038: The Mental Game - Pro Golf, Resilience, and Life After the LPGA

What does it really take to compete at golf’s highest level? Tess Hackworthy, a five-time Wisconsin State Women’s Open champion and former LPGA pro, joins us to break down the mental, physical, and emotional demands of life on tour. She shares the thrill of early victories, the challenges of college-to-pro transition, and the surprising truths about the mental side of golf. From fashion on the fairway to the countless golf balls she’s lost, this conversation is equal parts insightful and fun. This is golf like you’ve never heard it before — raw, personal, and packed with perspective. 

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Chapters

• 00:00 - More Than Just Donuts
• 07:15 - Knickers? Not in This Lifetime!
• 15:30 - Lost Balls and Found Wisdom
• 23:45 - Redshirt Year
• 32:00 - Smiling Through the Swing
• 40:15 - Traveling with Dad: Caddy Tales
• 48:30 - Burnout: When Golf Becomes Grind
• 55:45 - From Pro to Coach

Transcript

Teryn (00:02.153)
All right, everybody, welcome back to Almost Fans. Today's episode is all about golf, what it takes to compete at the highest level, the mental game behind the swing and life beyond the tour. Joining us today is someone who knows all of that firsthand, Tess Hackworthy, whose last name, by the way, is absolutely perfect for golf. I'm just realizing this, it's a perfect golf name.

Tess is a former LPGA professional, a five time Wisconsin state women's open champion and someone who's lived the climb from early wins to the grind of life after, who's lived the climb from early wins to the grind of life on tour. In our chat, we'll cover everything from how Tess first fell in love with the game to the highs and lows of competing at such a high level.

and what life looks like after stepping away from pro golf. Plus we'll get into some of the lighter stuff like golf fashion, pressure packed moments, and yes, even just how many golf balls she's probably lost along the way. So thank you so much for joining us, Tess. We are so excited to have you on today.

Tess (01:14.936)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here with you guys.

Teryn (01:18.837)
Absolutely. So I said this a little bit already, but we just want to know how did you start playing golf? I I'm sure it was when you were younger. both your parents play golf. So like what got you into golf and you know, when did you start to really love it?

Tess (01:35.244)
Yeah, I did start at a young age. My dad played college golf and had a good amateur career after that. So definitely introduced me. And we did a little like junior golf action as a family at the golf course we were at. I was not really into it, honestly, to begin with. But the only reason I went is it gave me donuts and lemonade every single Friday morning. So

Teryn (01:58.935)
Yeah.

Ambre (02:03.522)
Ha!

Tess (02:04.544)
It was like the best part of the week that I could actually have a treat. So if I got in like two holes of junior golf, then I got a donut afterwards. So that was like the main goal. Yes, it slowly went up.

Teryn (02:09.803)
great.

Teryn (02:16.617)
love that. So when did you like, yeah I was gonna say when did you start to realize you were actually really good?

Tess (02:25.312)
you know, around like 10, I would say, started to play a little bit more. Unfortunately, I lost like a lot of my friends from the game because they were all doing like volleyball and soccer and this and that. And I just like kept playing golf, but I kind of did everything. The main people I played with was my brother and all his friends. And I think that actually really helped me for later on.

Teryn (02:41.367)
Mm-hmm.

Tess (02:55.278)
just to get that like competitive spirit. We always played games and helped me get better too. Like I was always trying to keep up with them, whether it was distance or score or whatever. Yeah, I started to get a little better closer to 10 and then I enrolled in like some local junior golf tournaments and had a little success. And I think that's when the, my future high school coach kind of came up to me who

was at the same golf course as us as a family and just kind of took me under her wing. Peggy Gerhart over at Edgewood High School and started to give me little tips here and there. And she just got me super excited about the game. And when it came down to it, I was like, volleyball or golf, freshman year of high school, I don't know. And it was golf all along.

Like Peggy got me so stoked about it. So that really helped.

Teryn (03:53.783)
She's like, she's.

Ambre (03:55.434)
It's amazing when you have... Go ahead, Teryn.

Teryn (03:59.051)
that she saw like it's so hard to find women golfers I feel like these days like that are committed to playing so she's found one and she's like I am NOT letting her go

Tess (04:09.622)
Yes, literally. She's like, my gosh, this girl can like maybe play. Let's like figure this out.

Teryn (04:14.519)
She's like, I will convince her.

Tess (04:17.804)
Yes, and the high school that I ended up going to at Edgewood and the team that Peggy coached for over 15 years, they were super successful and she was such a great coach, both mental, physical, like the whole package of the game and just like growing as people, as high schoolers, there's a lot to figure out anyways. But she had a lot of success and that kind of made me excited that I could be a part

Ambre (04:48.866)
I love to hear, maybe it's because I have a daughter now who's getting into sports, but I just love when I get to hear stories about other women who are really helping along younger women. I really, really, really want my daughter to have at least one of those people in her life. And I hope that I'm a version of that, but it's got to be somebody outside of parents too. So that's really awesome that you found somebody like that, and especially at high school.

moment, you know, like when it really matters.

Tess (05:22.528)
It does. It makes a huge difference to and to like look up to someone that's been there, that's walked in those shoes that you're trying to get to and has had those experiences. just like makes for all the difference. It's something to be said about someone that can share from firsthand experience versus someone that just like has read about it.

Ambre (05:43.604)
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Tell us your favorite and least favorite golf fashion trends right now or let's just say ever. Like you could put anything, anything.

Teryn (05:44.161)
Yeah.

Teryn (05:56.085)
haha

Tess (05:59.342)
You'll never catch me in knickers. That will not be a thing. Even though it's like so old school Scotland. Love it. I just, you won't catch me wearing those. There are like capris with a cinch on at the shin. Is that the proper way to say it? Wide, wide leg, often plaid. It's very Scottish. Yeah, I just won't, I won't be wearing those, but.

Ambre (06:01.014)
shoot!

Teryn (06:09.377)
Wait, what are knickers?

Teryn (06:14.444)
Mm.

Okay.

Ambre (06:17.697)
Yeah.

Teryn (06:19.733)
ee, ee, okay.

