“ You want the name players, and you also want the best players, and sometimes they’ re not always the same. But we’ re working at growing the tour, and if we play in the right spot, we always get good crowds. When we played at The Villages( in Central Florida, where many retirees now live), they were lining the fairways four deep. I asked my playing partner‘ are you nervous?’ She said‘ I am now.”
NEW GIG, NEW GOALS After a divorce several years ago, Tschetter now is the single mom of two middle school daughters, Lainey, 14, and Kyra, 12. The modest sums she earns on the Legends Tour essentially constitute some of her moonlighting income. As Tschetter likes to tell people, for the first time in her life she now has a real full-time job, other than playing golf for a living.
Last January, Tschetter got a call from an executive recruiter who told her he was representing a tech enterprise in California looking for a high-level veteran player who could also represent the company. Tschetter was all ears. Soon, she had done four different telephone interviews with various executives and was hired as director of community relations for 18BIRDIES.
Based in Oakland, California, the company has developed a sophisticated golf app that handles scoring, individual statistics, and even keeps track of the bets. There’ s also a social media feature to post photos and messages to fellow golfers. Whether it’ s a charity event, a high school tournament, a pro-am or just 20 players going out for a day of golf with cash or prizes on the line, the app also allows its users to develop a live leaderboard.
“ It was developed by our CEO, Eddy Lui, who was always the one they asked to keep score,” Tschetter said.“ He was just looking for a way to make his life a little easier. It’ s growing like crazy. They have 25 engineers in China and another 25 people in Oakland. I can tell you it’ s keeping me busy. This working for a living is hard on your golf game.” Not really. Tschetter still makes the time to practice, using the facilities at Stonewall, a high-end public course not far from her home in Warrenton, and occasionally at Creighton Farms, a Jack Nicklaus-designed private club in Aldie on the same property where Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden owns a home. Tschetter is Creighton Farms’ honorary playing professional.
22 V IRGINIA G OLFER