Donna Andrews - Part 4 (Solheim Cup, Senior Play and Teaching)

In this final installment of our four-part conversation with LPGA major champion Donna Andrews, we wrap up a remarkable journey through a life dedicated to the game of golf. Donna reflects on her experiences representing the United States in two victorious Solheim Cups—sharing memories of teeing it up alongside Betsy King, squaring off against Helen Alfredsson, and the camaraderie that made those team events unforgettable. She also recalls the pride and challenges of captaining the Junior Solheim Cup team in Sweden, mentoring the next generation of stars.

We revisit some of the toughest moments of her playing career, including playoff heartbreaks against Hall of Famers like Betsy King and Annika Sörenstam, and discuss a U.S. Women’s Open memory at Oakmont that still lingers. With trademark humility and humor, Donna explains what she would change if given a Mulligan—and what she wouldn’t.

Donna also dives into her post-tour life as a celebrated teacher and ambassador for women’s golf. From her work at Pine Needles with the legendary Peggy Kirk Bell, to hosting the Donna Andrews Invitational, to volunteering with her daughter at a local dog rescue, Donna’s passion for giving back shines through.

Finally, she speaks from the heart about her faith, the importance of legacy, and how she hopes to be remembered—not just as a champion on the course, but as someone who used golf to make a positive impact in the world.

Don’t miss this heartfelt conclusion with one of the game’s most respected voices. Donna Andrews reminds us that while trophies fade, the values we pass along endure—"FORE the Good of the Game."

Transcript

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

So let's talk a little bit about Tolheim Cup. I mean you had an opportunity to play a couple of times as a player. Of course, we talked to Kathy Whitworth, the first captain of the first event, which was kind of cool. And we've talked to a lot of your contemporaries that have played in all of them over the years, uh, and some uh a lot of them, like like Laura Davies. Um you were able to play in the 1994 event at the Greenbrier, and this was a year when Mickey Walker captained the Europeans and Joanne Carner was the captain for the U.S. side. Tell us about that experience.

Donna Andrews 0:49

Um, well, for me, it was like playing in front of a hometown crowd because all the people from Virginia were there. Um, I'll never forget that walk on to the first T. And my very first match, I was paired with Betsy King, and it's an alternate shot, so you have to decide who tees off first. And you know, odds are evens. And so we were sitting there the night before, and I said, Well, Betsy, who's gonna do odds and who's gonna do evens? And she goes, Oh, well, you're teeing off on the odds. And I said, Well, why? You know, have you gone through the golf course, whatever? And she goes, No, I'd be too nervous to tee off number one. And I went, Really? And I was like, I am a rookie. But um, I said a lot of prayers walking to that first tee that first day, and we were paired against uh Laura Davies and Allison Nicholas. And um I just remembered saying, Lord, please just let me get it airborne. I don't care where it goes, just let me get it airborne. Now remember, I had topped the one back in '96 with my Colbert. So that's in the back of the mind. Um, so I hit it straight down the middle of the fairway. Um, Betsy knocks it on the green. We probably have about 15 feet. Um, Laura had hit it right of right underneath one of the big spruce trees. And the only one small enough to get under there and hit it out was little Allie Nicholas, because she's five foot nothing. And sure enough, she knocks it up there three feet and we lose the hole. And I went, really? This is the way it's gonna go. Um but we um we chipped in on four, and then we brought that brought the match back to even, and we actually went on to win. But um, to see Joanne walking around in her sparkly hat with all the sequins and stuff all over it, um just motivated you every time you saw her. I mean, we had such a great team. Um, you know, you always had team dinners and you hung out with the teams, and the best part of it was after it was all said and done, uh both teams got together and partied together in the team rooms afterwards, and it was just always, you know, a great event just to promote to promote golf and to just really promote the women's golf.

Mike Gonzalez 2:57

This was uh still pretty early on in the in the Solheim Cup history. I think the first one was in 1990, so this would have been the third Solheim Cup at the Greenbar. Now, for whatever reason, uh you preferred playing at home, so you waited a little while to play in your next one, which was four years later, and this was at Muirfield Village, of course, Jack's place in uh in Dublin, Ohio. And this time PN Nelson was the co the uh the captain of the European side, and you had uh J.R. Pro Talker.

