Se Ri Pak's Tour Diary

As originally written by Se Ri Pak for Joong Ang Ilbo. Translation by LoveGiants

Diary Entry #19: Se Ri's team was designed to pursue Major Victory

The contract with Samsung gave me a large family. Samsung created a team to support me. The head of the team was Ho-mun An of Astra Golf Wear, Hwan-sik Chung in charge of practical business, and Yong-suk Kim in charge of the supply of clothing. And in the US, my manager, my caddie and David Leadbetter joined our team.

My first manager was Kyung-rae Kim, a Korean resident in America, but we parted with him after one year, and now Sung yong Kil, a journalist from a Canadian magazine, is my manager. Kil came here to interview Leadbetter last October and saw me training. He thought that I was promising, so he became determined to be my manager. He became my formal manager in February (1998). Jeff Cable, my caddie, has been with me since the LA Women's Open of last year. At first, Tom (Creavy), the head coach of the Leadbetter academy, caddied for me, but he interfered with me too much, so I refused his help. Cable is 2.5 meters tall and weighs 120 kilograms. So I gave him a nickname, Tree. He is a 44 year-old bachelor and with Kil, he helps me to adapt to life in America.

Leadbetter made an exception for me. Nick Faldo and Nick Price pay him $20,000 for three days' of short lessons. But for me, he received $120,000 last year, and this year, he cut it down to $60,000. Because I am young and promising, he says.

Before leaving for the US, I moved into an apartment house which Samsung had offered in Bundang. In the apartment, Samsung set up an artificial grass practice area with speed the same as that of a real course in the US. The apartment was also full of physical training machines. The apartment house in Bundang was like a small gymnasium.

I also started wearing make-up at this time, though I had been told I looked like a wild boy since I had been a child. My sister, Yu Ri, who wished to be a make up artist, forced me to make up. "You are a professional player now and you should pay attention to your appearance." At first, I resisted. "What is the use of that on such a sunburned face?" But she insisted that I should make up for fans. So I learned basic make up skills from her.
Thanks to her, I now make up slightly and wear earrings and a necklace when I participate in events. Father doesn't like that. "The most important thing is golf skills anyway."

In Bundang, I did not quit stepping stairs and running early in the morning. In winter, while running at 5 in the morning, within 30 minutes, my face got frozen and hurt. Even male players gave up, but I didn't. "Now, I'm a professional player, and I can endure it."

Diary Entry #20: Short but Brilliant Tour Life on the KLPGA

My life as a KLPGA player began when I turned pro in April, 1996, and moved into the apartment house Samsung had offered. It was short but brilliant. By the time I left for the US in January, 1997, I had participated in 11 events, won 4, and finished 2nd 5 times.

But my first year as a pro gave me both hope and frustration. Especially, the first 4 months were the most difficult time for me. I had not shed tears after winning several tournaments before that. But that year, I wept many times secretly, chagrined by defeat.

In '95, I won four Open tournaments and 3 amateur tournaments. When I turned pro, all looked to me for victory every time. But I was frustrated in my first three tournaments. In the 4 tournaments I participated in after my pro debut, I recorded 2nd three times, in the Christian Dior Open, the Daegu Maeil Open, and the YuKong Invitational Open.

I lost face. Father says, reflecting on those times, that he could not even sleep because of anxiety. I made idle remarks like, "It's not because I played badly, but because other players played too well." But I also felt uncomfortable. People analyzed my depression. Some said I clung to victories too much, and others said that I thought about money too much after turning pro. But I did not pay attention to them. Things did not go well on the course, that's all.

In August of that year, I finally broke the 2nd place jinx by winning the Dongil Renown Classic. After that, I won the Fila Women's Open and the SBS Championship consecutively. So I won three weeks in row, and when I won four times by winning the Seoul Women's Open, the newspapers bannered it everyday. That year, there were especially many events and I became the first to win 200,000,000 won in a year by earning 218,000,000 won.

The most significant event was the Samsung World Championship held in October of that year. In this tournament, one of the official events of the American LPGA, I finished 3rd, 3 strokes behind Annika Sorenstam, the winner. At that time, people consoled me, saying that to record 3rd was wonderful against such world-class players as Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, and Liselotte Neumann. But I was distressed not to win the tournament. I shed tears in the press room after the event. Then a reporter who was acquainted with me advised me that I should never shed tears if I wanted to be a world class player. But I could not forgive myself for losing.

I reserved a room near the Hanyang Country Club, where the HanKook Women's Open, the last event of the year, was going to be held the next week. I started training hard again from early in the morning. At that time, even father tried to dissuade me from training. But I thought that the only way to heal the wound which the defeat had given to me was hard training. The Samsung World Championship gave me the confidence that I could compete with world class players and that is a valuable treasure that made me what I am.