Penn State alumna aims higher on LPGA Tour
When Katie Futcher walks onto the green in a LPGA tournament, her pride in her alma mater is immediately evident.
A tan stuffed animal resembling a Nittany Lion sits atop one of her clubs, a small blue-and-white scarf is wrapped around the lion’s neck, and the words “We Are” are stitched under her name on the panel of her bag.
And -- no surprise here -- her shoes just happen to be blue and white as well.
Traveling over the golf course, Futcher signs a few autographs for fans. She makes sure to squeeze in “PSU!” next to her name.
If a fan screams “We Are!” she smiles and answers softly to herself, “Penn State.”
Futcher, a Penn State alumna and former Nittany Lions golfer, continues to bleed blue and white as a professional on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. Entering her eighth year on the tour, Futcher has made her Penn State pride quite apparent over the course of her career.
“If you know that Katie Futcher is alive and existing in this world, you would know that she is Penn State all the way,” said fellow LPGA Tour player and close friend Stacy Prammanasudh.
“She carries it well,” said World Golf Hall of Famer and mentor Carol Mann. “She’s one of the most enthusiastic alumni I’ve ever met.”
Before graduating from Penn State in 2003 with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition, Futcher played four successful years under women’s golf head coach Denise St. Pierre.
“She had lots of top finishes in tournaments,” said St. Pierre. “As an individual, she qualified for nationals even when the team did not.
“She won a couple of events, which is not easy to do. In college golf, there are 100 players in the field. So, you gotta be the best of 100.”
Futcher was a two-time All-American (2002-03) and a two-time National Golf Coaches Association All-Academic selection (2002-03). She was also a two-time All-Big Ten selection.
In her four years as a Nittany Lion, Futcher started every tournament, posting an impressive 73 stroke average. She was also team captain during her sophomore, junior and senior years.
Futcher, now 31 and living in The Woodlands, Texas, considers her time at Penn State extremely influential.
“It was the best decision I’ve ever made,” said Futcher. “I don’t think I’d be on tour or where I am today if I hadn’t gone there. It was just a really, really great experience for me.”
Shortly after graduating, Futcher played on the victorious U.S. team at the 2004 World University Golf Championship in Thailand. She captured the individual title in that event.
St. Pierre was happy to join her as a coach on the team.
“To have her win the whole thing was just fantastic,” said St. Pierre. “I think that was just icing on the cake for all of us.”
In August 2004, Futcher turned pro. She played on the Futures Tour in 2005. She posted two top-10 finishes, with a season-best tie for ninth at the YWCA Futures Classic in York, Pa.
Futcher earned her LPGA Tour card in December 2005 after advancing through a difficult two-stage process of qualifying school, known as Q-School. She entered a pool of approximately 130 to 140 players, with limited slots available for LPGA Tour qualification.
In stage one, Futcher had to post a top-30 finish in order to advance. In stage two, she had to post a top-40 finish to earn tournament division membership.
During the final qualifying tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla., St. Pierre provided guidance as Futcher’s caddy, and she raised high expectations for Futcher during that week.
“We go down there and she asks me, ‘What are your goals this week?’” said Futcher. “And I said, ‘Well, I’d like to get my tour card.’ And she’s like, ‘I’m not caddying for you unless your goal is to win.’ She was always pushing me to be better.”
St. Pierre continues to play a guiding role in Futcher’s life.
“Besides my parents, she is definitely one of the most influential people in my life and in my career,” said Futcher.
In her seven years on the tour, Futcher has posted nine top-10 finishes, with two being top-five finishes at the 2012 HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup in Rio de Janeiro and the 2011 Craft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Futcher most enjoys playing in the British Open.
“The conditions change the style of play so much,” she said. “It can be blowing 40 miles per hour; it can be raining. The courses are quite different than what we’re used to playing. They’re much harder.
“Mentally, I feel like I’m very good at handling those kinds of situations. I think it just plays to my strength. I look forward to it every year.”
She tied for eighthat the British Open in 2012.
Futcher also thinks of her friendships on the tour as high points in her career.
“I’ve got some friends that I’ll know I’ll have for the rest of my life,” she said. “That’s just one of the cool things about the tour. You meet so many different people and you get to travel around.”
For Futcher to reach the next level and win a tournament, two-time major championship winner Carol Mann believes she needs to get in contention so she can learn how to close and win.
“Often it takes two or three failures,” she said. “Because your body changes, your brain changes a little bit, and you have to learn how to manage and deal with all of that.
“The adrenaline flows, your palms sweat, your knees are weak, you feel like throwing up. You can’t prepare. You have to just experience it and then learn how to manage you within all of that.”
Futcher recently started working with a new coach, Mike Adams, an adjustment that Mann believes will greatly benefit her play.
“She’s now working with a guy who has been able to change her impact so that her ball flight is better, her sense of athleticism is better,” said Mann. “I think the change that she made was a very wise one.”
Futcher said she is disappointed that she hasn’t quite played a breakout year so far. Yet with the LPGA Tour season now in full swing, she is confident that her fortunes will soon change.
“I don’t feel that I’ve really reached my potential,” she said. “But I know that if I keep doing the work, if I keep doing the right things, I know that will eventually change, and hopefully that will be this year.”
(Jon Blauvelt is a Penn State journalism student.)