Donna Andrews 3:31

None other than Judy Rankin. That's right. Um yes, uh we had a great time at Meerfield. What a great golf course to play this event on. Um uh and again we go back to things that I remember, uh, not always having to do with golf. Um, I will tell one golf story, but then I'll tell you the things that I remember most. So I was playing against none other than Helen Alfredson. Sherry Steinhauer was my um compadre, and um I we hit a shot on a par four, and Helen was outside of her partner, and I ended up making a putt for par and I looked at my partner and said, Well, we should give her that one. And my partner said, Well, why would we do that? That's for par. And I said, Because her player is putting on the exact same line. So we gave it to her, and I said, You can pick that up, that's good. And Helen goes, You can't do that, she can still put it. And I said, No, she can't. And Helen's like, Yes, she can. And we called in the rules official, and the rules official said, No, no, no, you can't put it. She gave it to you. And Helen was mad, Mr. Putt, we made our birdie, we went on to win because Helen was still mad, like the next three holes. And she came over after the round and she put her arm around me and she goes, Man, you made me mad. And I said, Yeah, I know. And I said, It paid off for us. And she goes, Yeah, that was really a bright thing.

Mike Gonzalez 5:00

Yeah, yeah. Uh Lorenzi was her partner.

Donna Andrews 5:04

Okay, I didn't remember who it was.

Mike Gonzalez 5:06

Yeah, you won four and three in afternoon four ball.

Donna Andrews 5:10

Yeah, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 5:11

Yeah. So just looking back at the experience, uh, competing in two for the U.S. side, both winning ventures, by the way, which had to be a lot of fun. Uh great experience, huh?

Donna Andrews 5:24

It was a great experience. And as I said, the one thing I remember, they had Jack Canna in with all of his animals to do one of our socials, and I got to play with all of the little animals that he brought in for us to pet and hold during the socials.

Mike Gonzalez 5:40

Oh, that's great. I remember him being on the Johnny Carson show quite a few times.

Donna Andrews 5:44

Yep.

Mike Gonzalez 5:46

With the chimpanzees and these funny animals uh, you know, getting on Johnny's coat and peeing all down displays. There were some great moments with Jack Hannah. Well, anyway, uh uh great that you can share with that. And then uh uh you had another opportunity to be involved, this time as a captain of the junior Solheim Cup team. This was in 2007. Uh you were in Sweden, and Katrin Nilsmark was uh captaining the other side that year.

Donna Andrews 6:19

Yes, I was fortunate. I got to take 12 teenage girls over to Sweden. Um, again, um the the lesson about playing in the wind came in very vital. We got over there, the winds were blowing 30, 40 miles an hour, and I had 12 teenage girls that had no clue how to play in the wind. So we went to the range and I gave them all a wind lesson, and um it really paid off. Um I remember one hole that we played, um, and it was across the creek, and I kept saying, You have to hit four clubs more than you think, and they're looking at me like I was complete nuts. And it paid off. Um, and we gave them a run for their money. We didn't end up winning, but it game came down to a 30-foot putt that a girl made on I think the 16th hole to beat us. Um so it was a close match.

Mike Gonzalez 7:08

And you probably wish that as a young uh girl, you would have had that same opportunity to compete on the on the world stage.

Donna Andrews 7:16

That's right, that's right. It was a great stage and um went on to watch some of these interesting the year the women's open was here at Pine Needles, uh Mina Hargey was one of my junior players um on the Solheim Cup team. And so to see her finish here at the U.S. Open and play so well here at Pine Needles, it was just great fun to go out and watch how far she had come and how much she'd matured.

Bruce Devlin 7:41

Yeah, wonderful.

Mike Gonzalez 7:44

Uh okay, so before we start talking about your career teaching and working with the Bell family and so forth, we've got to come back to your LPGA playoff record. I'm I'm I'm sorry to say. Uh Bruce and I always do this, and uh uh you'd be surprised to hear what our research has found. But you happen to have an 0-3 playoff record. I hate to bring that up, but uh losses at the Farm Ore, Betsy King won that one, lots of losses at the 98th early classic, which Barb Muka won. Um and then the 98th Piccolo Light Classic, which Annika won. Um what we found is uh it's not easy. Uh Bruce, why don't you share with her the statistics across probably 50 some World Golf Hall of Fame and major winners? These are the best players that have ever played on the LPG tour, and share with Donna what we found about their playoff route.

