Did Karen King know , a friend at Birkdale Golf Club in Chesterfield asked , that she had finished second in the number of rounds played by women club members in 2021 ?

She did not . When told she was just 12 rounds shy of the record , she gave what turned out to be a very Karen Kinglike answer .

“ Had I known I would have played 12 more myself ,” she replied .

That exchange launched what could rightly be called a King-sized obsession with the game that shows no sign of waning . She finished 2021 with 275 rounds . She finished 2022 with 381 . Last year , she increased that already gargantuan total to 396 .

There was no slowing down in 2024 .

As of April 21 , she had posted 127 rounds . “ I just love to play golf ,” she explained . No kidding . Maybe it ’ s a sign of earned respect , but at Birkdale , King has dibs on the first tee time . Nothing stops her . Weather ? What about it ?

“ Friends see me in the parking lot and yell , ‘ You ’ re not playing today ; it ’ s raining !’” the affable 70-year-old said . “ I say , ‘ I don ’ t care .’ Water in the cups doesn ’ t bother me . I ’ ve played in torrential rain . I play in everything but lightning .”

There ’ s no such thing as a week off or a vacation from golf . A seven-day trip to Florida in January turned into nine rounds , followed by a round in South Carolina on the drive home .

Weekend rounds are mostly reserved for her and her oldest grandson and unofficial coach , Kyle . Husband Wilton , a dedicated golfer himself who often plays four times a week with other seniors , goes out with her occasionally but long ago confessed to the woman who runs after her shots , “ I can ’ t keep up with you .”

Asked about her personality , King said , “ I guess you ’ d call it ‘ addictive .’”

Some years ago , her brother set a goal to run a dozen marathons in as many

King recorded almost 400 rounds in 2023 .

I believe you can become anything you set your mind to . It ’ s exciting . I love being outside . I love nature . We have an eagle on hole 9 ; I love seeing babies being born , eagle babies .” — Karen King

months . King started a campaign to catch him by running two in one weekend . In late December , as he was finishing his 12th , King was finishing her 13th .

Clearly , the same standard of dogged pursuit applies to her golf .

“ I believe you can become anything you set your mind to ,” she said , before adding , “ It ’ s exciting . I love being outside . I love nature . We have an eagle on hole 9 ; I love seeing babies being born , eagle babies .”

Her biggest thrill came during a 36-hole day at Birkdale . Her first time around on hole 16 , a 143-yard par 3 , she made birdie . The next time , she knocked a 9-wood into the cup .

“ I was excited because I thought I was going to make another birdie ,” she joked .

Karen Kings Rounds ( by Year )

400

300

200

100

0

275

2021

381

396

2022 2023

“ But my partner said , ‘ Karen , I think that ’ s in the hole !’”

Someone from the United States Golf Association once phoned her to say that a writer from one of the golf magazines wanted to talk to her about the volume of golf she plays . She assumed it was because she held the record for most rounds played by a woman . The call never came .

How much better the story would be if there was empirical evidence to crown King as the queen of women ’ s volume golf . There ’ s not . She said she was told a few years ago that the record for most rounds played in a year was 629 .

There was nothing to support that . An internet search for “ rounds ,” “ golf ,” and “ 629 ” provided information about the . 44 Magnum , model 629B .

Not exactly the type of shooting we had in mind .

It ’ s criminally misogynistic that we don ’ t know where King stands in the pantheon of female golfaholics . We do know the male recordholder , though .

On January 2 , American golf photographer Patrick Koenig finished 580 rounds in 365 days , smashing the old mark of 449 . Koenig had two major sponsors , and he used his nationwide travels to raise funds for the First Tee program .

That King now knows about Koenig ’ s achievement may be a dangerous thing — for Koenig . After all , that type of knowledge is what got King started in the first place on what she rightly labels “ my journey .”

COURTESY PHOTOS

40 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M AY / J UNE 2024

vsga . org