Hollis Stacy - Part 2 (Winning Back-to-Back Women's U.S. Opens

4-time major championship winner Hollis Stacy looks back an her early LPGA Tour years  and her love of golf in Japan. After picking up her first Tour win in 1977 in her home state of Georgia, Hollis quickly validated that initial success with a victory at the 1977 Women's U.S. Open at Hazeltine C.C. in a battle with newcomer Nancy Lopez. She went back-to-back by winning the 1978 Women's U.S. Open at the Country Club of Indianapolis over JoAnne Carner and Sally Little. Hollis then went on to win her next five events in playoffs. Hollis Stacy continues her life story, "FORE the Good of the Game."

Transcript

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

So tell us a little bit about the decision process you went through over some period of time to decide that you want to play this professionally, this game.

Hollis Stacy 0:24

Well, um, you know, back, you know, when you're younger, you know a lot more than everyone else. Um and your parents get smarter. Yeah, and your par your parents are not smart. And um I was in college and I had seen where Laura had turned professional and Joanne had turned professional. And you know, college was, you know, I I think I was just immature a little bit going into college a little bit, and um, you know, partying too much. Uh and I decided after a year and a half, I was going to get my act together and turn professional. So um, you know, of course I would have loved to have. Now I look back and I wish I'd gotten my degree, you know, from Rollins. But, you know, back then I was much smarter than anyone else. Sure, yeah. So um, so I but I had gone to um the Soviet Union with Rollins, and that was a fabulous experience with Dr. Danowitz. And I met some really neat people and um uh who didn't have you know all those freedoms that we had, and and uh I came back to America and I decided, you know, I'm gonna do this and do the right thing and at the time. Yeah and I'm gonna express my freedom and be a professional golfer. So it was a tough decision. Um, but uh maybe the right decision at the right time.

Bruce Devlin 1:59

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 2:00

Yeah. So you turned professional in 1974. I guess you would have been what, 20 years old at the time or so?

Hollis Stacy 2:06

I was 20 years old, yes.

Mike Gonzalez 2:08

And uh Bruce mentioned a little bit about your record, but 21 professional wins, including 18 LPGA tour victories, which puts Holostasy T31 on the all-time list. Of course, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, which is very exciting.

Hollis Stacy 2:23

Very cool. Very exciting.

Mike Gonzalez 2:25

You know, we'll talk about that some a little bit later as well. Uh uh I understand that uh that you love playing in Japan.

Hollis Stacy 2:34

You know, I loved um Japan, the culture was so different than than the United States. And um we always had a great time playing there. They treated us great. And uh we would go, I'd go twice a year. I go with the tour at the end of the year, and I go uh at a special event in the beginning. But um I had great friends, uh uh Chakohikuchi um and Marbo Sasaki played our tour, and so um they helped build uh the tour in Asia as we know it. And uh Nikki Hirayama uh is a is a good friend of mine, and she's um gosh, she's the head of the Asian Golf Association, I think. And but um we just loved uh you know being with my friends, uh playing golf and experiencing the different culture, you know, the the hot baths and um just everything about Japan was beautiful.

Mike Gonzalez 3:42

Did you speak the language at all?

Hollis Stacy 3:45

I spoke numbers fluently. So I tried to converse. In fact, I I played with uh a friend of mine, uh I'll think of her name, but I tried to she missed a putt and I said to her Oishi, thinking I was saying, I'm so sorry. But I said, that's delicious, and and I should have said, oh she. So um she gave me Noriko Yok your Norika, no, I'll think of her name. Noreca. But she looked at me like I was crazy. Crazy. She said, and I said, Oh no, I mean, oh she, oh she. So anyway, that was the last time I tried to speak the language.

Mike Gonzalez 4:45

So okay. I just remember Amy Alcott Bruce telling us all about those long bus rides to the golf courses and and uh bus ride karaoke that you do with the sing-alongs and the sing-alongs and dancing with Amy Alcott.

Hollis Stacy 5:01

Bless her heart, you know. We would have so much fun dancing with Amy.

Bruce Devlin 5:06

So she was sort of the boss on the bus, wasn't she?