Bruce Devlin 8:43

Oh, we'll ask uh we always have to ask the question. Donna. We we've got all of you great players and the history of your wonderful careers. What do you think the winning record of you are in playoffs?

Donna Andrews 9:01

Well, mine was stinky, but so I'm guessing that's what you're probably going to tell me about everybody. All these great players didn't play that well in playoffs. I don't know.

Bruce Devlin 9:10

No, they're the that would be surprising to me. Winning record was uh forty three percent.

Donna Andrews 9:18

So lost more than a lot of things.

Bruce Devlin 9:22

Lost more than what they won combined. So pretty interesting. So and that's to make you feel a lot better too, Donna. You know that.

Donna Andrews 9:31

It does. Um my first playoff, I'll never forget, because I was with a Hall of Famer, Betsy King, Beth Daniel, Meg Mellon. And I thought, man, I couldn't be in better company with these. I didn't expect to win. I mean, Betsy made a birdie, she knocked it in there like three feet and made birdie. The rest of us, I think, made pars, but um, you know what, I couldn't have been in better company. And I thought, you know what? I belong out here with these girls. So they all became dear friends, and still to this day we all stay in touch and it's always fun to talk to them.

Bruce Devlin 10:08

Absolutely.

Donna Andrews 10:08

Um, the one I remember the most, um, the one at Sara Lee was fun. Um, you know, the biggest thing was trying to win the Vince Gill guitar. Um, that was the ever what everybody wanted to win. But uh to be in that playoff with Nancy Lopez, um, she had sort of been my mentor um while I had been on tour, the person I aspired to be, because she had a family, she had a great career, she had a great personality. So to be in a playoff with her was just exciting. Um I was almost rooting for her over me, I think. But she didn't win either. Um, and then the one with Annika, um, we actually played the 18th hole five times before one of us won. And I was so sick of playing that 18th hole. I was like, can we just not play a different?

Mike Gonzalez 10:56

Well, three three playoffs and and Hall of Famers in each one. Um, and as Bruce said, that record of 43%. I suppose if you adjusted for multiplayer playoffs, it's about a coin flip. Yeah. Um Kathy Whitworth. Eight and twenty. Yeah.

Donna Andrews 11:19

Wow. Think how many more wins she could have had.

Mike Gonzalez 11:22

Isn't that amazing? 28 playoffs.

Donna Andrews 11:26

That is amazing.

Mike Gonzalez 11:27

Yeah, yeah. But anyway, we we have fun with with that statistic. So let's get you back now to all right, it's post-career, you're trying to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. You start a family, you've got this fledging TV career as well, but uh but you have an opportunity present itself to uh come to Pine Needles.