Tess (06:28.298)
super awesome to look back golf has so much history so it's obviously a part of golf history. What some new trends golf is like all of a sudden becoming a lot more relaxed in terms of what people wear yes and I do like that right now because I think the outfits and the fashion and the expectation of it being so proper

Ambre (06:30.7)
Yeah.

Teryn (06:30.935)
Yeah.

Tess (06:58.094)
sometimes maybe scares people away from the sport. And if there's anything that we can do to make it more inclusive and inviting for others that want to play, have never played before, I think one thing honestly is fashion and what people wear and how they present themselves. So I like some of these brands that are all of a sudden like making more relaxed lines. Good Lion is one.

Teryn (07:15.127)
Mm-hmm.

Tess (07:27.246)
right here in town. And I was just actually part of one of their golf outings the other day. And they're just like trying to make golf more inclusive for everyone. And it's, I think, just been like really good for the game in showing people that like anyone can play this sport.

Ambre (07:44.631)
Yeah. We've done a handful of golf episodes this season and that's a theme that we hear a lot is, yeah, just trying to dispel the myths that you have to be a certain way, dress a certain way, act a certain way, all these things if you want to play golf. That being said, however, I'm going to eat those words for a moment and say, I've been taking lessons this summer and I do feel like I'm not able to step on the course without something pleaded.

Tess (07:51.864)
Really.

Ambre (08:13.728)
I must have a pleat somewhere. I collar. I wear my newest collar shirt today just for Tess. But yeah, a collar, mean collar if I can, but like pleats. Must have a pleat somewhere too. Yeah. So I'm trying to branch out, but for the moment I feel very much like I need pleats.

Teryn (08:14.135)
Or a collar.

Tess (08:20.846)
I love it. I love it.

Tess (08:27.638)
incredible. Yes.

Tess (08:33.688)
Are you repping those like fits, like the sets top and bottom that people are doing, like monochromatic situation?

Ambre (08:41.236)
I haven't gotten that far. have an incredibly fashionable, Teryn knows I talk about Lauren often. I have an incredibly fashionable friend. She and I have been taking these classes, these lessons together and golfing more. And homegirl has all the things. I don't think I've seen her double up on an outfit since we started this summer. I know she's just like a walking billboard for like what, know, how golf can look so good.

Teryn (08:47.873)
Mm-hmm.

Tess (08:54.305)
fun.

Ambre (09:08.258)
But I have not gotten to the matching. I'm just a big fan of the Lululemon pleated skirts, which we talk about in this episode, but that's my go-to so far. Yeah.

Tess (09:16.088)
So cute. So cute. As long as it's not windy and they fly up, but...

Ambre (09:20.576)
I have learned that. Yeah. mean, but they're like tiny little, you know, so like if it's really, really windy, maybe you need to opt for a pleated pant. I don't know. Tess, you need to tell us.

Teryn (09:21.173)
They've got squirts?

Tess (09:23.842)
yeah!

Teryn (09:27.051)
Teryn (09:33.377)
That reminds me of a new girl episode, a new girl episode where she doesn't have anything on underneath her skirt. guys know what I'm talking about?

Ambre (09:39.53)
I remember that one. Yeah.

Tess (09:40.461)
Yes.

Teryn (09:43.105)
So great.

Tess (09:43.746)
Yeah, that's the thing in golf though. You need to plan your fit based on the weather. Like, it's important.

Ambre (09:47.703)
Yeah.

Teryn (09:48.379)
yeah. I'm sure. Like anything. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Speaking of like being unapproachable, the thing that I think about all the time is how many golf balls I would probably lose if I was actually playing and how expensive that would get. The amount of golf balls that would be lost forever and ever and ever. What do you honestly Tess?

Ambre (09:55.543)
Yeah.

Teryn (10:16.407)
If you had to put a number on the amount of golf balls that you have lost in your lifetime, how many commas are in that number?

Tess (10:27.512)
I feel like it's so much more than I think. I mean, you go through so many golf balls throughout a season, whether it be water or fescue or whatever, or they're just beat up, but I have probably lost, it is so hard to put a number on it. Yeah, yeah. I would probably say a couple thousand.

Teryn (10:32.297)
Yeah, probably. Yeah.

Ambre (10:33.078)
Ha ha ha.

Teryn (10:37.942)
Yeah.

Teryn (10:50.241)
like thousands, hundreds.

Teryn (10:56.151)
Yeah, that's funny. I can't, yeah.

Tess (10:58.19)
That might not be, that is so hard. I don't know. I typically, whenever I played in a round, it was like a little superstitious of me. I would always carry three, or I would always carry a dozen golf balls. So just like three sleeves and I would keep two sleeves in my ball pocket and then I would keep one sleeve in the very side pocket because I technically shouldn't need those at all. But just in case, I had some.

Teryn (11:15.084)
Yeah.

Teryn (11:25.783)
We're not driving all the way back when we're on the 15th hole because we're out of balls.

Ambre (11:25.876)
Thank yous.

Tess (11:33.418)
No, well, and when you're in a tournament, like if you run out, you're also out. Yeah.

Teryn (11:37.633)
Sorry about it. Are there rules about that? Like how many balls you can use in a tournament or is it just whatever?

Tess (11:46.606)
Well, you have to use the same ball start to finish in terms of like brand, make and model for the day. But no, I mean.

Teryn (11:56.159)
Okay. There's not like a, there's, like in the, in like, why am I thinking in the pros? They have like a certain amount that they can only have. I don't know why my brain is thinking about that. No, it's not a thing.

Tess (12:08.866)
I mean, maybe you, don't know. I wasn't aware of that, but who knows? There's so many rules for the USGA. Yeah, you can just keep her going. If you dump one in the water, you just re-hit, keep her going. So I don't know.

Teryn (12:16.311)
Yeah.

Ambre (12:29.382)
And if you lose that many balls, probably you're not going to be playing for a lot of days in that tournament. Depends.

Tess (12:36.866)
Well, if I run out that day, I'll run over to Dick's Sporting Goods or PJ Superstore or something and grab another sleeve just in case. But you're also probably not playing the rest of the week because you're probably in the tough spot on the leaderboard. Yeah, you might be going home.