Hollis Stacy 5:10

Oh, she thought she was the boss on the bus. She thought she was the boss on the bus. She thought she was the dancer on the bus. So that's why we had so much fun. So much fun. So she is uh she is a character. She is a character. So we would we would be bringing these these Kieran beer bottles that were this big, which you know, and drinking those, and we would have a lot of fun. So, you know, we would have Kathy Whitworth singing. She was trying Grace Jones. She was singing Grace Jones, so we had fun.

Mike Gonzalez 5:49

So oh, what yeah, what uh oh, I know what it was. It was Amy said that Kathy was the one without a partner, so it ended up being Alcott and Whitworth. And I think their song, which they won with, was What's Love Got to Do With It?

Hollis Stacy 6:05

She is. She is. I know. But to see Kathy, Kathy Whitworth singing Grace Jones was unbelievable.

Mike Gonzalez 6:15

She was uh you had to be there, I guess, huh?

Hollis Stacy 6:18

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's she's a character.

Bruce Devlin 6:21

So Hollis, you turn pro, right? You turned pro in 74, and then uh did you have second thoughts? Because it took you a little time to get that first victory. Was uh was the mind uh it was going through?

Hollis Stacy 6:38

Um you know it's a very difficult for me because it was um I got homesick a lot, and we didn't have the internet back then, so so um uh I it was very stressful for me, and um I didn't I just got homesick, you know, and uh it was you know playing as you know, it's not as glamorous as as um as everybody thinks, especially back then. So so one time I was this is funny, and and you can use it. I don't know if you can use it. So one time I was so stressed out. I go into the yellow pages and I need a massage. I need a massage because I'm so stressed out. So I end up going, I'm in Ohio, and I go to this house, I drive up, and it looks like the Adams family. And so I say, okay, okay, this is you're gonna have a massage. So I didn't really have too many massages, but I really needed one. And so I walk in and I get on the table and they say, Oh, you're supposed to take your clothes off. I read about this, like you know, the postage stamp green. So I get on, I take my clothes off, and I'm a little self-conscious, you know. So, and then I realize they're reflexologists, they work on your feet. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. So put your clothes back on, okay. Anyway, that was funny. It was funny. Oh, it was funny, it was funny. Yeah, I it took me a decade or two to tell that story, but I think it's funny.

Bruce Devlin 8:35

Oh my goodness.

Hollis Stacy 8:37

Reflexology.

Bruce Devlin 8:39

Tell us about the first win.

Hollis Stacy 8:42

My first win was in Atlanta, and I was head-to-head with Joanne Carner. And my father was following me, and he had he had a hard time getting around the golf course because he was shot uh in World War II um uh back at the end of the war. Um, you know, the um back then they weren't being, you know, the enemy wasn't good about, you know, speaking English and not speaking English. And so they had changed the password. And so my father uh didn't have the right password to come back. His job was to go across enemy lines and call in all the coordinates for General Patton's big guns. So he would cross enemy lines and carry with him uh six people because you know they'd get shot, and and so they call in the coordinates and then coming back, he was shot. And so he was shot in his hip. And um back then, you know, in it's hard to say, 70s, they didn't really know much about hip replacement or knee replacement. So see, he had a horrible limp. And so um he followed me on the back nine, and I said, Well, I guess it's time to perform because he was he was following me, and I had six birdies, and I won my first tournament. So that was quite a thrill. And from my father and my mom and my sisters and everything, they were all there.

Mike Gonzalez 10:35

So and kind of almost kind of like a home win. I mean, you're in your home state at least, right? It's not a good thing.

Hollis Stacy 10:40

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I've I've got a great relation with Georgia. In fact, uh I'm trying to work, I'm working on an event in Georgia, you know, for the LPGA right now. So I have a great relationship, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 10:54

Yeah, good. Well, interesting factoid, uh just five years hence, Joan Joyce set a tour record uh at this tournament, 17 putts in her final round, which I think is a record that still stands.

