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Pioneering Pro Golfer Suzy Whaley to
Keynote Feb. 19 Grand Opening of Smith College's Olin Fitness
Center
Editor's note: High-res digital photos of
Whaley are available by e-mailing mhobbes@email.smith.edu.
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Suzy Whaley, the first woman to qualify for a
PGA tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945, will discuss the
role of sports in women's academic and career success when Smith College
dedicates its new Olin Fitness Center.
Whaley's keynote address at Smith will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday,
Feb. 19, in Ainsworth Gymnasium. The event is free and open to the public.
Whaley, a 36-year-old club pro who played collegiate golf at the University
of North Carolina and briefly on the LPGA Tour in the early 1990s, teed
it up against the men at the Greater Hartford Open (GHO) last summer.
Under intense media scrutiny, she played the course's full 6,820 yard,
beating or tying the scores of six male pros.
Described by the Boston Herald as "a mother who happens to make
a living as a golf pro, albeit a golf pro very much in the limelight," Whaley
has two daughters, ages 8 and 6. She is a Class A Member of the LPGA
Teaching and Club Professional division, a Class A Member of the PGA
of America and the Head Professional at Blue Fox Run, a public golf course
in Avon, Conn.
Whaley is a fitting speaker for the center's opening, notes Smith's
Director of Athletics Lynn Oberbillig, because of the emphasis she places
on physical and mental preparation as keys for success. In a recent article
in Golf for Women, Whaley recounted the focused daily strength-training
regimen, including free weights and core muscle exercises, she used in
training for the GHO. "I never imagined I could be as physically
strong or as mentally tough as I've become," she wrote, "and
I'm swinging with more power and confidence than ever before."
With its state-of-the-art machines and light-filled workout space, Smith's
new fitness center is, in Oberbillig's words, a "showcase facility." The
4,800-square-foot, glass-walled, sky-lighted center was designed by the
Boston-based firm of Leers Weinzapfel Associates. It houses 33 new pieces
of aerobic equipment -- including treadmills, ellipticals, and upright
and recumbent LifeCycles, each with personal television viewing screens;
40 new weight machines; and extensive free-weight equipment. In all,
some100 people will be able to exercise at the same time.
The $4-million facility was made possible by a gift from the Spencer
T. and Ann W. Olin Foundation in honor of Barbara Olin Taylor, a 1954
Smith graduate, and Judy Olin Higgins, a 1958 Smith graduate.
Whaley's keynote address is sponsored by OppenheimerFunds, Inc., one
of the largest and best-known asset management companies in the United
States and a member of MassMutual Financial Group. MassMutual will sponsor
the display of selected photographs from the noted exhibition "Game
Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?" during and after the
fitness center's grand opening festivities. "Game Face" is
a widely acclaimed traveling photo exhibition that celebrates women and
sports. Support of the keynote and the photo display reflect both companies'
commitment to supporting women's professional and personal endeavors.
Smith College is consistently ranked among the nation's foremost liberal
arts colleges. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and 60 other
countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women's college in the
country.
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Office of College
Relations
Smith College
Garrison Hall
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 |
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Marti
Hobbes
News Assistant
T (413) 585-2190
F (413) 585-2174
mhobbes@email.smith.edu
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