BY
KEITH LACEY
Canadian golfing legend Sandra Post visited Greater Sudbury
this week, and gave local players some free advice.
She conducted two clinics at Timberwolf Golf Course Tuesday at
the invitation of the Yawney family, who own several local golf
courses.
Post's love affair with the game of golf started at age five
when her father took her to a Ladies Professional Golf
Association (LPGA). It changed her life.
"The LPGA tour was only in its third year...I just thought it
was the greatest thing," she said.
Within days, her father had purchased her a set of beginner
clubs and started taking her out to golf with him on a regular
basis.
By the time she reached her early teenage years, Post was one
of the very best female players in the country. She's a
three-time Canadian and Ontario junior champion.
Post joined the LPGA tour in 1968 at age 19 and played on the
world's best tour for 17 years, retiring at the very tender age
of 36. She won the 1968 LPGA Championship, becoming the
youngest golfer, male or female, to win a modern major
championship.
She turned the golf world on its ear not only winning a major,
but being named LPGA Rookie of the Year in 1968.
During her remarkable career, she won eight official events
and two unofficial events. During 1979, she finished second on
the money list.
She was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's Most
Outstanding Athlete of the Year in 1979. She's a member of the
Canadian and Ontario sports hall of fame and was awarded the
Order of Canada in 2003.
Deciding to quit the tour at such a young age was something she
didn't take lightly, said Post.
 I wanted to do other things with my life...and I knew
they would still involve golf," she said.
For more than 20 years, Post has "travelled the world" giving
lessons and clinics and working in broadcasting. She's been a
golf analyst for TSN and Sportsnet for many years. She promotes
her own signature line of golf clubs called Jazz.
She considers herself very fortunate to make such a wonderful
living promoting the game she loves, said Post.
"The game of golf has been just wonderful to me for the 53
years I've played the game," she said. "It provided a wonderful
career when I played professionally and it's allowed me to
travel the world, meet so many other people I otherwise would
never have met...and allowed me to share my passion for the
game with so many other great people."
She gives lessons to both men and women, but says women, in
general, appreciate her assistance more.
"They're not afraid to ask questions...I'm a woman and they're
not as shy around me as they might be with a man," she said.
"Most of them know about my career and success and they want to
learn."
She's biased, but Post believes golf is the greatest game ever
invented.
You don't have to be big, strong or fast to become an
above-average player, you meet so many wonderful people and the
game keeps you young, fit and energetic, she said.
