 Sandra Haynie on the cover of Tee Time Magazine in the Summer of 2003
At age 11, Sandra Haynie accompanied her father to his golf course in Ft. Worth, Texas. The pro asked her if she would like to try the sport, and when she said yes, he gave her a cut-down wooden-shafted 6-iron and took her to the driving range. Showing her how to hold the club and how to stand, he made a golf swing and told her to imitate him. She did what she was told, and a few hours later when Sandra’s father returned from his round, she was still at the driving range, hands bleeding, enthralled with the sport. “I instantly knew golf was something I wanted to do, because I’m an only child and golf was a game I could play by myself. I knew I would be responsible for my own success and my own failures. Golf appealed to my nature from the start.”
At age 12, Haynie began lessons with A.G. Mitchell, a 70-year-old Scotsman who also taught Babe Zaharias. Old-fashioned and a traditionalist, Mitchell gave lessons while wearing a formal suit and tie. When the Texas Open was held one year at Mitchell’s course, Haynie got an invitation to play nine holes with the Babe. Inspired by a day’s experience with the famous Babe, Haynie decided that golf would be her life’s pursuit. “I became very single-minded in my goals. My parents weren’t entirely convinced, but I knew.”
Recalling the day with Babe, Haynie knew that the Babe was well known for her gruffness and aggressiveness. But Zaharias handled the youngster that day as if she was a “small little bird in her hand.” She was so calm and gentle, so wonderful with me. She didn’t have to play to a crowd that day, and she paid attention to me. She was inspiring. When she got sick a few years later, my dad helped arrange for me to go see her in the hospital.”
Zaharias’ inspiration followed Haynie to the LPGA tour in 1961 for her rookie year. Haynie’s passion and love of the game were evident for the next 13 years on tour, when she won at least one tournament a year  during that stretch. “I was blessed to be able to do what I loved as my job. But I remember talking to fellow players about how difficult our LPGA Hall of Fame was (to be admitted) before they changed the criteria. I’ve always felt that good players will make it, because they will put themselves in position enough times to win. Changing the criteria doesn’t mean that it’s any easier. There are many more good players now, and what separates them are the great players.” “You can’t compare eras of the LPGA. You can’t compare Annika with Kathy Whitworth or Mickey Wright. You can’t compare the technology or the golf courses from each era. Golf courses today are so much better groomed than they were when we were playing.
In today’s golf, competitions have full fields of 144 players, where during my career, that was not always the case. When I was 17 or 18, the field might have been around 60 players. In the late 60’s and early 70’s the field grew considerably. But that’s not to say that competing against Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls, Kathy Whitworth, Carol Mann, Patty Berg and Marlene Hagge, wasn’t difficult. You’ve got some real challengers there.”
Sandra’s favorite Kathy Whitworth story is when Kathy joined the Tour two years before and hadn’t won a tournament three years after her rookie year. Sandra won her first trophy during her second year. At the Kelly Girl Open in Baltimore in 1962, Haynie and Whitworth battled for the lead to the last hole, where Sandra 3-putted and gave away the victory to Whitworth. “I tell Kathy today that I’m the reason she was able to go on and win 88 tournaments, more than anyone has ever won, because I allowed her to win her first! Kathy was so tough, because even if technically she didn’t look good, she was so sound in her game and such a gritty competitor.
“There are two things that have to happen for you to win a golf tournament: something good for you, and something bad for someone else. One time a player asked me how many times I finished second. I don’t have any idea, but I know that some of the professionals track the number of times they finished second or third to try to figure out what they did wrong to end up there instead of first. They consider it almost a failure to finish second or third. If the winner birdies the last three holes to beat you, there’s nothing you can do about that. You finish second. In my mind I would say, ‘Well, only one person beat me this week!’ ”
Of all her 42 victories on the LPGA Tour, Haynie feels most strongly about the two majors she captured in 1974, when she won both the US Women’s Open and the LPGA Championship. Only Mickey Wright had won the same two tournaments in a year up to that point, and Haynie considers Wright one of the greats of women’s golf.
What about her three holes-in-one? All three came in competition, not during practice rounds. The first one, on a course she can’t recall some years ago, stands out because near the clubhouse, on a hill, was a new car. Haynie was convinced that her hole-in-one got her the new car. She discovered later that the car was for an ace on another hole. Haynie also captured an ace at Mission Hills CC, home of the Colgate (Dinah Shore) championship, for which she won $5000. Only two weeks later, she shot another in a tournament in Phoenix. The best of Haynie’s years on tour came in 1982, when she played in 29 events and won her most prize money ever ($245,432) in one year. “Even though I only won twice in ’82, I played the most consistent golf ever, and I rarely finished out of the top ten.”
But the cost of playing well and frequently took its toll on her health. “I banged my body up and basically wore myself out. In 1983 when we played the US Open in Tulsa, I hurt myself, and it went downhill from there. I tried playing off and on for the next few years, but by 1989, I knew it was over when I damaged a knee.” Yet the closing of her playing career probably opened the door to her second career. “Golf is a very single-minded, selfish sport. That sounds harsh, but it’s true. When we (players) are out there at a tournament, our family and friends have to make their schedules revolve around us. I wanted to do something that involved giving back. And interestingly enough, in the mid-70’s, when I was playing my best golf, someone came to me and asked me to invest in a golf club in Ft. Worth. I did and became director of golf at Lake Country. Although it was exhausting trying to play the tour and manage the golf club on my free days, I enjoyed it so much that I found it energizing. I truly learned everything about the business of golf.”
 After knee surgery definitely ended her playing, Haynie began working as a director of instruction at a golf facility and at the same time directed the LPGA Skins Game. “As busy as I was, I loved every minute of it. When I took another position in 1994, I had input on the design of the pro shop, I wrote policies and procedures and rules and regulations for the members. I handled inventory and the buying for the pro shop, and worked with a budget.” To Sandra, business is really about good people skills. “In every place I’ve ever worked, I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by good people. When I hired people, I wanted to give them power, so I gave them an area to be responsible for.”
Haynie says that she has been blessed in her career in both playing the tour and running golf businesses.
 Susan is a regular contributor to Tee Time Magazine and a freelance writer. Besides playing golf, she enjoys writing about it. She is a published author, with various interviews, feature stories, travel articles, and short fiction to her credit. Susan continues to persue her dream of writing full time for a golf magazine and also to be able to hit her driver 200 yards, every time.
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