't be aiming at that flag, maybe a little bit left. That's just a tough shot. And she had a little more yardage than what would be comfortable to hit into a tight pin like that over the water. It's an easy hole to play when you're 1 up, a very tough hole to play when you're down.

RHONDA GLENN: What club did you select for your third shots? What were your thoughts when you hit that shot?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: I'm obviously I'm just going left of the pin. I'm just trying, make a safe 5 and especially when she's missed the green left and it's a tough chip where she's chipping from. I had, what's the yardage, I think I had 82 yards, 90 yards to the pin, and I have a 54 degree Cleveland wedge that I hit about 92 yards full, so it's a nice, easy full swing and actually hit not the greatest shot, it came out a little bit low, but a little more right than I was intending, but it worked out in the end.

Q. Lorie Kane remained amateur, and you are now reasonably the same age, she did turn professional; did your paths ever cross in Canada?

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Yeah, Lorie and I played quite a bit of amateur golf together. We played on a World team together and a Commonwealth team together. I know Lorie quite well. Yeah, I think I've got her by a couple of years, but yeah, we did play a lot of golf together.

RHONDA GLENN: Congratulations, Mary Anne. What a wonderful victory for you and I know your friends and family at home are going to be wishing you well.

MARY ANNE LAPOINTE: Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.