Ambre (12:47.072)
Yeah.

Ambre (12:52.418)
of gotten cut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, speaking of not going home and speaking of not getting cut, see what I did there? That was a fantastic, you missed it, Teryn. You missed a fantastic transition. Tess, you are a five-time Wisconsin State Women's Open champion. What did those early wins

Tess (13:06.08)
that. You did.

Ambre (13:18.56)
teach you especially about handling pressure.

Tess (13:24.408)
Yeah. So I got my first win right off a year that I took a red shirt in college. So I like didn't play all season long. I took like a medical red shirt. And so that was like, I think for me, one of the biggest uplifting experiences because I practiced a lot that year as much as I could.

And it was a really tough season in college because, I mean, it's no fun to just show up day in and day out at practice and know you're never gonna play. And it's just like, my God, you're grinding, you're grinding, and then you're like, when's my next event? wait, I'm not playing this year. So that was really exciting that following summer to get a win because I was like, wow, all that work this whole season like truly did pay off.

Teryn (14:09.217)
Mm.

Teryn (14:19.191)
Thank

Tess (14:21.036)
Yeah, it was very...

It was, it just was a huge confidence booster for me. And then going back into the college seasons and competing at the Big Ten level and the D1 level, was just like, I basically just like walked with my shoulders back. I walked a little taller, like continuing on the rest of my college career. felt a lot, a lot more confident. But yeah, it was really exciting. I mean, each

Ambre (14:41.89)
Hmm.

Tess (14:52.354)
Tournament was a completely different experience and they were all at different courses. But Wisconsin has some really competitive players. So it was fun every year to keep going at it with the girls. mean, you know them all. Wisconsin's not big. The golf, Wisconsin women's golf is not big. So it was fun every year to like play against good friends and obviously like super friendly competition. And we all just like.

Teryn (15:11.105)
Yeah.

Ambre (15:11.17)
Thank

Tess (15:21.816)
keep grinding away at each other, keep pushing each other to get better. So it was fun.

Teryn (15:25.399)
Okay.

Ambre (15:25.954)
Will you, what made you decide to redshirt your freshman year and will you give just a super like we're five explanation of what that means to redshirt?

Tess (15:36.118)
Yes. So I, my sister was getting married during one of our tournaments in the fall. And I knew for a fact I was not missing her wedding. I was like, Coach, I love this team. I am so proud to be a Wisconsin Badger. But this is my sister and my family.

Teryn (15:46.236)
hahahaha

Ambre (15:48.364)
priorities.

Teryn (15:54.038)
Right.

Tess (16:03.19)
I will be at her wedding. I am sorry. I am already pulling myself out." And he was like, full respect, but I can't guarantee you a spot on the team the rest of the season. Like it is all based on your scores and how you're performing and things like that. And I said, fair, you know, I'm making this choice. And like, you usually don't have the choice to skip out on a event. that's like.

I don't know, Wisconsin quarterback saying, I'm not going to play in tonight's game, coach. Sorry. Like, you don't just like have that choice. So was very nice of him to be understanding. Then I found out I had melanoma. So I had to have surgery. And that like officially took me out for a medical redshirt. So it all kind of worked out that it was in the same year. So I just took like the whole year off of competing and took a redshirt. So coach let me stay a fifth year.

Teryn (16:34.945)
Yeah.

Ambre (16:46.644)
wow.

Teryn (16:47.02)
no.

Tess (17:00.398)
I don't know, you had a second part to the question, but that was like, sorry, what does it mean to redshirt? Basically, what it means is you get to take the, this one season off of competition. And it's not necessarily off. It's just you're, you're, not competing at all, but you are still a part of the team. You're showing up to practice. You're showing up to workouts. You're doing everything except for traveling and playing in competition.

Ambre (17:04.438)
What does it mean to redshirt?

Tess (17:30.318)
And it typically allows you an extra year of eligibility on the back end of your college career. So I took one year of red shirt on the front end and then it gave me a fifth year of eligibility, or I should say my fourth year of eligibility on the back end. I played, my fifth year of school was COVID. So that like, I think really started to jumble up all these like.

Teryn (17:52.183)
Mm.

Ambre (17:52.866)
Hmm.

Tess (17:56.278)
eligible years for people, but typically you have four eligible years to play.

Ambre (17:57.258)
Yeah, yeah.

Teryn (18:01.687)
It's like, there's a guy, a basketball player. I can't remember who he was. played like, he was in college for like seven years. Like with COVID and like a red shirt year, it was, there was like a story about it. I can't remember who it was, but it's escaping me, but that's so funny.

Tess (18:15.598)
Thanks.

Yeah, and then they're like 25 and still in, still in college. Yeah.

Teryn (18:20.469)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like married with a kid. Well, that's funny.

Ambre (18:23.434)
Yeah.

Tess (18:26.54)
Yeah, it's wild. can work, you can really work the system.

Teryn (18:31.465)
I bet. Yeah. Especially after all that. Well, Tess, do you remember the moment when golf shifted from being just something you did or maybe like even a thing that got you a scholarship to something you wanted to chase professionally?

Tess (18:47.746)
Yeah, it was kind of going into my senior year, my first senior year, my second senior year. Yeah, I'm like, it's all jumbled now, but I was having a little bit of success at the college level more than I had ever anticipated. I like never saw myself competing.

Teryn (19:00.887)
One of your last years.

Ambre (19:01.152)
Ha, running together.

Tess (19:15.96)
D1, I like really didn't think I was good enough. And I really wasn't going into school at all. Like I think my coach really took a chance on me. I had a successful high school career, but you know, he could have recruited anyone in the world and he chose someone here in Madison. So I was really appreciative of that. But that being said, I grew a lot in my game those like three, four years and really worked hard and improved and started to have

some success. I like had a tournament win. We had like a team win and I was starting to like shoot some good consistent numbers. So then I was like, someone suggested it to me at one point. I don't know. I can't remember if it was a teammate or like a mentor or something. And I was like, no, I would never play professional golf. No. And I had a couple friends from

the golf community that were playing pro and phoned them and asked about what their experience was like and what suggestions they have or advice that they would have. And then I did a little bit more research and chatted with my family and realized like, you don't have to say like, okay,

I'm gonna go try for the tour and this is me declaring it and this is where I'm going. You can go to what they call Q School or qualifying school. And as long as you have, you know, X handicap and obviously there's a fee to play. And depending on how you do in Q School, it gives you a certain like status at the professional level. So,

I decided I'm just gonna go. I'm just gonna go to Q school the summer before my senior year, and I'm gonna see where I stack up against these girls. And I ended up going and I like made it through the first cut, made it through the second cut, made it through the third cut. And I was like, whoa. So I all of a sudden had status on the professional tour. And then college, my college season started.