Hollis Stacy 11:07

She had hand-eye coordination like you can't believe, you know. You know, she's the world famous pitcher, you know, softball athlete. And she, you know, I remember seeing her name up there. I said, look at her. Good for her. But, you know, I think she was one or two behind me, thank goodness. I think I got a little help on the last toll. I think Joanne may have bogied and I birdied or something.

Mike Gonzalez 11:32

So well, you you you mentioned a couple of the guests we've got coming up maybe uh next week or so. Uh uh both Donna Capone and Joanne will be with us on the show.

Hollis Stacy 11:42

Oh, I just love Joanne. And Donna. Donna is, you know, she's a good friend. Well, they all are good friends, you know, they're all great.

Mike Gonzalez 11:51

Yeah. Well, Bruce, uh the we always have to validate that first win, but in this case, uh What a validation. This was a big validation here.

Bruce Devlin 12:02

So the next one, the next win there, Miss Hollis. You went to uh you went to uh Dave Hill's golf course. Oh, yes, that's right.

Hollis Stacy 12:12

Oh, that's right. Oh, that's right. It's funny. I went to um it's funny, you know, uh, I didn't sleep the entire week because I was so nervous. And I may have gotten one or two hours. And um uh, you know, I've talked to you know several players on the tour now, you know, and help them. And and you know, they you know, they they always remark, oh, sleep. I said, sleep, forget that, you won't sleep at all. And I think that's a good thing you're not sleeping. So, so that kind of is a validation. But that week was um uh, you know, Dave Hill's golf course, Hazel Teen. And I have been back. Uh they've redone it, but uh I did remember a few holes, and um what a tough golf course. And yeah, it's truly one of the greater golf courses, you know, that I've ever played. But I remember, you know, I was head-to-head with Nancy, and Nancy broke her zipper, and she always reminds me that she should have won had I not her zipper not broken. And I always tell her, you're probably right. But but anyway, so I won, and it was quite the um, you know, I as a USGA champion, um, I always believed that I was going to win a US Open. And I think that helped having grown up with it with the USGA. And I always tell my friends that have the USGA background, and you know, you're predisposed, you will win a US championship. So uh yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 14:02

Yeah, yeah, that's that's pretty cool. Uh seven years before is is when uh uh Tony Jacqueline won, uh, and Dave Hill made his famous comments about the ruined a good cow pasture or something. But uh Tony, Tony, and and Bruce, you too would sure attest to how difficult the golf course was.

Bruce Devlin 14:20

Very difficult course. You played it in. Yeah, that was uh it was uh it was a brood of a golf course. You had to uh well it was sort of it was a long golf course too, compared to some of the other golf courses we were playing back then, so it made it much more difficult. But you hadn't finished in uh 77 with winning the U.S. women's open. You you were able to win another time too, right?

Hollis Stacy 14:45

Um I was I won in Springfield at the rail. Oh, that's right.

Mike Gonzalez 14:52

Yeah, that's my hometown.

Hollis Stacy 14:55

And I um I won in record fashion because I broke the record. I would, I think I was 17 under. I was making every putt I looked at. So it was I won by seven or eight. So but it the worst thing is going into the final round with a large lead because you always think of how you're gonna blow it with shooting a 95. So right, or you know, it's you know, it's just you know, it's who we are as golfers, you know. It's you know, it's that fear of failure, and you try uh not to make a fool of yourself. So so uh Springfield is I I have fond memories of that. Oh, they've way blown by that. They're they have they're like 25 or 26 now under right now.

Mike Gonzalez 15:47

Well, but but 17 under was the scoring record there until uh Pat Bradley shot 19 under in 1991, 14 years later. You shot 65 in the second round. Uh you were hot. You had it rolling that week.

Hollis Stacy 16:02

My putter was sizzling, so so I was putting with the um bullseye. You know, who putts with a bullseye anymore?

Bruce Devlin 16:12

So um, but some pretty good players putted with a bullseye. I can name two, I can name a couple of guys. Bob Charles, David Graham, you know. I mean, they all use bullseyes. Betsy King.

