Susan West found golf much later than most.
A natural athlete who picked up a tennis racket at the request of her high school tennis coach, West earned a scholarship at the University of Alabama. Later, when West was in the midst of a successful business career — working in strategic planning and commercial insurance before eventually becoming the assistant dean and director for the business school at her alma mater — she had an epiphany that it was time to put down her racket in favor of a golf club.
She had enjoyed golf as a kid, picking up balls on her local driving range to make money for “fudgesicle and french fries.” But with so many other sports, especially tennis, earning her focus, it was hard to spend time on golf until later in life.
“I was in the business world and, quite frankly, it was pretty hard to conduct business on a tennis court but so easy to conduct it on the golf course,” West said. “After I tore my ACL on a skiing trip, I thought, ‘You know what? Golf will serve me better in business, I’m getting older and this is a good time to make that pivot.’”
West joined her first golf club in 1999 when she was 38. Now more than two decades later, she is a top-30 ranked senior women’s amateur in the world, has won six Alabama state titles and played in 20 USGA events including two U.S. Senior Women’s Opens. This April, West was inducted into the Birmingham Metro Golf Association Hall of Fame.
Her success teaches others that someone can begin the game later in life and become a great golfer. It also explains why golf enthusiasts become golf enthusiasts — the game is truly a lifetime sport.
“I was probably a 10 handicap right out of the gate,” she said. “When I moved to Tuscaloosa, I was playing in scrambles. And then I met my husband Tom in 2005. He said, ‘Why don’t you play tournaments?’ I didn’t know if I wanted to … I still remember my very first tournament in the state of Alabama and I won the fifth flight. Then the next year my husband said, ‘Why don’t you go qualify for the (U.S. Women’s) Mid-Am?’ And dumb luck, I qualified for the first one I tried in Old Waverley.
“My husband caddies for me when I compete and it’s just been a great love affair for us to spend time together (on the course).”
Beyond the many titles West has won, she is also remembered as the first woman to sign up for the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2019. It wasn’t intentional, but as a natural early riser, West signed up for the championship and got a call later that day that she was the first person to register.
That tournament was played at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. For West, the week at Pine Needles was second to none.
“I had such a great experience,” West said. “It was long overdue, 35 years after the men (played their inaugural Senior Open). But the first one was all about the older pros, as it should have been, with Nancy Lopez and JoAnne Carner. It really is a showcase. I got paired in a practice round with Sandra Palmer, Judy Dickinson and JoAnne Carner for two days, and I was in stitches. It also made me appreciate the history in women’s golf and the pioneers who did what they did and got nothing for it, paving the way for today.
“When they played the national anthem, there wasn’t a dry eye. It was also my birthday and Nancy Lopez announced me on the first tee. Being around all that history was incredible. The USGA did a great job.”
West qualified for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open the next year in 2020 and hopes to qualify for her third this year at Waverley Country Club in Oregon at the end of August.
“I would like to qualify for another Senior Open and certainly would love to go very far at the Senior Women’s Amateur,” said West. “But as I’ve grown older, I’ve realized that I don’t need that to feel good about me. We make it mean so much and I’m certainly so guilty of that. Sure, it means a lot. I spend a lot of time practicing and doing it. But I try to never forget that it’s really about the relationships. The same 50 of us are at every tournament. We have friends from all over the world through golf.”
West’s wisdom on the value that golf brings is also shown through her volunteer work. She has served with many local and national golf tournaments, including the NCAA men’s golf regionals in 2017. She also sits on the Women’s Southern Golf Association executive committee and the Alabama Golf Association Board of Directors executive committee.
That commitment is part of the reason why West received a call that she would be inducted into the Birmingham Metro Golf Association Hall of Fame. Even so, she was in shock.
“That was one of the most surprising phone calls I’ve ever received,” West said. “During that time I was helping with a high school boys’ golf tournament. I got the phone call and I was nailing a stake by the 18th green and saw that it was Ian Thompson, who writes for the local paper, so I assumed he wanted to talk about the high school golf tournament. I told him I would call him back in five minutes. So I call him back and I’m thinking I have to get my act together on what he needs for this tournament.
“As I get older, it gets easier to live and not worry about the score or an outcome. Lest I ever forget, relationship is the most important thing.” – Susan West
“Then he picks up and says, ‘This is one of the most fun phone calls I’ve ever had to make.’ I just cried when he told me. I had no idea. I was really humbled. There’s so many good people, Martha Lang, Virginia Grimes, Kathy Hartwiger, that have come from this state. To be able to follow in their footsteps was extremely humbling.”
West is a woman we can learn from in all aspects of life. Someone who said yes to an opportunity that changed her life. Someone who knows the work ethic it takes to be successful and who has flourished in her success. And someone who knows that it’s not the titles — but the relationships she’s made along the way — that fulfill her.
“At the end of the day, I’m so secure in my eternity. As I get older, it gets easier to live and not worry about the score or an outcome. Lest I ever forget, relationship is the most important thing.”
© 2023 Global Golf Post LLC
Top: Susan West went to the University of Alabama on a tennis scholarship but turned to golf later in life and joined her first golf club at age 38. Photo: Steven Gibbons, USGA.
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