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Ackersons vie for spots in U.S. Women's Open

Postby PonyPride » Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:57 pm

Family Linked on the Course

By Rick Atkinson
Special to the Allen American

Good, quality family time is important for most folks.

For the Ackerson family of Allen, it involves keeping the ball in the fairway and hitting lots of greens. Sisters Jennifer, 22, and Kate, 19, members of SMU’s golf team, recently competed with 29 other women for six spots in the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open. Their parents, Susan and Vince Ackerson, performed caddy duties.

“It’s kind of the highlight of our day, or our year, watching the girls play golf,” Vince said after toting Kate’s bag 36 holes. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

“It’s family time,” Susan added. “It really is.”

The Sectional Qualifying tournament at the par 71 TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney was one of eight held across the nation in preparation for the Open in Newport, Rhode Island.

Although the girls didn’t make the cut this time, (Kate shot 151, four strokes off an Open invite and Jennifer came in at 154), they said the experience was memorable.

“It was really exciting,” Kate said. “There was a great field.”

“Definitely, off the first tee, you’re nervous,” Jennifer said. “Because it means a lot to you, as it should.”

The 100-plus degree temperatures didn’t seem to take away from the family’s enjoyment. In withering conditions, as tournament officials scurried about the course with coolers of water and iced towels, the Ackersons savored their time together.

“Here, when they’re getting ready to be gone and on their own, it’s been great because we get to spend a lot more time with them,” Vince said. “A lot of tournaments require participants to carry their own bags, so Susan and I don’t get to enjoy this experience often.”

“Susan goes to almost all their college tournaments,” said Vince, a founder and Executive Vice President of Texas Capital Bank. “And I go to as many as I can make, so we travel a lot together.”



Susan cannot accurately be described as a stay-at-home-mom though. Constantly involved with the girls’ activities and tournaments, she said she’s more of a road-trip-mom. Vince and Susan don’t always caddie for the same daughter though, it turns out they are interchangeable.

“It’s just whoever they want,” Vince said. “It doesn’t really matter. Whoever shows up on the bag is fine with them.”

“It’s great,” Jennifer said of having Mom and Dad as caddies. “You have the moral support and encouragement, so that’s the best part about it.”

Sizzling at the TPC

“Well, it was a little hot so, definitely, staying cool was tough,” Jennifer said at the completion of her rounds. “But, it could have been worse.”

Jennifer, a senior at SMU this fall, played in the 2004 Women’s Open at South Hadley, Massachusetts.

“That experience was unbelievable,” Jennifer said. “It definitely makes you work really hard because it’s such an awesome tournament. You feel so VIP there and it makes you want to be out there on tour.”

Both girls would have liked to have had a better short game this day at the TPC.

“My drives were good,” Kate said. “It was just missing puts that was mainly the problem.”

“I could have hit more greens,” Jennifer said. “I thought I drove the ball pretty well. My drives didn’t get me into trouble.”

The 233-acre TPC Craig Ranch, designed by 1970s PGA tour star Tom Weiskopf, opened in September 2004.

“Craig Ranch is really nice,” Vince said. “It’s a beautiful layout with a lot of terrain and big greens.”

Late start n no problem

Jennifer and Kate didn’t take up golf until their freshmen years at Allen High School. But, once they did, it was hard to stop.

“The first few times hitting golf balls on the range and playing, I fell absolutely in love with it.” Jennifer said. “It became addicting.”

The girls quickly gave up their other sports and concentrated solely on golf.

At Allen, they became among the top golfers in the state, racking up multiple all-district selections and other honors. Kate was an all-state selection her senior year and a member of the Eagles’ 5A state championship team.

Jennifer led the Eagles to a fourth place finish in the state tournament and was an all-region selection. Both girls were two-year team captains.

Susan said the girls wanted to stay close to home after graduation, and SMU’s business school was attractive to them. She added, Mustangs’ Head Coach Todd Selders showed a great deal of interest in their abilities when Jennifer was a senior at Allen.

“Selders really recruited Jennifer,” Susan said. “And Jennifer thought it was just a good match.

“Jennifer was my very first freshman recruit,” said Selders, in his sixth year at the helm. “She was the first one I brought in to help start the future at SMU. She became good very fast. And then, of course, Kate was behind her.”

Selders said he was pleased Kate followed her sister, because that doesn’t always happen. He said the fact that both girls had excelled after starting the game late really caught his attention.

“I thought if they were that good then,” Selders said. “How much better are they gonna get?”

After missing the entire 2003-04 season due to injury, Jennifer was a first-team all-conference selection for SMU in 2005 and second-team in 2006. She was also team co-MVP this past season. As a freshman, Kate picked up third-team honors this year.

The sisters both enjoy movies and hanging out with friends when not studying. They don’t attend professional tournaments as fans, though.

“I’m working on my own game,” Jennifer said with a laugh.

Both Jennifer and Kate aspire to be LPGA tour pros one day. With all the exciting things happening right now, the girls have this going for them, too:

“They come from a great family,” said Selders.

And that’s important.
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