Tess (21:39.023)
And this was fall of 2019 into 2020, spring of 2020. So COVID hit and our season, our end of the year season was canceled. And the professional, some of the professional tournaments were still going on. And I was like, I got status, like I could go play. And so it gave me something to do during COVID. So.

Teryn (22:04.075)
Wow.

Tess (22:07.126)
As sad as it was, we like said goodbye to all my college teammates and our season was over. And then like a month or two later, I was back out playing in tournaments at the pro level. And then I was like, this is awesome. And I had a blast. So then I just kind of like kept going and met a bunch of really cool people and traveled to some wild places. And yeah, it was exciting. It was a blast.

Teryn (22:32.469)
What an anticlimactic way to end your college career. So sad. But also, you're so fortunate that you were playing a sport that you could be outside and it's like a distance and you didn't have to even think about that so much. mean, I'm sure you were thinking about it some, but that is so amazing and so lucky, fortunate.

Tess (22:34.862)
I know. The weirdest feeling. Like, ugh.

Ambre (22:35.979)
Yeah.

Tess (22:55.458)
No, yeah, we were really, really lucky. And it's an individual sport. you know, in terms of like at the time, like indoor practices or whatever, it would just like worked out that you could still go play and practice and yeah, and then ultimately compete. There were some funny adjustments they made to the tournaments for like safety. The pen, you couldn't touch the pen. And then like,

Ambre (23:16.534)
Like the pin, right? Like the pin was...

Tess (23:22.434)
you had to carry your own rake for the bunkers because you... So like everyone's out there like carrying their own rake. So every time they maybe go in a bunker, like, yeah. So yeah, there was just some like really funny, creative adjustments they made, but we made it work. We still played.

Ambre (23:28.578)
They're clubs and a race.

Ambre (23:41.143)
I'm just thinking about what a whirlwind that was from, me make a phone call. I'm kind of thinking about to like, wow, here I am. got nothing, know, college's seasons just kaput, so why not just go do this thing that I wasn't really sure I, you know, but here we are. What a whirlwind.

Tess (23:55.555)
Yeah.

Tess (24:00.59)
Here we are. I'll never forget it was the Colorado Open was like my first professional tournament I played in. And I remember sitting at the dining table with my parents, you know, we're like locked in the house, COVID winner or whatever. And we're like, so how are we going to get there? How are we going to get to Colorado? Like, are we going to drive? Are we going to like rent a van? Like, we're not going to fly.

Ambre (24:20.418)
you

Tess (24:29.314)
Are we gonna fly? Like it was just like so many hilarious conversations revolving around this, but yeah, we made it work. I ultimately ended up flying, wearing a mask and then carrying my own rake around the golf course when I got there.

Ambre (24:37.474)
So it was a decision. Okay. Hand sanitizer.

Tess (24:46.402)
So bizarre.

Ambre (24:46.728)
must make space in the golf bag for a rake.

Tess (24:49.814)
my god, yeah, it was hilarious, but... I know. So funny.

Ambre (24:51.028)
What a time to be alive. What a crazy, crazy time. So in your transition, which sounds like it was, I've said twice now, whirlwind from college golf to playing professionally, were there any other things that really hit you? Because it sounds like you were in Q school maybe, but what other things were really surprising about going and starting in the pros?

Tess (25:20.664)
The main thing was your mentality. Everyone out there is really good at golf, obviously. They went through Q School, they earned their way there, they worked themselves to the point where they are at now. And the main thing was you really need to be strong ear to ear. that was never really something that I worked a lot on in college.

Ambre (25:43.682)
Hmm.

Tess (25:50.063)
I would consider myself a grinder, both at practice and in competition and bad weather days. Hated them but loved them. No one wants to play in bad weather, but I personally sometimes preferred that because it automatically gave me a step ahead in the field because everyone else is complaining that it's crap weather and then they're not going to play well.

So I was like, okay, if I just can like keep an even keel, good attitude about this, like I already am separating myself from half the field. But yeah, the main thing was mentality. So that was one thing that I really started to work hard on. Journaling and I started working with a mental coach. I started listening to like a lot of tapes when I would drive. I practiced.

lot out at University Ridge. It was like a 30-40 minute drive for me every day and so that was like my time. I had this like CD. I had an old car so I couldn't use car play guys. And I only got rid of that car like a couple months ago by the way. So anyways CDs that were all about like each CD kind of focused on something different.

Teryn (26:56.324)
You

Ambre (26:58.302)
I that.

Tess (27:11.31)
So I would listen to a lot of them and it was my mental coach speaking. So I had already, you I work with him. I know his verbiage and what he's talking about and things like that. And that's like the biggest thing that I can preach nowadays to people that are trying to improve in the game or trying to make it at another level. Like if they're stuck, like literally the mental game is insane how much of a difference it makes.

You have to put just as much time and energy into the mind as you do learning the game.

Teryn (27:42.69)
That's so good. And I feel like that's like they say, like the psychologists are working with golfers, like the most golfers and tennis players. But honestly, I mean, you listening to CDs in the car on the way to golf course is, surprising to me. Is there what other things that people maybe not realize about the mental side of golf? So what is like, are there some things that a lot of people are doing is

Do you feel like a lot of people have a psychologist that they work with or a sports psychologist? Tell us what maybe we aren't even aware of that's going on in the mental side of golf.