Hollis Stacy 16:25

Betsy King. She still putts with a bullseye. So and you know what? I go out there and I practice with a bullseye because I think that people forget about the stroke. The putter head is gets you too ball-centric. You concentrate too much on the ball and the line and not the stroke. So I go out there, I still have several bullseyes, you know, downstairs that I and I look at, I say, God, I can't believe I made miles of putts with this. But it's the stroke, and Bob Charles had a beautiful stroke. And uh, you know, it's you know, I think players forget about that, don't you think?

Bruce Devlin 17:12

Yes, and you know, uh one other thing in 1977, you hadn't finished winning because you paired up with a US Open champion to win the uh mixed team champion.

Hollis Stacy 17:27

Jerry Pate.

Mike Gonzalez 17:28

Jerry Pate.

Hollis Stacy 17:30

Jerry Pate, yes, uh, yes. The missed and that was something because I continued putting. And uh I was just making putts, crazy putts. And um Jerry, I don't think I don't think Jerry had seen anyone putt as well as I did. And we ended up beating Nancy Lopez. Oh, and I think it was was it Curtis? I think it was Curtis Strange. By one stroke. By one stroke. Jerry made like a uh four-footer on the last hole. So good. Yeah, well you made him make a putt. I made him make a putt.

Mike Gonzalez 18:11

So Jerry had just won uh at AAC, the the U.S. Open. And uh Alice, you probably know the guys that played the first two rounds with Jerry Pate that that US Open.

Hollis Stacy 18:24

Who is that?

Bruce Devlin 18:28

You're looking at him.

Hollis Stacy 18:30

Oh you played with him. You played with him.

Bruce Devlin 18:33

Charles Cootie and I played the first two rounds with him, and uh I saw, I'm telling you, I saw the greatest iron two-iron shot I've ever seen in my life with him the second day. I'm not sure. I think it's the 15th hole. Warner on the right hand side, bunkers on the left, and Pate hit the hit at a foot from the hole with a two-wind.

Hollis Stacy 18:57

Oh my goodness.

Bruce Devlin 18:58

One of the greatest shots I've ever seen.

Hollis Stacy 19:00

And that's a hard golf course.

Bruce Devlin 19:02

Oh, I'll see.

Hollis Stacy 19:03

Oh, and the Bermuda Rough. Oh, yeah. Oh, terrible, terrible.

Mike Gonzalez 19:08

Well, let's move on to 1978, and we're now in Birmingham for the Birmingham Classic at Green Valley Country Club, and you won by three over Jane Blaylock and Pat Myers.

Hollis Stacy 19:21

Oh, goodness gracious. And I remember the last round, I had I didn't get any sleep because a friend of mine was in the emergency room all night. So um I went to the emergency room and and she was sick and um went out the next day and I won. And I think, you know, because I was so tired, I forgot, you know, those nerves are you know how when you're tired, you know, you just you forget about you forget about other stuff anyway. So I was fortunate to do that.

Mike Gonzalez 19:57

So by then I guess you're you think you're onto something with this no sleep thing, huh?

Hollis Stacy 20:02

Oh yeah. Oh, that's right. I didn't sleep. I know that's funny.

Mike Gonzalez 20:07

Well, um a little later that year back-to-back U.S. women's open winner, 1978. This was at the country club of Indianapolis by one over Joanne Carner and Sally Little.

Hollis Stacy 20:23

Yes. Um that was they reversed the nines. And so the last hole was the 18th. It was a short parf where you laid up. And um I remember that you know, you know, the the song The Blue Danube. Well, obviously, I forgot that song. So I remember my father would always tell me pull down, pull down, because that was that was the swing thought back then. Pull down, pull down. Well, I pulled down and I hit my shot four inches fat, and I didn't even make it to the fairway cut. So I had I said I had and I had um a one-stroke lead with Joan Carner.

Mike Gonzalez 21:23

This was a one a one iron off the last T in the final round. Is that what you're talking about?

Hollis Stacy 21:29

You know, I think that one iron was in the bag. I think it was a it was a three-iron I hit or a forward, one of those. But I really pulled down so much that I hit three inches behind it. And then I said, Well, this is not pretty. So then I used a I think I had a baffler in my bag. And so I said, if I could just get it up to the front bunker, and this is a hole where you're hitting wheels. into the front bunker and and it somehow it skipped and I was in the front fringe so I made um um pretty good chip to about five feet and I made the putt so it was it was a working girl um uh par and not pretty huh it was not pretty and join carner and join carner uh she missed the green with her nine iron I think or a pitching wedge so so but she did make par so and I had to make I had to make the putt for par to win so so we were definitely playing head to head that round.

