What scares 2017 Epson Tour graduate Katelyn Dambaugh the most about her impending rookie year on the LPGA?
The big galleries? The television towers? The cameras? Being in the presence of golfs brightest stars?
None of the above.
“Airplanes scare the living crap out of me”
Dambaugh, 23, has only been out of the country once in her life when she traveled to Mayakoba, Mexico last year to compete in the World Amateur Championships while in college at South Carolina.
“I hate airplanes, but I guess I’m going to have to get used to them. I’m going to have like 12-hour flights,” said Dambaugh. “I usually just blare my music so I don’t hear the engine.”
After winning the SEC Championship in May to cap an all-time great career at South Carolina, Dambaugh joined the Epson Tour in June and posted six top 10’s and ten top 25’s in 12 starts to finish tenth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.
After earning her card, she took two and a half weeks off and didn’t touch a club. She sprained her left wrist twice in college and the nagging pain has followed her to the professional ranks. Hand specialists say she has to take almost three months off to fully heal, but she can’t quite afford that. So, she’s managing.
Since intense and long practices aren’t in the cards, she works in the pro-shop at Bulls Bay in Charleston, South Carolina from 8am-2pm five days a week (“I have a real job, why not make some money in the offseason?”). Then, she hits the driving range or the course after work.
The two major off course initiatives she has worked on are sponsors and a caddy. Dambaugh is represented by Empire Sports, a management company based in her Charleston backyard. She recently signed with Sanford Health – which also has Kim Kaufman and Amy Olsen (formerly Anderson) on its roster of “elite athletes”. She also inked an updated deal with Callaway. Now, they are working on local and regional sponsors to back her first year on Tour.
The caddy situation is also tricky. Dambaugh either had her boyfriend, Michael, caddy on Epson Tour or pushed/carried her own bag. She’s keeping her eyes open for a full-time caddy in 2018.
“I’m going to have some test runs, everyone does, and I’m sure the first one won’t be the last,” said Dambaugh. “For me, I don’t need someone that knows everything about golf. I need someone I can get along with. I need someone that can get my yardage, keep me calm and keep me having fun.”
Dambaugh had just one small cup of coffee on the LPGA. She competed in the 2017 ANA Inspiration as a college exemption.
“I’m normally nervous during the first shot of the tournament, but I literally didn’t stop shaking the entire time I was there,” admitted Dambaugh. “However, I felt really well taken care of – great breakfast, great lunch. They provide so much and I liked the experience. I remember standing on the putting green next to Michelle Wie.”
Now, she’ll have to get used to sharing the stage with the biggest names in the game.
“Then, I was someone who wasn’t part of that (LPGA),” explained Dambaugh. “I was just a kid still in college. Yeah, they might be a lot more advanced than me experience wise, but right now we are on the same stage in life. We’ll see how it goes.”
Dambaugh has already reached out to Solheim Cup members Austin Ernst and Stacy Lewis for advice. She was in the process of organizing lunch with South Carolina native and former LPGA star Beth Daniel.
On the course, Dambaugh is focused on dialing in her irons and giving herself as many looks at birdie as possible next year.
“In college, iron play was the strongest part of my game, but out there (Epson), it got away from me from playing week after week,” explained Dambaugh. “I’ve just got to be more consistent with proximity to the hole to compete with these great players and the low scores.”
Two weeks ago, Dambaugh was honored on the field at the South Carolina versus Florida football game with her college team for winning regionals for a third time. It was the fifth ring from her college career. Country music star and fellow Bulls Bay member Darius Rucker handed out the rings.
In less than two months, Dambaugh will be trying to make some sweet music on the LPGA to add to the growing success from college and the Epson Tour.
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