Tess (28:25.726)
Yeah, I mean, I would say those that are playing at the highest level, they all have a mental coach and it's like a huge part of their game. The weird thing or the interesting thing about the mental side of golf is it's all personality dependent. And so the person that I work with

may not jive with someone that doesn't share the same personality as me. And, you know, if I may switch coaches, because like, what they're talking about is just like, either one not working for me or two, just like, that's just does not make sense. And so for me, then you guys can probably attest like, I'm kind of all over the place. Like, I'm not a, I'm not a Type A person, Ambre. And so

Teryn (28:55.179)
Yeah.

Teryn (29:15.723)
No.

Tess (29:20.97)
like organized chaos, maybe, maybe, maybe take out the organized, I don't know, chaotic things in all different places, but still figure out how to get it done. And so I'm like all over wild random things. And so for me, the things that I worked on for my mental game, you guys, like you probably would be appalled. It was literally like,

Teryn (29:25.355)
I feel that, I feel that.

Tess (29:49.859)
I would talk about, or we would work on, things like, what's a good example? Smiling on the golf course. I mean, I'm being dead serious. it's, it just like, helps your, like my head's set, it helps your endorphins. It's like, it just, yeah. And,

Teryn (30:04.449)
Cause that would like change your countenance or something.

Ambre (30:12.533)
signals your brain.

Tess (30:15.756)
you know, it's so easy in golf to get down on yourself and to be upset or like intense. So that was like one thing. It also like loosened me up a little bit. So that was, I also worked on just like having more fun. Kid you not. Like what are some ways that I can completely forget about golf as I'm walking down the fairway is what we would work on. Because the more that I

only thought about golf as I'm walking from my tee shot to the fairway, it was like stressful for me. It was like my heart would start pounding. And so we would work on like, what are some tools that I can do to completely take my mind off golf for those three minutes walking down the fairway? And then like once we're there, lock it in, and then you're like right back into La La Land again. And like that's what worked for me.

having fun, being relaxed, like enjoying my time out there. And the other thing that is like hilarious is like we worked on not caring. And because the more that I cared and like, yeah, the more that I cared, the more tense I got and...

Teryn (31:27.435)
Yeah.

Tess (31:39.149)
the more emotion I expressed and showed and felt. And golf is like, you need to be like this. And if you are like, caring so much about every little thing, your emotions can so easily become this roller coaster. And that's like death in golf. So yeah, those are like...

Teryn (31:45.644)
Yeah.

Tess (32:05.096)
wild things that I would literally work on with my mental coach. And the other things too that maybe people don't think about are the way that you go about your everyday life and your tasks and activities and things outside of golf can certainly transfer to golf. And so the way that I focused on certain things outside of golf,

The way that I approached other activities, events, coffee with friends and family, like the way that you go about life totally affected how you went about golf too. So we would work a lot on things outside of golf as well. like, glasses always half full type thoughts and.

really finding the good in others, the good in yourself, walking taller when you're going to practice every single day, because that's how you're gonna walk when you show up to a golf tournament. Like, it is so easy. And I showed up to a million golf tournaments in my life, and so many of them, I show up and I'm like, looking around, like, who's here? Like, what are they wearing? What am I wearing? Like, they're going that way. I should go that way. And it's like,

Ambre (33:12.642)
Hmm.

Tess (33:31.465)
No, like be yourself, be your own confident self. And so if you can be that same person and go about other life activities that way, it's only going to help transfer into your golf game. so yeah, there was like a lot of things that probably people don't even realize that are important in golf is like, have fun, like relax, like smile a little more and just like, stop caring so much.

Teryn (33:33.2)
Go.

Teryn (33:48.471)
Thanks.

Teryn (33:58.946)
That's well.

Ambre (34:00.107)
Tess, all those knowledge bombs you just dropped, I feel like are the recipe to be a good person and have a happy life. mean, all of those things translate to the workplace, translate to relationships. Well, maybe not like the careless part, but like the have fun and relax and be confident in what you're doing and who you are and what you're wearing, et cetera. Also, can I say

Teryn (34:11.979)
Yeah. A job. Yeah.

Teryn (34:21.953)
Yeah.

Tess (34:22.552)
Mm-hmm.

Ambre (34:28.044)
Girlfriend, you have at least like 25 % of you is type A. Can I just say, she's six months away from her wedding and she's like knocked out so many things, like overachiever. And we work with Tess on a day-to-day basis. Girlfriend is like a killer, a hunter on the phone. She's such a like organized and hardworking. I mean,

Teryn (34:54.313)
Yeah, she's motivated. Yeah.

Tess (34:56.046)
Thank you.

Ambre (34:56.276)
Life is a game of inches. Yeah, Tess will find the competitive edge, the junky weather, and she will exploit it. mean, yes, like strong, smart, talented.

Tess (35:03.5)
Yeah.

Teryn (35:05.557)
Yeah. I will say all so great, but if I was walking down anywhere and someone said smile, I would want to punch them in the face. I get it. I get it. Well, I mean, and and I, thing is like, I probably already would be smiling. I'm just like, I'm a general genuinely, am genuinely like joyful most of the time. But if someone, if I, especially a man, was like, Hey, you need to smile more. I would be like,

Tess (35:09.367)
I appreciate that.

Tess (35:17.848)
See? Different personalities.

Tess (35:29.677)
You are.

Tess (35:34.454)
Excuse me?

Teryn (35:35.864)
Excuse me. No, but I get it. No, I really do. I really do get it. I was just thinking about that. I'm like, can you imagine? Hey Tess, smile. I can see that. I feel like we have, we do have a little bit different personalities. I'm not quite as like a grinder as you are. I'm a little bit more of the like, I like this life is good. Let's go.

Ambre (35:36.876)
Hahaha.

Tess (35:43.63)
So you'd be working with a different mental coach than I worked with. Opposite.

Ambre (35:45.772)
Hahaha!

Tess (36:00.175)
I know when it's time I'm like lock it in.

Ambre (36:00.387)
No.

Ambre (36:05.41)
Yeah, I would be terrified of Tess's game face.

Teryn (36:05.717)
Yeah, that's great. yeah, and that's the other thing I was gonna say is people should be scared when you walk onto the course, like I would be.

Ambre (36:13.181)
Yeah.

Tess (36:15.766)
I hope I scared them once in a while. Probably not. Probably not, because I'm like, hey guys, how was your night last night? Where'd you go for ice cream?

