Gabby Woods (right) and Doug Ledford enjoy a light-hearted moment during a practice round Tuesday at Snow Hill Country Club.
Mark Huber | News Journal
In the middle of work, Gabby Woods missed two calls that could change her future.
Finally, with a second or two break, Woods looked at her phone for the time. With it, she saw two missed calls and a text.
“I had just tapped my phone to see what time it was,” she said Tuesday on the porch at Snow Hill Country Club. “Two missed calls and a text from a random number.”
The text told her all she needed to know.
After accepting a sponsor’s exemption, Woods will be playing Thursday and Friday in the LPGA Tour event at the TPC River’s Bend Golf and Country Club in Maineville. She has relinquished her status as an amateur and will be playing as a pro in the Kroger Queen City Championship Presented By P&G.
Woods, a Clinton-Massie High School graduate who is from Sabina, will tee off 2:15 p.m. Thursday and play 18 holes then come back for a 9:15 a.m. Friday start for another 18 holes.
The tournament will be televised live on the Golf Channel 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, as well as 1 to 4 p.m. on the weekend. To get to the weekend, Woods must make the cut.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Lexi Thompson and Charley Hull are expected to play in the event.
Woods played in an 18-hole qualifier Monday at TPC River’s Bend with the top two individuals earning a berth in the LPGA tournament. Woods carded a 5-over 77 while the two individual qualifiers were at 4-under and 6-under.
“When we pulled out, that (qualifying) tournament was behind us,” said Doug Ledford, who serves as Woods’ caddie and swing coach. “Both of us were already thinking ‘Let’s get back to work’.”
But Tuesday morning all that changed with a simple text message.
“She told me her name and said I’m with the Kroger Queen City Championship. Give me a call when you have a minute,” Woods said.
The adrenaline rush set it. Woods had a good idea what the call was about, though with something like this, you’re never really certain.
“I had an idea,” she said. “I was like ‘You know, maybe they’re asking me to play (in the professional tournament) … that crossed my mind.
“No way,” she quickly thought to herself. “Not a shot in the world.”
But Woods will have a shot at playing in an official LPGA event for the time on a course not far from home.
“You try to think about it like any other golf tournament but then the thought hits you … ‘I’ll be making my LPGA debut.’ That’s huge. That’s big,” she said.
“I couldn’t focus the rest of the day. I was thinking what do I have to do next? This is in two days. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
Woods golf resume stands on its own. She is a two-time Women’s Ohio State Golf Association Amateur Champion, two-time USGA Women’s Amateur Golf Championship qualifier, an NCAA Division II national champion, an NCAA Division II national runnerup, a two-time Great Midwest Athletic Conference women’s golf medalist.
Ledford said as they’ve played in tournaments all over the country, other golfers remember Woods from previous events. Her personality and her play on the course make her someone who is not easily forgotten.
But come Thursday as she walks to the practice green or to the first tee, Woods knows it will not be easy to focus solely on golf.
“That’s something I’ll have to really prepare for,” she said.
And Ledford said they’ll take a minute to soak it all in.
“This is — good, bad or indifferent — an experience you’ll never forget,” he said. “It’s hard not to take it in. The lights are a little brighter. There are more people, more things going on.
“But Thursday is all business. When you’re not focused, you hear it all, you see it all. (Tuesday and Wednesday) my goal is to get her to have tunnel vision to hit golf shots. We’re going there with a goal to make the cut.”
Reach Mark Huber at 937-556-5765, via email [email protected] or at X (formerly Twitter @wnjsports
