The COVID-19 pandemic has left everyone searching for silver linings, but few have made a bad situation better than Abby Liebenthal. When the outbreak shut down her home state of New Jersey, Liebenthal — the mind behind the Fore the Ladies intro-to-golf events — and her boyfriend decided to jump in the car and ride out the quarantine in Pinehurst, N.C., surrounded by the densest concentration of top-notch golf courses in North America. They arrived April 11, and in the 50 days that followed, Liebenthal documented round after round on her Twitter and Instagram accounts. And with the resort’s hotels and restaurants closed, she and her partner largely had their run of the place — the golf vacation of a lifetime, during the most unpredictable moment of all our lifetimes, and a good reminder that golf is all about making the best of imperfect outcomes.
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LYING FOUR: Did you go down intending to stay a month and a half, or —
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: No. We were like, “Let’s go for a week. That’ll be a nice getaway.” But as time went on, we’d say, “What hurts to stay another week? We’d be doing the same thing we were before we left.” So one week turned into two, and two turned into a month. We were comfortable there, and we had our little group of people — like, the same six people — that we were seeing everyday. And I was doing work during the day in the clubhouse. Why would we leave?
LYING FOUR: How much golf did you get to play?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: I’ve counted up the scorecards; I think I played, like, 20 actual rounds. But every night at 5:15, we would go play the Cradle. We would just play it as many times as we could before it was time to eat dinner. We played with the same group of people; there were money games going every night, and it was like, “Well, we have a good thing going!”
Pinehurst No. 4.
LYING FOUR: How formal was your plan for which courses you played? I mean, did you go down with an itinerary, or did you just wake up every morning and decide where you wanted to play?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: So, we are friendly with the Pinehurst staff, and they were very gracious hosts. My boyfriend had never been, so he wanted to play No. 2 and No. 4 as soon as possible. So the first weekend we were there, we played No. 2 both days of the weekend. And the first morning that we arrived, I was too tired, but my boyfriend went and played No. 4 by himself — like, first thing when we arrived. There wasn’t really an itinerary; it was more about what was available, because Pinehurst has memberships, and of course they were playing the entire time we were there, because they’re residents. So we just kind of played whatever was convenient for us and the staff.
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LYING FOUR: So where all did you play?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: I don’t think I played all nine courses; I played 1 through 5, and No. 8. I think the most pleasant surprise was No. 3. I’d been to Pinehurst before, but I’d only played No. 2 and No. 8. This was my first time playing the renovated No. 4, which was awesome. I think overall, it was just such a funny experience of working there during the day, and then shutting my computer down and being able to go out and play golf. At the end of the day, it was a very quiet place to be. And it was odd: certainly we could look around the world around us and realize how privileged we were to be in a place that really wasn’t as affected as the rest of the world, and to be doing what we love, which is playing golf all day. And we knew we’re never going to do this again — to kind of go off the grid for 50 days and play golf and be on our own at this beautiful resort that is typically bustling with people. And of course, Pinehurst was taking all the precautions that they could: they weren’t checking people in at the pro shop, and they opened up one of the ballrooms for more spacing when you checked in. The pro shop didn’t open until about a week before we left, when North Carolina entered Phase 2. So despite it seeming probably more normal than what a lot of the world was experiencing, it was still a change. And all the restaurants were closed. So I was sitting on the back patio, watching people play the 18th hole all day, but it was quiet. There was nothing going on around me. Whenever I called into video calls with my team at work, they were like, “Where are you? It looks beautiful there!”
Pinehurst No. 3.
LYING FOUR: I’ve played No. 2 three times, and I’ve always thought it would be a great course to play all the time, because where you want to be on the green changes so much depending on where the hole is cut. And playing that course a lot over a short period of time would give you a chance to get to know it better. Was there anything about No. 2 that you came to appreciate by the end of your trip that you hadn’t understood when you got there?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: The first time I played No. 2 was back in 2015, so it was after the 2014 U.S. Open and all those changes. But I was just trying to get around. I felt like the course was incredibly hard; I struggled so much getting out of the pine straw. I had a caddie, so if I’d been trying to manage it myself, I probably would have failed miserably. But returning this year, I think I came to appreciate how much more playable it is. I’m a 12-handicap — I’m very much an amateur, leisure player. So for me, it was a matter of taking my medicine and aiming for the center of the green. You can get out of pretty much anywhere, especially when it comes to the pine straw or any of the sand on the edges of the fairway. I took much more appreciation knowing that I could get out of any bad situation, and not just giving up on it — and also knowing that these are Donald Ross greens, and you just need to hit to the center and figure out how to putt once you get on. Whenever I was within 40 yards of the green, I was like, “I could be in a lot of trouble. It might take me two shots to stay on the green.” So overall, I learned it’s playable — but for an amateur player like myself, you can’t go at every pin, whereas I’m sure someone who’s a much lower handicap and is a lot better than me could do it. I just knew that it wasn’t going to be impossible out there — I just needed to make smarter decisions.