Ambre (36:22.722)
No way. I feel like you turned that switch and everybody's like, Tess is here. Okay. So yeah. So tell us more about life as a pro golfer, a typical week in season. You and I have talked about this just a little bit before, but a typical week. But then let's say that it's a week in season where you have a tournament that weekend. What does the whole thing look like?

Tess (36:26.318)
classic.

Teryn (36:26.327)
That's amazing!

yes. Yeah.

Tess (36:32.494)
Don't talk to her.

Tess (36:52.462)
So typically fly in on or you get there on like a Sunday or Monday and oftentimes depending on when the previous tournament finished you take a day off. So and for me I like needed the days off because we were playing three weeks a month so it was just a lot. And then you have

typically about three practice days at the venue to get to know the golf course, get to know the grass, just establish a game plan. And so what I would usually do is I would play 18 holes on the first practice day that I'm there. I would see the whole entire golf course and I would just go play. I would hit random shots and just kind of study areas that I absolutely do not wanna be.

and areas that are like, yes, this is where I wanna play from. And then typically then you're practicing a little while afterwards, depending on how the round went. If you need practice some bunker shots or some putting, usually putt every single day, cause it's very important. And then second practice day, I would usually, and all these days you typically have to get like some sort of workout in.

So you have your time for your workout. And then when you're on the road, at least when I was on the road, it was a lot of like bands and body weight and a lot of mobility and stretching. And then when you're at home and you have a little bit more time, then you could maybe load up a little bit more on weights, but you don't wanna be sore or tight when you're on the road and playing and

Ambre (38:20.94)
Do mean like strength work?

Teryn (38:41.932)
Hmm.

Tess (38:47.374)
So you get your workout in and then I would usually go play one of the nines. So whether it be the front nine or maybe I would play the back nine and then I would get a practice in again. And same thing the next day is I would do nine holes and get a little practice in and then the main thing is like you need to be resting all week as much as you can. So

Sometimes I would stay in like Airbnbs with some friends out there. Sometimes I would stay in a hotel room if I was by myself. And other times there's host housing at these venues. So whatever golf course you're at, there was oftentimes like the community shows up and they would open up their home to the players and if they could, if they had a bedroom and space and whatever. So that obviously did not come at a cost. offered this.

Teryn (39:33.526)
Mm-hmm.

Teryn (39:38.753)
That's cool.

Tess (39:44.719)
up, you know, they volunteered their home and their space, which was awesome. And that was always really fun because you met people in so many different cities. And I still stay in touch with some of these people today. And they love hearing your story, where are you from? They love having dinners with you every night and, you know, making you breakfast in the morning. So that was always a good time and kind of mixed it up a little bit.

Teryn (39:53.611)
Mm-hmm.

Teryn (40:03.319)
Mm.

Teryn (40:06.775)
That's cool.

Tess (40:11.564)
And then the tournament usually starts on a Thursday. So you're like full speed ahead. either, so you get your tee times on a Wednesday afternoon and they send out your tee time for Thursday and your tee time for Friday. So you either have a morning Thursday and an afternoon Friday, or you have an afternoon Thursday and a morning Friday. So they always flip-flop the two. So you can plan for it a little bit.

and you play those rounds. you get your pre-round warm-up in and everyone does something different. You play your round, typically practice afterwards, grab some food, go to bed, do it again. And after the two rounds on the Epson tour that I played on, they would cut half the field. So you had to make sure you placed within

Teryn (41:03.767)
Hmm.

Tess (41:08.654)
top 40 % or whatever in order to play the following day on Saturday usually. So yeah, it's a long week and honestly, three practice days for me was like oftentimes way too much. Like by day three, I'm like, I'm just ready to play. Like I'm like, can we get going? So later on in my like by year four in my career,

Ambre (41:24.972)
Hmm.

Ambre (41:30.24)
Mm.

Teryn (41:30.411)
Yeah.

Tess (41:37.231)
There were a couple of tournaments that I literally just went in the day before and I just played one round. And oftentimes these were courses that I had already seen in years past, three years prior. I went in like a day early, day and a half early, got one round in and then just played right away. And I just like felt a little bit more fresh and ready to go. Sometimes when you're in a city for so long that you like, it's not your city, you know, I don't know, it just like.

Teryn (41:40.684)
Hmm.

Ambre (41:46.498)
Mm.

Teryn (41:46.55)
Yeah.

Teryn (41:58.485)
Yeah.

Teryn (42:03.223)
Mm-hmm.

Tess (42:05.08)
gets a little uncomfortable, at least for me. So yeah, mean, everyone is different, but that's typically what it looked like, especially when we would often have like three weeks on the road in a row. So it's not like you're gonna go home. So after the previous week's tournament, you're just going right next to the next city. So you get going right away.

Ambre (42:19.126)
Mm.

Teryn (42:19.82)
Yeah.

Teryn (42:27.403)
Yeah. So when you are doing all this, I'm thinking about like, are you paying, unless you're staying in a person's house, are you paying for all of that stay, all of that food, all of that out of your own pocket, out of the flights, the flights, you, you know, I leave, I was thinking if you get cut early and you want to go home, home, like, do you schedule your flight already and then you have to change it or do you just wait until like the day before and then you have to buy an expensive flight? how?

Ambre (42:40.769)
lights.

Tess (42:43.107)
Mm-hmm.

Teryn (42:56.673)
How did that work?

Tess (42:56.92)
I know. So yes, you have to pay your own, your whole way. So it's very expensive sport because you're not making a lot at this level. And once you make it to the LPGA and once you make it to the PGA, you're super hopeful that you'll make a paycheck that will pay all this off at one point, hopefully. But so you really have to pay, you really have to like invest on the front end.

Teryn (43:18.422)
Yeah.

Tess (43:25.91)
and hope it's gonna pay off on the back end. So yeah, it's entry fees every single week. It's your travel to get there. It's your stay while you're there, your food. There are a lot of tournaments. They typically cover two meals every single day, breakfast and lunch, which certainly take advantage of if you can and want. And they typically also provide great like...

Teryn (43:25.943)
Yeah.