Donna Andrews 11:46

Uh I did. I had met Mrs. Bell, I think, during the North Souths when I had played in the North Souths. That was my first introduction to her. So I sort of knew she was a matriarch of golf. Um I knew her facility was more well known for teaching women's golf uh than Pinehurst. I had represented Pinehurst for 13 years when I had played on tour. Um, and as my career started to wind down, um, Mrs. Bell said, you know, I'd love to have you come do a demo, just show up for a day, come be a part of my golf schools. So um I would try to get over there on Monday or Tuesday if I was home and just do one day with her in the golf school just to see what she did. And so in 2005, um, I actually taught a few schools for her in um 04 and then 05 before um before I got hurt, and then after I got hurt and finished up with ESPN um in 06, I actually met with her in 05 and said, you know, I think I'm not gonna play next year. I think I'd like to just come do S ESPN. And I said, if you'll work with me, because some of their golf schools, they had five-day schools would be the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I'd fly out Wednesday night and do commentary Thursday through Sunday and then fly back. And I said, but I can't be there for the whole school. So she said, I'll take you for whatever I can get you. So that was how it started. And I just really felt like, you know, she was very, she was so proud of her faith and what she had done with women's golf and everything. And I just thought that's where I need to be promoting women's golf. Um, teaching golf came easy to me, I think, because I had such great instructors growing up. Um, they taught me, I guess I was always that kid that asked why. So they taught me the whys of you know, why you do these things in your golf swing. And I'll never forget um there was a year that um I represented Ernst and Young, and I went to do a clinic up in Chicago with Kirk Triplett and Lauren Roberts, who were the men players for Ernst and Young. And I'll never forget us doing a clinic on the range. And one of the questions to Kirk was, Well, how do you hit a lowball? And he's like, Well, I step up and I do this, and he stood up and hit it. And I was like, All right, well, if you watch closely, you'll notice that, you know, he's choked down on the club, he's got it back in his stance, he's keeping and so I started going through, and he looks up to me, he goes, I do. And I said, Don't think about it, you'll never do it again. Because I realized he was such a field player, he had no idea what he did. And I think when I was on tour, I think I felt like all tour players felt like they were field players, and I tried to fit into that mold and and I didn't fit into that mold. So when it came to short game and learning short game by feel, it didn't work for me. I had to learn it a more mechanical way, having spots to stop in my swing, and realized that I I learned different than a lot of the players out on tour. And I was totally shocked at how many players had no clue when things were going wrong in their golf swing. They had no idea how to fix it. And I thought, well, I know how to fix mine, a quick video, and I can I can fix mine. So I used to always laugh at my cat with my caddy. You know, we'd show up at a major and all these big wig teachers would be there helping their students. And I'm like, all right, well, we can check them off, we can check them off, we can I'm like, they got no chance learning something new the week, you know, Tuesday or Wednesday before a major. I'm like, they're off, they're off the board. So let's just go with what we have. And you know, sometimes you just have to play with whatever you have that week. Yeah, you can't try to fix it the Tuesday or Wednesday before a major.

Bruce Devlin 15:34

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 15:35

So having been teaching now for all this time, do you still feel like you're learning new things?

Donna Andrews 15:40

Always. Um, I am so fortunate. I have such a great staff of women and men that come and teach with me in the Golf Aris. Um, you know, college coaches, past players, Kathy Johnson Forbes comes and teaches with me in the Gafaris. But, you know, you always hear somebody say something a little bit different way, or your student asks a question and you go, oh wait, you relate to it better that way. So I think teaching is you're as a teacher, you're constantly evolving and learning new things from the other great teachers that you teach with and you surround yourself with.

Mike Gonzalez 16:16

So what's the what's the one latest new thing as it relates to the golf swing that's kind of the the in in vogue right now?

Donna Andrews 16:25

Oh well, I don't know about that. I don't know that we we go with the latest in vogue things because they're not always the best. Um, you know, I always tell people, we're still teaching what Mrs. Bell taught, you know, um it was always grip posture and alignment. You had to have the good fundamentals. Um, I would say the thing we teach the most is taking the arms out of the backswing, learning to use your core, and then of course, learning to turn your hips through the swing on the downswing and not swing, not swing with your arms. Um, I think a lot of that, you know, you hear in today's world everybody talking about ground force drive and how you're getting your power by getting that lower body really driving into the ground so that you have that resistance to create that extra clubhead speed. And that's what all the great players are doing today. They're creating clubhead speed. When we learned, you learned good fundamentals and whatever clubhead speed you had, you had and you just played with it. Now it's all about how do you create more clubhead speed.

Mike Gonzalez 17:21

I think it'd be interesting to see how that ground force deal works uh with a persimmon head driver and a ballata ball.

Donna Andrews 17:29

Not so well. I actually um am fortunate to play in a hickory shaft open every year they host over at Pinehurst. And I've been the low pro there several years. But playing with those old hickory shaft clubs and the old wedges, um, the sand wedges that you can't hit from the fairway without sticking it in the ground um teaches you a lot about what they used to play with in the old days. Luckily, my swing is so slow, those clubs work great for me because my swing is so slow, but I really struggle with the wedges because they have such sharp leading edges on those old wedges that you have to learn a different game to play those.

Mike Gonzalez 18:06

Yeah. So I have to ask you, you probably are playing or have played in some of the senior events. Did you play in the first ladies' U.S. Open at uh Chicago Golf Club?

