Before the Colorado Women’s Open, Susan Ginter-Brooker’s top concern wasn’t golf, but finding a temporary daycare provider for her 13-month old son, Lance Henry. That is one of the many changes her professional golfing lifestyle has undergone in the past year.
With a provider found, Ginter-Brooker has been free to focus on golf.
It showed Thursday at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club when Ginter-Brooker, a member of the LPGA Tour since 1998, shot a 2-under-par 70 in the second round to put her in a three-way tie atop the leaderboard at 1-under 143 entering today’s final round.
“I’m really getting back into it,” said Ginter-Brooker, 39, a resident of Greenville, S.C. “I didn’t play much last year after having the baby.”
Ginter-Brooker admits she is at crossroad in her professional life. Should she continue on the tour with an infant son? Should she quit to be a stay-at-home mother? Or perhaps pursue a career in sports journalism, which she said has intrigued her?
“I’m still trying to decide what the next step is for me,” Ginter-Brooker said. “I put in so many hours of short-game practice before I was a mom, and there’s no way to find that time now. So, I’m still learning how to be more efficient with my time.
“The LPGA has a daycare that travels with them, so this was the first time for me to come into a town and do this. It was fairly easy because it was a weekday tournament, but a lot of tournaments are on weekends, so you have to work a little harder.”
Ginter-Brooker has struggled to cobble up a living since joining the tour. She entered June at No. 293 on the LPGA’s all-time money list, with earnings of $240,577. The Appleton, Wis., native graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in mechanical engineering. Her best career finish in an LPGA tournament was fifth at the 1999 Michelob Light Classic.
She shot an opening-round 73 at the Colorado Open, and her 70 on Thursday had been the lowest of the tournament until Diane Irvin of Hamilton shot a 68 to tie Ginter-Brooker for the lead, along with Clarissa Childs of Columbia, S.C.
Ginter-Brooker’s husband, David, is a caddie on the LPGA Tour, but does not caddie for his wife. Despite the occasional hassles of crisscrossing the country with a baby and trying to earn a living, Brooker beamed with a mother’s pride when discussing Lance Henry.
“At the end of the day, I don’t go back to the room by myself,” she said. “I’ve got him there, and he does not care how well or how poorly I played.”
The late-afternoon naps she used to get on the road, however? Gone.
“He runs me ragged,” she said. “I chase him around and play with him instead. But it’s fun.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
