Nunn trying to follow in Lewis’ footsteps

BY ROB KEYS

Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/230384/

ROGERS — Lucy Nunn was toting Stacy Lewis’ bag the last time the LPGA was in town.

This time Nunn will be on the other end of the player-caddy exchange.

Nunn, a senior at Arkansas, qualified Monday for this weekend’s LPGA P&G Beauty Northwest Arkansas Championship after failing to do so last year, when Lewis played on a sponsor’s exemption and was declared the unofficial winner when weather ended the tournament after one round. Nunn was there every soggy step of the way, having agreed to caddy for Lewis in advance of the qualifier.

Now Nunn is attempting to follow in Lewis’ footsteps in a more figurative sense. Nunn, a native of Lawton, Okla., recently won the 93 rd Southern Women’s Amateur — an event Lewis won last year — and is coming off a top-10 finish at the SEC Championships and a top-25 showing at the NCAA Championships.

Bolstered by those performances, Nunn entered this year’s qualifier with a new mind-set.

“I had that confidence from knowing that I’m playing well and I’m capable of doing well,” Nunn said. “Last year I thought if I didn’t make it, ‘Oh, well, I’ll still be inside the ropes.’ This year it was more about wanting to be on the other side of the bag, to be the one hitting shots.”

Lewis wasn’t surprised Nunn posted Monday’s best qualifying score.

“She knows the course about as well as I do,” Lewis said.

Nunn came to Arkansas two years after Lewis, but still at a time when Arkansas hosted a fall tournament at the Pinnacle Country Club course that is hosting this week’s LPGA event. The Lady Razorbacks used to play many of their qualifying rounds at Pinnacle and continue to practice there periodically.

“I just really like it out there,” Nunn said. “I’m so familiar with it and so comfortable with it.”

Still, Lewis joked that nothing will prevent Nunn from experiencing some first-shot jitters on Friday.

“She’s going to be really nervous on that first tee,” Lewis said with a smile. “Other than that, I think she’ll be fine.”

Nunn agreed and admitted to being “a little starstruck” even while caddying a year ago. Even after playing her way into the tournament Monday, she said she remained revved up well into the night.

“I couldn’t sleep the night after the qualifier,” she said. “It was kind of like, ‘OK, what do I do now ?’ But I think if I can get through that first hole in one piece, I think the rest of the round will be OK.”

Nunn’s father, Ron, will caddy for her this weekend just as he did Monday. Nunn said she expects at least another dozen or so friends and family members to attend, and she hopes to feed off the energy of being a “hometown” player just as Lewis did last year.

Nunn also wants to draw from the experience of caddying for Lewis. While the two have played practice rounds as teammates over the years, Nunn said she gained a better appreciation for Lewis’ game while caddying for her.

“It’s interesting to see how she approached things,” Nunn said. “Being on the bag, helping out with club selection and reading greens, I really got to see how she approaches shots, and her consistency is amazing.

“ I definitely tried to emulate that a little bit, and I think I did, in my qualifying round.”

Regardless of what happens this weekend, Nunn said she wants to continue to follow in Lewis’ path — but as a player instead of a caddy.

“She’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen... and so it’s no wonder she’s been in the positions she’s been in and will have such great success later on,” Nunn said of Lewis. “So I definitely take that away from playing with her, that hard work does pay off.

“ She’s living proof of that, so I just try to apply that to myself, keep digging away and keep concentrated.”