Tess (43:50.883)
fueling rooms, snack rooms for you to like get bars and fruit and stuff for the golf course. they do, depending on the tournament, they do show up and provide for you on the tournament days, which is great. But yeah, for the most part, you're paying your own way, which is a lot. So either need someone to back you up or you need sponsors. And that was like, that's a whole nother world of trying to get sponsors and asking people for money is so hard.

Ambre (44:16.15)
Mm. Mm.

Teryn (44:18.935)
Yeah.

Tess (44:20.364)
So yeah, that was wild. But for the flights, I had it like locked in. basically, I don't know if you can still do this. I think you can. You can cancel a flight for full credit. And so what I would do is I would always just like book all my flights for like a month in advance for that whole month. And then if I ever needed to change something, they would just give me credit.

Ambre (44:34.944)
Mm.

Tess (44:49.41)
to spend later and I'm like, okay, I know like I'm literally traveling three weeks a month, I'm going to use these credits at some point. yeah, it's a lot of like playing the game of logistics. Like I was like, dang, I could probably like do this someday, like a logistics role or like planning role, because you have to plan a huge itinerary rental car where you're gonna stay, what airport you're flying into, all those things. So you are your own travel advisor too.

Teryn (44:56.491)
Yeah.

Teryn (45:02.999)
No.

Ambre (45:17.698)
my gosh.

Teryn (45:19.031)
Does your coach come too?

Tess (45:20.406)
It's a lot, yeah. No.

Ambre (45:20.738)
That's nuts.

Teryn (45:24.161)
Okay. So you're just doing, you're just picking the tournaments you want to go to.

Tess (45:28.214)
Yeah, you, you, and whichever ones you can get into, like, you should go because you need points, you need money. There's a money list. Yeah, and then I would just see my coach at home when I would be back in town or something and work with them then. Yeah. It was wild.

Teryn (45:42.965)
Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Ambre (45:48.279)
So let's sort of kind of shift some gears here. A lot of athletes, we hear this often when we're talking about athletes from all sorts of different types of sports, how hard it is to step away from the game when it's time, because so often, I think every time we've talked in depth about a pro athlete like you,

It's your identity. It's a huge piece of your identity is this game, this sport that you play. So for you, when you retired from golf, we were talking before we jumped on and started recording. It was only a couple of years ago. It feels like so much longer ago. What was the hardest part of retiring and leaving professionally the game of golf?

Tess (46:27.662)
You

Tess (46:36.44)
Yeah, I think for me the hardest part was...

Tess (46:43.662)
like, I don't want to say disappointing myself and those close to me, but I, myself, my coaches, my sponsors, like there were so many people on my team that had put so much time and energy into my career. And to tell those people that I'm done,

was really hard and I felt like I was letting them down. my family too, they have put so much time and energy into me and my career and my growth and a lot of effort. it felt like I quit. And it's not what it was at all, but it almost felt like that a little bit.

Teryn (47:35.319)
Mm.

Tess (47:41.849)
telling these people and you just feel, it feels so much worse than they take it, I think, because they get it, they understand. Like it is a hard career. Going professional in any sport is a hard career. for most people, for a lot of people, it's only 1 % of the world actually make it. Like there comes a time where you need to move on if you feel like you're

Teryn (47:47.807)
Mm, yeah.

Ambre (47:47.991)
Hmm.

Tess (48:11.18)
you're not going to make it anymore or something. so unfortunately, like I had that moment or that season and I was just like.

Yeah, that was the hardest part is I felt like I was letting people down.

Ambre (48:26.282)
I feel like it's even harder when people are like, but you're so good at it. Like, why would you leave when you're so good at it? And I think when you and I had talked about this before, the reason you left was sort of like, it was the lifestyle and the being on the road. Is that pretty accurate?

Teryn (48:31.671)
Hmm.

Tess (48:32.654)
you

Tess (48:46.894)
Absolutely. was, yeah, it was a lot. Like being away from home for that long and so many weeks out of the year, like I'm such a homebody. I'm big. I'm such a family person. And so when exciting things are happening, I have that FOMO. Like people are having babies. People are having birthday parties. People are having weddings. And I'm like out here.

Teryn (48:50.646)
Yeah.

Teryn (48:57.239)
Mm.

Ambre (49:05.954)
Hmm.

Teryn (49:06.305)
Mm-hmm.

Teryn (49:11.447)
Hmm.

Tess (49:15.022)
trying to go professional playing in a golf tournament, like missing the cut, like no worse feeling, know, than telling your friend you can't make her most special day ever her wedding day and you're in bum nowhere and you missed the cut or something, you know, and you're just like, oh my gosh. So yeah, it was, that was really hard. I love.

Teryn (49:17.537)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Ambre (49:32.331)
Hmm.

Teryn (49:32.439)
BFE. Yeah.

Tess (49:42.637)
I loved competing, I loved the sport and like being out there with a lot of the friends that I made was so awesome. But honestly, like I was sick of the travel, I was sick of the time away from home and I was kind of over the grind to be honest. Like it was, I had lost like that fire to get better. Do I truly believe that if I...

really kept working at it that I could have made it, absolutely. You have to have that belief in yourself. But I really did not have the heart or the want to really continue to put in those hours anymore.

Teryn (50:24.631)
Yeah, that's, think that right there is like the epitome of like burnout, right? You just, I'm like, I probably could be better at this, but I actually would rather just live my life and also get a normal day job and settle down and get married like you are soon here. So, I mean, I mean, it's true. I mean, I feel like the burnout is so, so real, but Tess,

Tess (50:43.671)
Yeah.

Tess (50:48.492)
Yeah.

It hurts. Yeah.

Teryn (50:52.735)
You are so very fortunate because you have a you had a career in a sport that you can play for literally the rest of your life.

Tess (51:01.806)
It was like, how did that work out?

Ambre (51:01.826)
forever.

Teryn (51:04.055)
So that's amazing. what is like how, and as we're wrapping up here, you are still golfing. It's not like you were like, I hate golf and I'm never looking at it again. You know, what are ways that you keep golf in your life? you, do you think that someday you would coach or do you just play casually? What, you know, how do you interact with golf now?

Ambre (51:05.676)
genius.

