Junior Heidi Steinert got the opportunity of a lifetime last Sunday at Covered Bridge golf course. After Fuzzy Zoeller’s annual Wolf Challenge, Steinert was invited to sit down with two legends of the game, Nancy Lopez and Lee Trevino
By Bret Walts
Steinert worked as a sign holder in the final Wolf Challenge along with other New Albany golf team members.
On talking to the two Hall of Fame members, Steinert said it felt like a normal conversation and that she felt at ease with Trevino and Lopez while some may have been tense
“I didn’t feel like I was talking to two major champions, I just felt like I was talking to a normal person or to [Coach] Belcher about golf,” Steinert said.
According to Steinert, Lopez and Trevino asked and discussed her college plans and beyond. At first, Lopez was at the center of this discussion, but after missing out on much of the conversation Trevino became curious as well.
“I told him I wanted to play golf and then he asked what I wanted to do after college,” Steinert said. “I said I want to get some sort of business degree in marketing and sales and I want to go PGA school in Orlando that way I can still stick with golf and golf business in that sort of industry.”
Trevino was impressed with that answer.
“He asked how old I was and I told him I was 16,” Steinert said. “He said ‘And you have all that figured out?’ and I said for right now that’s what I would really like to do.”
In a world where one can be so easily influenced, Trevino offered Steinert some simple advice.
“He said, ‘If anyone ever doubts you or says no I don’t think you should do that or no that might not be a good idea or you could do something better, the first thing you do is tell them to shove it,’” Steinert said. “Then he said, ‘the second thing you do is tell them Lee Trevino said that’s exactly what I should be doing with my life.”
Steinert talked to Lopez about her practice routine and work ethic. Lopez had little constructive criticism to give, but a few words of encouragement for a young golfer who seems to have figured most of it out already.
“Nancy pretty much just told me to keep working as hard as I am,” Steinert said. “She [Lopez] said that with the work ethic that I’ve put in I should be getting better and be reaching my goals.”