Meg Mallon has never resided in Colorado, but the U.S. team captain for the Solheim Cup spent so much time here while taking lessons from renowned swing coach Mike McGetrick that Colorado has become a home away from home.
She certainly won’t need a road map to find Colorado Golf Club for the Aug. 16-18 Europe vs. U.S. matches in Parker.
“I saw the Colorado Golf Club property before any dirt was moved, before the first hole was dug,” Mallon said through her perpetual smile.
The winner of two U.S. Opens, Mallon grew up in Michigan, played college golf at Ohio State and is a longtime resident of South Florida.
As a touring pro, she would fly into Denver at least twice a year to work with McGetrick. And he would catch up with her on the tour for three or four additional meetings a year to fine tune her swing.
She will never forget one session with McGetrick on the practice range at Meridian Golf Club in Englewood, where his golf school was located.
“Mike said to me, ‘You know, I have a piece of property over that hill for a golf course that I think will be as good as there is,’ ” Mallon recalled. “I’d say, ‘Yeah, yeah. But what’s my swing look like?’
“He’d keep talking about it, and I could see it was his passion. So we drove over there. He was pointing out where holes would be, and I was trying to picture all this. But I could see it’s such a beautiful spot.”
It gets better. While on the practice range at Meridian, McGetrick said something else.
“I told Meg, ‘How neat would it be if I get this club built and we have the Solheim Cup there and you are the U.S. captain?’ ” McGetrick said. “I also said the same thing to Juli Inkster when I was working with her. I told them how neat it would be if that dream came true. And now, with Meg, it has.”
Opened in 2007, Colorado Golf Club became mired in financial issues during its early years and was sold soon after it hosted the 2010 Senior PGA Championship. McGetrick, one of the founders, is no longer affiliated with the club. He has moved to Charlotte, N.C., but will return for the Solheim Cup in an official capacity to help the U.S. team.
Mallon, 50, credits McGetrick with much of her success. After failing to earn enough money as a rookie to retain her tour card, she began taking lessons from McGetrick. “We worked together on my game for the last 22 of my 23 years on tour,” Mallon said. “And I never lost my card with him.
“I feel incredibly blessed for the wonderful career I’ve had. That also made my parents happy to see me make a living at something I’ve loved to do. It’s been a really fun ride. Being the Solheim Cup captain has just been the icing on the cake. And the fact that it’s at Colorado Golf Club is special to me.”
Mallon played in eight Solheim Cup events, compiling a record of 13-9-7, and was an assistant to captain Beth Daniel on the Americans’ 2009 Solheim Cup team that defeated Europe 16-12 near Chicago. Europe claimed the Cup in 2011 with a 15-13 victory in Ireland, and Mallon has since carried a fierce determination to win it back.
Mallon and European captain Liselotte Neumann will announce their 12-player teams Sunday after the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews. As the captain, Mallon must decide on two wild-card picks. The European team will include four captain’s picks.
Unanimously, U.S. players believe they can feed off Mallon’s positive attitude.
“Meg has a way to get the most out of us,” said Angela Stanford, a Texan who will play in her fifth Solheim Cup this month. “She’s great talking one-on-one to us and she’s great talking to the team. She’s kind of fun, and that never hurts. Every time you see her, she’s smiling. I think players feel that. It helps to make us feel relaxed and focused.”
Mallon isn’t the kind of coach to hover over her players.
“I’ll try to make their experience as easy as possible and be what they want me to be,” Mallon said. “I’m not going to get in anybody’s face. These players know how to play. They know the best way for them to be successful.”
Mallon said one of her biggest jobs will be trying to calm down the U.S. team, which will have the support of the home crowd.
“We’re playing at altitude,” she said, “and then you throw in the fact that I’m going to have some young players. So a lot of energy will be going on there. That’s going to be our biggest challenge. They’re going to be so fired up. I don’t want to see them hitting 20 yards over the green because of it.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280, tkensler@denverpost.com or
Meg Mallon file
Age: 50
Birthplace: Natick, Mass. (grew up in Michigan)
Resides: Ocean Ridge, Fla.
College: Ohio State
LPGA Tour wins: 18
Major championships: Four — 1991 LPGA Championship, 1991 U.S. Women’s Open, 2000 du Maurier Classic, 2004 U.S. Women’s Open
Retired: 2010
Career tour earnings: $9,051,459
Top honor: 1991 female golfer of year by Golf Writers Association of America
Solheim Cup appearances: Eight (13-9-7 record) Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