Tess (51:26.05)
Yeah.

I have coached a little bit just like individual lessons, mainly for a couple like younger people who are up and coming. And that's been super fun. I coached a high school guys team last spring, which was a blast. And they were awesome. They referred to me as their mental coach. I wouldn't necessarily call it that, but I know it was hilarious.

Teryn (51:45.751)
Hey! Love that.

Ambre (51:51.906)
What a compliment!

Tess (51:59.247)
And to be completely honest with you, I don't find myself wanting to go play all the time right now. I still feel like I'm kind of getting over that burnout still. But golf is something that my family and I do together. My fiance Michael and I do a lot together and he loves to play. And so if I am going to play with them or even when I have some friends that are still out on the pro tour when they're in town.

Ambre (52:10.242)
Hmm.

Tess (52:26.574)
I absolutely will go play with them. But I'm not really at the point where I'm like, really want to go play golf tonight. Like, let's make it tea time. I'm just not quite there yet.

Teryn (52:36.503)
Yeah, that's totally fair.

Ambre (52:38.594)
Tess, you've mentioned family a couple of times. I know how important that is to you. I think when I was Googling you before this episode, I saw that Mr. Daddy Hackworthy, your dad was your caddy in some tournaments, right? Was that in college? Was that pro? And how cool was that to have your dad there with you? What was that like?

Teryn (52:49.367)
You

Tess (52:54.487)
Yeah!

Tess (53:06.894)
Yeah, it was, it was awesome and so special. Yeah, he played college golf and is still like, a successful amateur player. So I obviously trust him and he's taught me basically everything I know about the game. So he came out and carried my bag for me. It was in the pros. You are not allowed to have a caddy in college. And so he would come, it was like, best of both worlds because I not only had someone on the road with me to like,

Ambre (53:28.449)
Okay.

Teryn (53:36.695)
Mm.

Tess (53:36.985)
hang out with and travel with, but then also he could be out there on the bag with me. And yeah, it's pretty funny. We still look back at those times a lot and like laugh at, I mean, I chipped his tooth one time on accident in the middle of a round. Like he like fainted one time, basically, cause it was so hot. Like we've had so many hilarious memories together that we'll obviously keep talking about for so long.

And we look back often and I think he really enjoyed it too, to be out there. It was like fun for him and obviously super fun for me and special because not many people get to have a family member like that on the bag, you know, whether they are flexible enough to make it work, but also like to have that relationship felt really special too that we could bond over golf that way together.

Teryn (54:32.567)
Okay, Tess, last question. Last question. Who is the best golfer in your family?

Tess (54:40.078)
It's my dad.

Ambre (54:41.249)
Teryn (54:42.527)
you

Tess (54:43.618)
I know at one point it was it was me. I had him for a few years. Like I had his number. We play we play in matches all the time. But in the last two years I'm really not practicing very much. So when we go out there and have a match against each other he has had my number for a while.

Teryn (55:04.171)
He's got a few years on you, I'm sure, but you're better than Michael. That's, that's what matters. Sorry, Michael. Not sorry. Sorry, not sorry.

Ambre (55:04.46)
Hmm. Hmm.

Tess (55:06.87)
Yeah. yeah. Yeah. Sorry, Michael. Yeah.

Ambre (55:14.668)
Sorry, nuts, sorry. Can I just say when you were talking about your dad being your caddy, Teryn and I like to say that all of somebody was cutting onions in my office, I'm pretty sure. That's so cool, so cool. Yeah, just cutting onions, some watery eyes. How meaningful, yeah. I'd love to hear you talk about, as you said, the ear-to-ear side of ear-to-ear strong, however it was that you phrase that.

Tess (55:14.998)
No, yeah. Yeah.

Teryn (55:23.801)
Tess (55:27.842)
Yes. Ottery eyes. That was great.

Teryn (55:32.788)
sweet.

Teryn (55:37.132)
Mm-hmm.

Ambre (55:40.131)
That's awesome. I love to hear the mental health side. And I also love that you just talked about family so much. It's just, it's neat to hear pro athletes talk about not just the grind, not just the workouts, not just the, the years and the, you know, the, the long days and whatever, but also all of those other things that maybe make you a happier and healthier person in that moment, but then also afterward too, because you're such a joyful person.

and at least 25 % type A, I swear.

Tess (56:13.112)
I'm dead. Yeah, we're gonna stick to that.

Teryn (56:14.071)
You

Ambre (56:15.522)
25, we'll say a quarter, like your left arm maybe, type A. Yeah, one limb.

Tess (56:19.116)
Yeah, yeah, just a little bit here and there. Yeah. my gosh. Thank you. Yeah, it's, it's important when you have the right people in your corner, it makes a huge difference. I mean, you're where you are like home is where your community is. So if you're able to surround yourself with those people, family or friends, or just like, really have them as a support system. And I was really lucky that I had such a great support system. So it was very, very nice way to go through my career.

Teryn (56:19.925)
my gosh.

Ambre (56:48.226)
Well, this conversation has been so much fun. And I know that we know that our listeners are going to love hearing your story. So thanks again for hanging out late at work and chatting with us, sharing, especially those things about your mental health work. I'm going to be thinking about that as I'm bathing children and putting them to bed and dealing with tantrums and stuff tonight.

Teryn (57:05.449)
Yes.

Teryn (57:12.234)
Yes.

Tess (57:13.388)
Yes.

Teryn (57:16.565)
Smile Ambre.

Ambre (57:18.306)
Smile, care less about that tantrum or mess of laundry or whatever. But yeah, I'm going to think about Tess. Think about Tess. But yeah, just thanks so much for sharing your time and your story with us. It has been an awesome time hanging out with you.

Tess (57:18.51)
Smile, this is fun.

Teryn (57:22.549)
Careless.

Tess (57:24.302)
Have fun with it, laugh it off.

Teryn (57:28.983)
Yes.

Tess (57:31.993)
my gosh.

Tess (57:39.0)
Thank you for having me. I feel so honored to be a part of your podcast.

Teryn (57:39.797)
and honor.

my goodness, our honor, all us. Thank you.

Tess (57:45.976)
Thanks guys.

Teryn (57:49.771)
I love-