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Capital Region Golf Legend Dottie Pepper Looks Back On Mentor's Letters

Dottie Pepper is one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Saratoga Springs. How she got there, and the advice that has guided her for decades, is the subject of a new book about the power of mentorship.

Pepperwon 17 LPGA tournaments, including two majors, before becoming a tournament analyst for CBS Sports. Her new book is “Letters To A Future Champion: My Time With Mr. Pulver.”

You started looking back on some of this stuff when the pandemic set in last year, in March. What was it like going back all these decades and looking at this archival material?

Oh, it was it was something that I still reference regularly. The book was never very far from me. It's a three-ring binder that my dad gave me that was left over from his office in the late 70s, early 80s. The letters were always there, and the books that Mr. Pulver had left me for reading assignments. So there was it was always kind of in the background. But like so many people during the pandemic, it was time to kind of dig through some files, and what am I going to do to make this time that we don't know much time it will be, what am I going to what am I going to do to make this productive? And it is pretty quick decision that this idea of doing a book of the letters that my husband actually sort of planted in the back of my head eight or nine years ago, it was time to make that happen. And sitting through, going through all these files that Mr. Pulver had left me, that his children had left me after the youngest of them even passed, I realized that it wasn't just me that kept all of the letters. He kept every letter I wrote to him as well.

Yeah, it's really amazing. I must have been so strange for you to see your side of the letters, which started when you were really, you know, a teenager.

Yeah, it was. The first letter I wrote to him I was I was 14 years old. And it was not even asking for golf swing advice, or course management advice or anything like that. It was simply asking for help in finding opportunities to play tournaments, if he was, as a retired professional, still, sort of in the loop, if he got tournament entries at home. If the state golf association sent him entries, if the USGA sent entries, if the PGA sent entries for junior golf. The professional at the club at the time wasn't doing a great job of circulating things among the membership. And I just reached out for some help thinking he might still be connected enough that it would maybe make my search a little bit easier.

It's really striking to think about how much communication has changed. A young, promising athlete today would have a highlight reel online and a social media account and, you know, Google-able  information about tournaments. But that wasn't the case for you, obviously.

No, no, it wasn't. And I and I go back among the letters that I saved with a copy of the letter I had, I asked him to write when I was applying for colleges. So I mean, all of this is just typewritten on sometimes even on that real scratchy, thin paper. And  fortunately it stayed in pretty good shape and everything held up really well over the years. But yeah, the communication is so much different trying to build a resume. Trying to just make people realize that I play all right, and I'm a pretty good student, and maybe I should be going to college, looking at colleges and golf scholarships.

So let's go back. Tell us a little bit about George Pulver. Very interesting life and man, and when he came into your life, you know, he was still much interested in golf. How did you meet and what was he like back then?

Well, I actually met him through a combination of things. Through tournament golf in the area I actually competed against his wife playing in the in one of the local ladies groups. Because there was no real structured golf for juniors in our area. So I came to know him through his wife, Martha, but also through my grandmother who introduced me to the game at Brookhaven Golf Club in South Corinth, and he designed Brookhaven was still very much involved with the agronomy, even to the last days he was with us. And that was really my introduction to him at the golf course. But he also came to my parents’ driving range. And would just stroll up and work with Martha, or their daughter, Madeline, on their games when Madeline was in town, so I knew him from a variety of places. But our worlds didn't really collide until the summer of 1981.

And what happened then?

Four days before Martha died, not knowing that she was so ill, I wrote him a letter. Again, he lives two and a half miles from where I grew up and I’m stamping a letter, or not even picking up the phone and hand writing letters, and he’s writing letters back.  My dad felt he had taken me as far as he could in the game. And if he wouldn't mind taking a look, and perhaps teaching me and I got a letter back, he was a little unsure of what his short-term situation was going to be because of Martha's illness. But he committed to working with me and a bit of it is really just history from there. That was March of 1981.

It struck me looking through the letters and the book that a lot of the advice that he gave you in the letters he wrote, you know, they had tips about golf, but a lot of it was also just kind of life things or how to approach thinking really.