Mike Gonzalez 22:43

Yeah I think I think Nancy was the leader after two rounds and then as you get into that final round there was a lot going on lots of lead changes a couple rain delays had to be a long day for you.

Hollis Stacy 22:54

Well I can tell you one thing ABC which was doing the open was very happy that I made the putt. Otherwise they would have had had to stay the next day for the 18 hole playoff. So they really wanted me to make that putt. So so it was they had I think they had four inches of rain the next day so um uh it was you know it was another over par open that I won but it was a win so uh Sally Little Menace Sally Little shot a smooth little 65 in the in the final round which was a tournament record and then I think had to sit in the clubhouse for an hour and a half to wait to see what happened with all you girls. Yes but she got even with me because she ended up winning the dinosaur by she I was leading the tournament and then she shot 65 the last day and she beat me by one I think one or two the last day.

Bruce Devlin 23:49

So she got even so I think I've got that uh I've got that in our notes somewhere back in it was 1982 at least according to the papers that I read she shot 64 that day Sandra Haney shot 65 to tie second with you and uh I've heard you talk about that maybe being your toughest loss it was it was but um it's just you know leading a tournament is it's hard you you know that Bruce you know it's just because it is hard you know it's it's that my putter just couldn't get past the ball I kept leaving the ball short get it to the hole someone said in the in the gallery and I say here you try you try my arms are stuck but um but it's um you know I was nervous obviously and and you know she played a great round of golf and she stuck it to me and and I I didn't handle it and she deserved to win so yeah it's golf it's golf you know in the next part of your career you did something that I don't think anybody has ever done before the next five victories that you had over a period and we'll talk about them all but from 1979 to 81 you won five times and how did you win in 82 I mean not 81 how did you win all those tournaments do you recall you won them all in a playoff oh I did yeah I won them in playoff we've not we've not seen a run like this we'll go through them but never it's playoff playoff playoff playoff playoff playoff win playoff that's very interesting one time I was one time I was in the playoff in wheeling and you know they said oh we're on the T playoff so I ran to my locker to get a new sleeve of balls and I never played with threes because three pupped you know but you you were never superstitious though oh never so I I got so of course what do I get a sleeve of threes and I'm in the playoff and then I thought well maybe this will cancel everything out so I teed off with the three and I end up beating Kathy Pulsterweight in the playoff in wheeling.

Hollis Stacy 26:31

So that was you know that was fun.

Mike Gonzalez 26:34

Yeah so let's go through let's go through some of these starting in 1979 uh the Mayfire Classic Harbor Trees golf club in Indiana this was a playoff with Laura Ball and Judy Rankin where you won with a par on the second hole over Laura so Judy must have lost out on the first hole well I wish I could remember that but I'll just I don't remember that I do remember that it was before the US Open that tournament and I wanted to use this as a practice for the open.

