Athlete of the Week: Missy Williams

Tara Golf & Country Club PGA golf professional Missy Williams shot a combined 169 in the 2012 LPGA Southeast Section Championship June 4 and June 5, at Heron Creek Golf & Country Club in North Port. Williams finished 12th in the champions division of her first LPGA event. Here is an inside look at this week’s Athlete of the Week.

What was it like competing in your first LPGA event?
It was fun. As a PGA professional, I don’t have a tour card, so it was more of an educational (tournament) for me. I don’t have the brain for the tour. I just like to go out and have fun.

What do you enjoy the most about golf?
The camaraderie and the way it just humbles you. You have to be humble to play this game.

How long have you been playing golf?
Since I was 4 years old. My parents started playing when my mom was pregnant with me. I grew up on a nine-hole golf course in Maine, so whenever they wanted to play I just tagged along.

What’s the toughest part about golf?
For me, it’s putting. It’s so mental. You get what I call ‘brick hands’ where you don’t feel it.

Where did you go to school?
The Golf Academy of the South.

Where are you from originally?
Boothbay Harbor, Maine. I moved to Florida in August 1998.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working or playing golf?
I enjoy walking, kayak fishing, taking pictures and going on state- and national-park adventures.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
New Zealand and Australia to take pictures.

If you weren’t a PGA professional, what would you want to be?
A national park ranger. That’s what I’m going to do when I retire. You get to be outdoors and see the world — the real world versus downtown New York and skyscrapers. It’s natural nature.

Do you have any pets?
I have a beagle named Jake and a cat named Olivia Sophia.