Very much. So I would say if you're looking for golf in this book, it's all over it. But if you take that next layer, it's really about preparation and being resilient. Planning, being patient, which I still haven't figured out, there are so many things in this book, that are still so relevant 40 some years later.

A lot of people who grow up, you know, in a certain ecosystem, run away from it. What made you interested in golf and what made you so obsessive about it?

It was something I could do by myself, I didn't have to be on it had to be on a team where you needed other people to play, you didn't even have to have somebody across the net if you're going to play tennis. So it was something I could go by myself, I loved hanging out with my grandmother, I think the solitude of golf kind of was big for me, too. And it was something that I knew I could do forever. That was that was part of it as well.

So what kind of advice did you get about your game early on that made a difference? Obviously, it did, because, as you say, from 14 to going pro, that was that was a very accelerated timeline.

It was. The biggest change for me with him was the basics of fundamentals. But it was also the basics of sports psychology, and being prepared to play and outlasting competitors. But it started with started with the physical part, making sure you have a good grip, that your that your clubs fit you. We went through a couple of times there where I was getting stronger and bigger and needed to have clubs refit. And, you know, just having a good grip, having the proper equipment, having good alignment, having good balance, understanding tempo, understanding rhythm. I understanding the players that are the best at the game so that you could pick out the things he did well, maybe see if you could figure out and help yourself a little bit by just watching them.

What did your family make of this burgeoning relationship as it was happening?

I would say it was so supported by his family first off. His daughter Madeleine, I wrote to her first asking if she thought her dad would be interested and the news was passed along and then you know, they were they were so thrilled because as it turned out, the kids were really worried about him post-Martha because they were literally like Carl and Ellie Fredrickson in “Up.” I mean, they were attached at the hip, they did everything together and they adored each other.

And, you know, there were they were really worried about him being depressed, not being active, not doing the things that he normally did, and did with her. And this was the perfect medicine because It gave him something to look forward to, and really be committed to. My parents, I think we're worried that they weren't going to be able to pay him. But he never would take a dime. So I think that was that was among their chief concerns. So you know, my mom baked for him. And when I worked at the ski shop during the winters, I saved my extra money because he never believed not going to a lesson. If it was cold and rainy, we were out there beating balls. And so I made sure he had good warm sweaters to do that and that sort of thing. So there was never a dime exchanged. And it was just it was so supportive. He was also extremely supportive of my sister who never loved golf, never loved playing it, didn’t mind being around it. In fact, she caddied for me going through the school to get my card, but he was always supportive of her to and in some of these letters were, you know, tell Jackie this, and don't be afraid to bring her along to your next lesson.

Was he ever hard on you?

He was disappointed a few times when I didn't come prepared. My mind just wasn't there. And he would say, you know, maybe I was too wordy with you today or something, but something wasn't quite right. And that's only human. But that, to me, was a was a reminder that I needed to kind of tune in a little harder and be more prepared because he was ready for every lesson, every single one of them.

That brings me to my next question, and I'm fascinated by golfers because you're out there alone. And I mean, we've all seen it at big tournaments, when just watching, the pressure is so stressful in a big moment, and the person ultimately has to go up and hit that ball or make the putt or not make the putt. You talk a lot about the preparation that he preached but eventually you do have to go out there and perform. How do you translate one into the other?

Well, I think if you if you're prepared you should expect to play well, not deserve to play well, but expect to play well. And if you don't, go figure out why. Was I just not mentally sharp? Did I not have a good game plan? Was I not prepared for the weather? Did something sneak up on me? And then have a really big reserve of ‘OK, I'm going back to my fundamentals’ because it's very rare that you can't find what has gone wrong right back in the fundamentals. And it sounds really old and it sounds really just boring. But that's what he preached. And, when sometimes when success doesn't come, be realistic about evaluating yourself. Am I just fried? He was one to believe that that your body didn't take as much than take as much of a toll sometimes your heart and your soul that tried to be in competition and be so perfect all the time.

Now, George Pulver was born in the 19th century, actually, and, you know, was a veteran of World War I. Did the things that he taught you about golf hold up with today's game, as you see it, you know, whatever course you're on week to week?

