Nancy Lopez Q&A Highlights GIS Opening Session

Nancy Lopez, LPGA legend and victorious Solheim Cup captain, participated in a Q&A at Thursday's Opening Session of the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show.

Legends from the worlds of turf and professional golf converged in the Thomas Murphy Ballroom Thursday for the Opening Session of GCSAA’s Education Conference and Golf Industry Show.

A capacity crowd heard Old Tom Morris Award winner Joe Duich, Ph.D., and LPGA player Nancy Lopez describe the highlights of their careers and laud superintendents for their role in the game.

The event, presented in partnership with Bayer Environmental Science and moderated by GCSAA President Timothy T. O’Neill, CGCS, and GCSAA CEO Steve Mona, CAE, also provided an opportunity for Georgia host chapters to welcome attendees and to show support for Gulf Coast superintendents affected by the recent hurricanes.

Lopez, in her question-and-answer session with the Golf Channel’s Steve Sands, called her victorious stint last year as Solheim Cup team captain “the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced in women’s golf,” and recalled her most nervous moment as a player – winning her first tournament at Sarasota’s Bent Tree. “I wasn’t breathing as I stood over the (final) put,” she said, but when it dropped, “the whole world just fell off my shoulders.”