by LISA D . MICKEY
FEELS LIKE
ME ’
LPGA veteran Angela Stanford brings a retooled short game to Kingsmill for the Pure Silk Championship
The disjointed 2020 tournament golf season was a forgettable anomaly — even a bust by some — but not for LPGA veteran Angela Stanford .
It was a year in which the LPGA Tour played four tournaments until mid-February , followed by a COVID-canceled stretch of nine events until the season resumed in late July . By that time , weekly testing was the norm , players ’ nerves were frazzled , season goals were dashed and there was a pervasive let ’ s-getthrough-this mentality that defined what some considered a lost year .
Playing in only her 14th tournament of 16 events in 2020 , Stanford recalls looking out at her COVID-restricted gallery during the Volunteers of America Classic played at The Colony in her Houston hometown .
And when she lifted the trophy as the tournament winner at that delayed December event , it didn ’ t matter that the only fans there clapping were her parents and a handful of volunteers . The veteran American player was the last woman standing that week — Texas tough and as tenacious as any teen on tour .
“ We had all of those months at home when we couldn ’ t be on the road and we had to wait until July to compete ,” said Stanford , 43 , of Fort Worth , Texas . “ What I learned in 2020 was how much I still love to compete and how much I still wanted to be out there .”
USGA
vsga . org M AY / J UNE 2021 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 19