Donna Andrews 18:17

I did. I played at Chicago. Um, I played the second one, was at Pine Needles at my hometown.

unknown 18:23

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 18:24

How special was that?

Donna Andrews 18:24

So that was very special. Got to hit the first ball off the first T at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning. Um, was fortunate. I finished 14th there. So then, you know, was exempt to play the next few years. Um, played, um, didn't get to play. I actually ended up having to have hip surgery, not a replacement, just had a torn labrum. So they went in and cleared some stuff up. So didn't play when they played um up in Connecticut, um, and then played last year in Portland and planning to hopefully play again this year in San Diego.

Bruce Devlin 18:56

Good.

Mike Gonzalez 18:57

Well, good, good. So, what's the state of your game?

Donna Andrews 19:00

Uh it's needing a little work. The body's needing a little work. Um, as I've learned through motherhood that we don't take as good a care of ourselves as we should because we're too busy taking care of everybody else.

Bruce Devlin 19:12

Yeah.

Donna Andrews 19:13

And interesting, um, you know, the one thing talking to a lot of the senior players, a lot of us are now struggling with trying to help take care, not only our own kids. I'm fortunate, I have two young kids, but most of the players on the senior tour don't. Susie Rudman and I always connect because she has a she has a teenager, as do I have too. So she and I are one of the few that have young kids that are still playing the senior tour. Um, but we're all dealing with alien parents now and having to take care of them. So that draws on your time too. And so taking care of ourselves and playing golf doesn't necessarily rank up there very high anymore as it used to.

Mike Gonzalez 19:51

And we're certainly not getting any longer, are we?

Donna Andrews 19:53

We are not. Um, I actually ordered some lighterweight clubs with some senior shafts. So we'll see whether I like them or not.

Mike Gonzalez 20:02

There you go. That's a transition. I'm waiting for that too when I order my first set of graphite shafts just to help out a little bit with some speed, you know?

Donna Andrews 20:11

Well, we'll see, because this is this will be my first set. I still have steel shafts in my old clubs, and so the new set's supposed to be here within the next week or so. So we'll see whether I like the graphite shafts and see if they're a little bit easier to hit.

Bruce Devlin 20:24

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 20:25

Yeah. So other than taking care of kids and doing a lot of teaching, both schools and private lessons, uh, what else uh occupies you these days?

Donna Andrews 20:33

Um, I still love the animals. Um my daughter and I, we volunteer at a local charity here called Caring Hearts for Canines, where we take care of puppy dogs that need help. Um, we foster several of those puppy dogs. Um, sold the horse farm that I had for 25 years, and we're now in a golf community. Um, my daughter's fallen in love with golf. So along with all of her other sports, um, she does basketball and lacrosse and tennis and everything else, but we try to find time to go play some golf in the afternoons when she's not busy with her other sports and spend time with our own, all of our own animals.

Mike Gonzalez 21:10

Yeah, tell us about the Donna Andrews Invitational.

Donna Andrews 21:15

So I was fortunate to uh be asked by a gentleman I had actually taught her daughter when she was here in college at Sand Hills Community College, and he kept asking, where do girls play that aren't ready for the tour yet, that need college tournaments and stuff to play in? And I said, Well, there's not much out there. You've got the North South and you've got the USM, but other than that, and so he said, We need to start a tournament. And so we got together and we went to the course where I grew up, which is where he's a member at Boonsburg Country Club in Lynchburg, Virginia. And Steve Washbourne was the spearhead behind it all. He got it all organized, he put my name on it. I get to go show up and look good. Um, I am on the committee, but we started that back in 2019, and it is continued. To grow. Our goal is to rival the women's North South. I was fortunate a couple years ago to play in a tournament at Valley Hack in Virginia with a group from the Life Ring Foundation whose goal is to raise awareness for childhood cancer in the Southwest Virginia area. And they have a goal to raise$20 million,$20 billion to build a new wing on the hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, so that children in Virginia have a place to go to fight childhood cancer without having to go, you know, to Washington, DC or up to Cincinnati or out to Indiana. So to be able to give them a place to go and get local. And that really, I feel like was the culmination of why I do my event was being able to tie into this charity. Steve Washburn unfortunately lost a grandchild to childhood cancer. So we've been able to dedicate the tournament to Eleanor Washburn. And we are continuing to raise money to fight childhood cancer and to get the kids in Southwest, Virginia, the care that they need to be able to stay home and fight the battle at home.