Hollis Stacy 27:14

So I worked really hard in my US open mode you know you know and making sure you know my ball position was perfect every time my tempo in every time and I ended up winning the tournament and I said well I don't know if that's such a good thing because but you know I was very happy to win it but then I went into the next week and I said you were supposed to practice for the open so I didn't I didn't win that following week of the open I don't know where Jarlin Britz at Brooklawn that was at Brooklawn and I finished 10th or in 10th or 11th but um Gerlin won she beat Debbie Massey and uh Debbie finished second at that but uh we just played Brook Lawn uh two years ago at the U.S. seniors senior women's open so yeah yeah that did bring back some memories the greens had not changed they were more ferocious more ferocious so yeah uh well you'll remember this next playoff victory because that was the one at Moss Creek uh in a playoff with your good buddy yes yes I remember that um um I remember my grandmother came out and she'd never seen me play so it was so special and this is this is this is the Christmas tree she made in the back there ceramic she had a ceramic class and um you know back then you know my sister Martha and I were always talking about she would make all these things and we would you know we didn't like them we were too cool for them when we were younger but now you know you know we we go where is Nana's Christmas tree so but anyway so my grandmother was very cute she goes um she was very southern and she kept all of her my clippings under her couch cushion so you know one day I said I said Nana where where are all the clippings she goes they're there and I I'd look and there's nothing she goes where where are they and she had them under the cushion and the cushion was like it would it was like this so people would be sitting on my clippings and uh and uh but she was so funny she because she knew nothing about golf and she goes oh honey when you're on TV and I see you and you are on that pasture and I see you and you're walking toward me God love you on that pasture. I just love you you're on that pasture so it's she was great yeah yeah so just uh continuing on with these playoff wins in 81 West Virginia Bank Classic you mentioned uh the Inamori classic at Almadin uh yeah with Donna Capone yeah and Amy Alcott again too and Jan Stevenson Jan Stevenson yeah yeah yeah yeah and uh you won it in class because you won it with a birdie on the first playoff hole with uh with Amy with Amy and Donna Jan yeah yeah yeah yep yep yeah well I don't know about the playoffs I just love them so obviously looking back oh after all those years that's the important thing right yes yeah well I just love the you know I love the you know the pressure and that pit in your stomach and performing and you know it's the discipline of of the athlete you know having to cope with it you know your hands are balmy and your heart is beating and how do I do it you know and and people lie you know when they say oh I wasn't nervous well they are lying so yeah because if you're not nervous you're done you're not gonna you are not I remember when I was um on the USGA I used to be at work on the USGA junior girls committee uh after I retired from the tour and Lexi Thompson was on the team and you know I went over and I talked to her and um I said Lexi so how you doing and I said now if you're nervous you know what that means that means you really care so that's not like it doesn't mean that you know I am not oh Lord I am not worthy it means man I really care. So I remember she came up with that quote you know I really care you know and you do you know if your heart's not beating then you're done.

Mike Gonzalez 32:13

Yep yep well speaking of nervous and really caring uh your playoff record uh which um uh bears mentioning because at six and four uh you're a bit unusual Hollis uh uh and I'll tell you why because Bruce and I have gone back to the 48 other guests we've had all of whom are Hall of Famers and major winners by the way right and we went back and looked at their playoff record okay so so our guests have been in two up until you we're not counting yours but but before you our guests have been in 231 playoffs.

Hollis Stacy 32:49

What do you think their winning percentage is for all those great players Hall of Famers and major winners I don't know what would you guess their winning percentage was 20% there no 40 50% 50% okay you're gonna just go right down the middle right it's it's just a kind of a it's kind of a a a coin flip on on playoffs right uh 43% really not it they don't even they've lost more than they won isn't that amazing all those all of the great players you're you're an anomaly in that group you know that yeah I always tell Nancy Nancy says oh I should have won and then I say okay nancy let's trade careers how about that let's trade careers well those I I'm honored you know those people have great careers and uh you know I just relish the competition and I guess the severity of the moment I and you know I might add growing up in a large family that really was a plus in my favor because you know it's just complete chaos you know and you just learn to you know deal with what's in front of you and I guess I was able to you know well I'm nervous so I'm sure they're nervous too so let's just go out tee off and do the best you can and that's and that's what I tell you know my friends that you know I help and I call and I just say you know you just do the best you can though it's it's um you know it's uh you know and also it could be one time I was um at the US Open Patty Sheehan was going into the last day she was leading I had missed the cut this was in Orion Michigan and she was nervous as heck and you know been there done that and I went over to Nancy and I said I mean not Nancy I went over to Patty and I said Patty it's already been decided you know you know being spiritual you know all you can do is do your best because the Lord has just already decided what has happened and so she went out there and she to this day she says you know that was probably the neatest thing anybody has ever said to me and she went out and she golfed her ball and she played great golf and she won. So and she thanked me for that that all you can do is your best.

Intro Music 35:40

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game and please wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify if you like what you hear please subscribe spread the word and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game so long everybody smack down fair way to stay off to it