Germany’s Isi Gabsa walked off the 18th green with a wry smile on her face, ending a great round of 68 with a frustrating bogey on the final hole. German national coach Stephan Morales quickly put an arm around his pupil and gave her a brief bit of advice – don’t reflect on that one frustrating moment.
“Walk to the clubhouse and you will be happy as soon as you are in the clubhouse,” she said, already over the hiccup thanks to that sage advice.
Having familiar faces on an otherwise empty golf course has made this long week much more comfortable for Gabsa, a Epson Tour Member since 2016 and an LPGA Tour Member since 2019. Beyond her coach walking outside the ropes, Gabsa has her older brother Pascal on the bag, a role he holds any time she enters a qualifying tournament.
“That's his job already at the beginning of the year,” Isi said of her brother, a newly minted PGA Professional at Münchener Golf Club in Munich. “It's like, ‘If you have to go to Q-School. I'm signed up and I will book my flight.’ So he's always out there.”
Pascal Gabsa, who passed his PGA exam two weeks ago, coaches a team of 14-year-old girls in Munich, and the team thinks that their coach’s little sister is pretty cool. He came to Mobile with a stack of hats for Isi to sign, and one girl told him “One day I want to be as good as your sister.”
Through 54 of 144 holes, Isi Gabsa is certainly making her brother’s team proud. And Pascal has more on the line than just keeping his team happy. “I have a bet going on with my brother,” Isi said. “He gets some Legos if I make the top 10 at the end of the week, so he is very excited if I'm up there somewhere.”
Which set does he want? A Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer, which will set her back a cool $700. But if Pascal helps Isi make it back to the LPGA Tour, the expense will be more than worth it.
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