Mike Gonzalez 23:13

Yeah, that's terrific. So one thing we should mention, Bruce, is all the accolades that have been bestowed upon uh Don Andrews, and and I don't know if I'll I'll get all these right, it's probably in no particular order, but she's a member of quite a few different Hall of Fames. I mean, she she was uh uh selected for the Carolina Golf Order of Merit uh in 2003. A couple years before that, she was inducted into the Central Virginia Golf Association Hall of Fame. Um 2005 inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. In 20 uh I guess eleven, she went into her high school hall of fame, EC Lass High School Hall of Fame. In 17, she was the first female inductee into the Virginia State Golf Association Hall of Fame. Uh and then the following year inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. I probably missed a couple, but uh uh that's about six or seven more than I'm in. Uh any more special than another in terms of all those honors?

Donna Andrews 24:20

Um well, I think the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame was special just because of so many of the other great athletes that were in there.

Bruce Devlin 24:29

Yeah.

Donna Andrews 24:29

And probably the most memorable for me was the Virginia State Golf Hall of Fame being the first woman inducted into that one with the likes of Vinnie Giles and some of the other um well, very well-known people, Miss Needs and everybody else that are in there. Um, just uh a lot of fond memories of that night and having surrounded by the people that really got me there. Uh, Phil Owenby was able to be there, my family was able to be there, and um just surrounded by so many other great golfers in Virginia, that was a really special night.

Mike Gonzalez 25:04

So, Donna, if you've listened to any of our episodes, particularly the end of the interviews, uh, you'll know that we always ask three questions of our guests, and being the senior member of our podcast team, I always give the T for the first question to Bruce Devlin.

Bruce Devlin 25:20

So, Donna, if you were to know what you know now, what would you have changed when you first started on the tour?

Donna Andrews 25:32

Oh, I would have practiced my putting a lot more. I was never a great putter. I'm still not a great putter, but I would have spent a lot more time working on my short game and my putting. I get hit lots of fairways and lots of greens, but I wasn't as good a putter as everybody else.

Mike Gonzalez 25:48

That works. All right, question number two. We're giving you one career mulligan. One shot to do over, where would it be?

Donna Andrews 26:01

Gosh, I've never thought about that. Um maybe the a putt in the McLeod to be on it. No, you know what? It wouldn't be. It would be the US Open. Um I finished um third behind Julie Inkster and Patty Sheehan that were in a playoff at Oakmont. Um and I had a shot that I addressed, and luckily Frank Hannigan called a penalty on me behind 17 um because I addressed the ball and I took the putter back, but I didn't have the fair intent of hitting the ball. So I ended up um having to take a penalty shot, actually two penalty shots because of that. So that would be my do-over because that would have put me in the playoff with Julie.

Bruce Devlin 26:51

That's a real good one.

Donna Andrews 26:53

Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 26:54

All right, Bruce. Last one. How would Donna Andrews like to be remembered?

Donna Andrews 27:04

Um, as a Christian that loved the game of golf and did everything she could to promote the game of golf, but more importantly, to promote God and everything that I do.

Bruce Devlin 27:15

Well, that's wonderful of you to say that. And I can tell you that it's been an absolute pleasure to have you with us today, Donna. I know Mike and I uh look forward to this, and we thank you for your time.

Donna Andrews 27:29

Well, thank you guys for what you're doing. I think this is wonderful to be able to leave a legacy for all the major champions and Hall of Famers to be able to leave this behind. Because I know when I was president of the tour, trying to educate the young players about who are founding members and were very important to me. So what you guys are doing is very important to the game of golf.

Mike Gonzalez 27:52

Well, thanks, Donna, for adding your story to all the greats here on For the Good of the Game. We appreciate it.

Donna Andrews 27:58

Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 27:59

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Lee Trevino 28:23

It went smack down the fairway.