None of it is out of date. Every bit of it is still…I see him and hear him with shots I see and the way people prepare and looking at players and he taught me so much about being able to look at professionals and understand what makes them hit the shots they hit, or how you best think your way around the golf course. And he was also a believer of giving yourself a good margin, you'd be able to pull the shot off with the best chance of success. And there are times you know when I’m walking for CBS and I see a player try to hit a shot like for example, Jordan Spieth, opening day at the Masters this year, to the right of number nine and thinking there's no way this kid needs to be hitting that shot through that little gap Thursday afternoon. And then I thought he would have been thinking the same thing. Putt out, make your five, he goes on and make seven.

It's interesting, because you know that and you're a retired professional. But in your new role, obviously you're not going to say anything to Spieth.

Oh, no, I'm not going to say anything to him. But we did talk about it on the air. And it was just the basics of what he always said was, you know, to give yourself the most chances you possibly can and make your margin of error as wide as it possibly can be.

When you retired from playing professionally, did you retain the same love for golf that you had when you started out? Or did you have to find kind of a new approach to it?

No, I think it might be that I love the game even more because it doesn't hurt. My body doesn't hurt as much. But I can still be around it all the time. And I think too when you when you do back away from playing those margins do look maker wow I was I tuned being so hard on myself for trying to be so perfect. I can miss it over there I can miss it over here or this this isn't the end of the world if this happens I think it gives you a different perspective but I'm all in on golf, that's for sure. Even though I'm I very rarely pick up a club anymore and certainly not in competition.

Help me out with the timeline. Did Mr. Pulver live to see your early success or how did that work out?

No, he passed away in the winter of 1986 at at age 87 so he saw me be the first amateur to win on the Symetra Tour, the Futures Tour then, Symetra Tour now, get a college scholarship, become an all-American and be low amateur at the at the U.S. Open. He passed in the fall of my junior year so I don't get like I said I'd been an all-American and had those two significant wins, win couple of tournaments in college when he was still alive.

Have you taught people golf Do you take people under your wing?

I don't teach. If people are looking for a little help with the short game or just the basic kind of tune-up, if it's a friend I'll take a look but there's a lot to being a PGA Professional and an LPGA teaching professional that look I mean, I went I took lessons until my last days of playing and I didn't go through all the protocols and have all of the bookwork and range work that it takes to really be a good teacher. I mean I can I can pick out a lot of things but I don't think wall-to-wall that was that was my calling nor is it my education.

You're back out going from course to course now that the pandemic is winding down. What's it like being at a different course every week? And how is it with some fans coming back as we saw at Augusta?

It's nice to have the noise, it really is. I think it makes for much better theater, I think there's some energy with the players that was lacking. I'm glad I keep my yardage books week to week because a lot of the golf courses don't change much. But I treat it like I did as a player; I kept all my yardage books so I knew how to prepare for what was happening that week. Because it's really no different as a commentator, especially on the ground than it is as a player because you see it as a player but it is awfully nice to have people back around. There's a there's an energy, like I said, and that shows that the audio is so much better, it’s richer, it’s fuller. And there's, there's energy, there's adrenaline when good things happen. And you can hear noise on a golf course and know somebody's doing something good ahead or behind you. It's much bigger part of it than I thought.

I just want to get this on the record while we're talking about the difference an older person can make in a person's life. I'm from Saratoga Springs, and I worked for the Saratogian for a while. You know, I grew up in a time when you were very well established and famous and so on. Later, I interned in the sports department at NewsChannel 13. And I got sent out as a teenager basically one time to come interview you and I'll never forget the fact that you took me seriously even though I was probably just an underdressed, floppy haired intern. And you know, they were happy with the interview when I got back to the station enough to use it. And you know, looking back on it, that's a little thing. That was one afternoon, but having somebody established and successful take you seriously when you're 18, 19 it can make a huge difference. So I've never had the chance to tell you that but I appreciate it.

Well, thanks for thanks for sharing that story. I mean, that translates to you know, Mr. Pulver, taking me seriously. I wasn't just a kid trying to chew up time. I was out there trying to get something done, and I think he appreciated that.

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
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