LYING FOUR: You mentioned how quiet the town was when y’all got there. What was that like?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: Most simply, everything was closed — except for restaurants, where things were available for takeout. It felt a little bit like a ghost town, but at the same time, you did see a lot of residents walking and out with their families a little bit more than I’ve experienced in the past. In the past, you’d always see big golf groups walking around, or a group of four guys in khakis and polos — whereas when we were there, things were a little quieter, and you saw what Pinehurst looks like to residents and the people there. And additionally, every time we went to a restaurant or a coffee shop to take something out, they were so incredibly gracious that we were there and were supporting the local business. The look and feel of the people was a lot different than what I’d experienced in the past.
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LYING FOUR: So as you settle back into the real world and your grownup responsibilities, I want to know more about Fore the Ladies. How would you describe Fore the Ladies?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: In one sentence, I’d describe it as an introduction to golf for young professional women. We host events, but we also have resources on the blog. At the end of the day, Fore the Ladies is meant to introduce women to the game however they want to be introduced to it. The reason that it kind of came to light is that I was attending more corporate events for women in golf — whether it was an all-day clinic or like a “ladies on the links” kind of day. And when I looked around, a lot of the women at those events didn’t really look like me. They weren’t my age, and a lot of them weren’t necessarily beginners. So I wanted to create a space that was more welcoming to women who were young professionals and maybe didn’t know where to start when it came to golf. And that’s why we now have these events across the nation: to provide that space for women to get their first introduction to the game, and see if then even like it.
LYING FOUR: So what did your introduction to golf look like?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: It was pretty traditional, to be honest. I grew up going to a country club in the summertime and playing in junior golf clinics all summer long, and then going to the pool. I had a very fortunate, privileged upbringing when it came to learning how to play golf. None of my friends really played; I always was playing either in a boys’ group, or there were a few other girls in the junior golf clinic, but none of my other friends really played. And that didn’t really matter — I would meet them at the pool later, or once I was a cheerleader in school, golf was kind of put to the side. That was my upbringing with the game. I didn’t play collegiate golf; I just always played for fun. I would play if we went on a family vacation, but it was never the biggest part of my life until my career. So as I continued to be involved in the game through my profession, my friends were always asking, “How should we get started? Where should we go? I don’t belong to a country club; there aren’t many golf clinics for women that I can find that are affordable.” So I was just kind of getting tired of not being able to find anything for women to play the game, or at least see if they like it. It was just a natural transition. I’d worked in the game for probably eight years by then, so I thought, “What can I do to make something that feels like it’s my own, but also feels right to me and feels like something that can help progress the game?”
LYING FOUR: That’s such a perceptive thing to have picked up on. Because if you didn’t grow up in a country club, golf can be really hard to penetrate even if you’re super-interested. Do I get lessons first, or do I buy clubs first, and where do I go, and what do I say? It can be really intimidating.
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: I think a lot of the time in golf, when we bring new initiatives to the table, sometimes we struggle with doing what we know rather than trying to appeal to the audience we want to reach. For me, how should I reach out to women who want to learn how to play golf? They’re not going to a golf course and then trying to find Fore the Ladies — I have to go to them. So when people ask me, “Well, how do you get the word out? How do you get all these women to come?” — it’s putting up fliers at a women’s fitness studio; it’s talking to them on social media and targeting women who are interested in things like physical fitness; it’s reaching out to organizations like Junior League and other women’s groups where they are looking for activities to do with other women. I think sometimes we get caught up in doing what’s traditional, rather than reaching this group where they already are.
LYING FOUR: Is there anything that golf — and specifically, men in golf — could be doing to make golf and golf courses more welcoming to new women players?
ABBY LIEBENTHAL: Yeah, with regard to the golf courses, having the option to pay for six holes — rather than nine or 18 — is huge for beginner golfers. The forward tees are great, but if you’re a man and you’re going to play with your wife or your colleague — something as simple as calling them the forward tees instead of the “ladies” tees makes that person feel a little more welcome to the game and provides them a little more space to feel comfortable in. And I think it’s hard to find a group of women to play golf with, and that’s OK — if you can’t find a group of ladies to play golf with, you’re gonna learn the more that you go out there; you might meet more women who are also playing at the same time you are. But as a guy, just invite the girl in your group who has said, “Oh I’m learning how to play golf!” Maybe she doesn’t play every hole, and don’t feel bad telling her, “Feel free to just drop the ball back in the fairway!” Just be encouraging, rather than, “Well she’s a beginner, so she doesn’t know what’s going on out there.”
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