Some of the of the biggest names in women's golf are here in Minnesota for the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
The big event tees up Thursday morning at Hazeltine National Golf Club, so we thought it would be a great time to look at three golfing greats in our state and they legacy they leave on the links.
PATTY BERG
You have to start a story like this with Patty Berg, after all, women's golf essentially started with her.
“I tried to play the best I could every day, every time I was out there,” Berg said in an interview from 2003.
And play the best she did. The girl from South Minneapolis had 60 professional wins, 15 of which were majors. A record that still stands today.
"She was a pioneer for women's golf, she did so many things that were the firsts for anybody,” says author Christine Dean.
Dean interviewed Berg for a book on the first 100 years of Interlachen Country Club where she told stories about her youth as the quarterback for the neighborhood football team, being a founding member of the LPGA, and the first professional woman to get an endorsement deal.
“That contract she had with Wilson lasted her entire life. I mean that's very rare, until she died at age 88 so she had the Wilson contract for 66 years,” says Dean.
Gregarious and full of life, Patty Berg is synonymous with women's golf.
HILARY LUNKE
In 2003, a U.S. Women's Open for the ages. A three-way, 18-hole-playoff for the title, and of course it came down to the final putt. Edina's Hillary Lunke, alongside husband Tylar as her caddy, would hoist the cup.
“I look back on it, and of course the fact that it came down to the final putt, and 90 holes and you would never have picked that at the time you would have wanted a much easier win, but now looking back it just makes the story that much sweeter and the memory that much better."
You'd expect someone who has won one of golf's biggest events to shout it from the roof tops, but you'll find no one more humble about her accomplishments than Lunke.
“The time it probably felt the most significant, if you will, was when I came back here to play the us open at Interlachen in 2008. Teeing off the first tee, in my hometown, being introduced in Edina Minnesota as a former US Open champion at the US Open, that was a really special moment, but probably the most nervous I had ever been to play golf before,” says Lunke.
"I hit a terrible tee shot, but then recovered, and was able to complete the event,” she laughs.
Hillary Lunke played seven years on the tour, and traveled the world, but something bigger was calling.
"I always wanted to have a family, and golf was secondary to me all along, and probably would have only played for a couple years had it not been for the us open,” she says.
MICHELE REDMAN
Over at the University of Minnesota you'll find Coach Michele Redman. The women's team couldn't have a better role model.
"That's the reason I'm doing this. I had a great college coach. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't have him,” says Redman.
Redman has an impressive resume. She won three Futures Tour Events, two LPGA tour events and ranks 27th all-time in career money earnings in the history of the LPGA tour where she played for 20 years.
"I was fortunate enough to play on four Solheim cup teams. That was really special for me to play in the top 10 us against the top 10 in Europe,” Redman says.
She's now using that experience to shape the future of Minnesota women's golf. Her mission? To make an impact on more than just the course.
"My goal here is to develop good quality people and we're doing that,” she says.