THE MODERATOR: Here with Brittany Altomare at the Pelican Women's Championship. You've had quite a month away from the game. I mean, a month in the married life, how are things so far?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, it's been great. We had an amazing time in Italy. Steve and I never really get to see our families because we live so far way, so it was great to be able to spend two weeks with family and seeing everybody all together at once.
I think was that the first time both families were together, too, so it was a lot of fun. Everybody got along, everybody had a great time, so it was fun.
Q. Getting married in Italy, how do you go about deciding that? Why Italy? How did you do the planning in a different country?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, we just knew we really wanted a small wedding. Like I said before, we never get to spend a lot of time with our families. I didn't want one big night where you don't get to spend time with anybody. I wanted to take people somewhere, spend some quality time. I kept calling it my family vacation, not my wedding.
It was really fun to hang out with people, and that was kind of our goal, to bond and spend time with our family. We were lucky enough to find a wedding planner over there that helped us. We were supposed to get married last year. We had to push it, and they were super helpful with that. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Q. Was it hard to plan a destination wedding with the crazy schedule this year?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: It was really hard. I mean, it was the first time I had been stressing a lot this whole year. Planning a trip for 20-something people wasn't -- and hosting them wasn't easy.
But I think it turned out to be way more than we thought, way better than we thought. It was a lot of fun.
It was worth all the stress, some tears. It was worth all of it.
Q. And what part of Italy?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: We got married in Tuscany.
Q. To the golf. Local hometown event for you. How nice is it to be able to drive your own car, sleep in your own bed, and be so close to home?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: It's great. It's definitely different. It was nice not having to pack a suitcase and lug my golf clubs around the airport. Sleeping in my own bed is great.
Dan, DEX has put on a great event last year. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately weren't able to have fans, so this year seeing how Tampa/Clearwater/St. Pete area is going to come support us, I think it's going to be an amazing event.
Q. Just curious how you've seen this golf course change over the year, another year of maturity?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, it's probably in the best shape I've ever seen it. They just got a new superintendant. He's done an amazing job with the greens. They're really fast this year and they're in great shape.
I think this golf course is all about the greens. It's pretty wide open off the tee. I think it's all about shotmaking, where you put yourself on the greens, because you can get some pretty crazy putts if you miss in the wrong areas.
Q. The 12th hole will be a signature hole this week.
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah.
Q. Take us through that hole.
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, I guess they're live streaming it this year. They told us in the player meeting. I think that's such an awesome idea, to get every single shot and then they can use it in Golf Channel in the interviews.
It's just something so unique and different that I hope it becomes a thing out here and I hope they can keep doing that with different tournaments. I think the fans will really like it.
Q. Having a lot of experience around Pelican Golf Club, how confident are you coming into this week?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, I think pretty confident. Definitely comfortable here. Hopefully I get some support with being a local girl. My family is coming down, so that will be fun. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
Q. Does having that experience ahead of time -- I mean, this golf course has some really hard greens. The complexes are not simple. Like you said they've gotten a lot faster. Does kind of knowing what to expect make you feel a little bit more comfortable this week?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: I think so. Knowing where to miss it, where the bail-out zones are, the easiest up and downs when you're in between clubs. I think it's nice to have local knowledge on this course, especially around the greens.
Q. Having the month off, heading into the last two weeks of the season, I mean, you had a lot stuff going on, but you seem kind of relaxed and happy. How much will that help you on the course this week?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, it is definitely different taking that much time off in the middle of the season. I've never done that before. You only get married once. It was so nice to spend time with family and just to recharge and not think about golf for once, especially during season.
I just had so much fun, and then I got home and just started practicing again. Two more events, so I'm excited.
Q. Looking through the schedule, throughout this year it's been a crazy busy one for everybody. You obviously played in the Solheim and had some crazy weeks there as well. What's the energy level heading into the last couple events of the season?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: I mean, for me, you know, usually at this time of the year I've been pretty tired. I think being able to have those weeks off has been key for me. Being a home event, it's busier for me than normally at an event, a lot of sponsor things, but it's fun.
Last night the Pro-Am party was amazing. I think the best I've ever been to. Dan did an incredible job. Pitbull was amazing. The food was amazing. He does everything first class. That's Dan. That's what he does. Last night was a testament to that.
I think, yeah, it'll be a good week and I'm excited.
Q. There is a lot that goes into a wedding.
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah.
Q. And especially in Italy, I would imagine. Take us through the process of yourself, how much you travel and everything -- I think I remember you went after Evian to do a site visit. Just the process of getting it all under your control on the road.
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, it was a lot. I mean, we travel for work and then I was doing extra traveling outside of that, which I normally don't do. It was a lot. I felt like I wasn't home a lot this year, especially in the off weeks. There was a lot of planning and stress.
Going over there and seeing it after Evian, the venue and meeting our wedding planner in person and doing a food tasting, put my mind at ease a little bit. But everything was still up in the air. I remember the week before Solheim I was almost in tears because they had changed the restrictions. The U.S. was on the safe list to travel to the EU, and then all of a sudden it wasn't.
I was like, Oh, my God we're going to have to cancel wedding. They're not going to let us in.
Luckily it all worked out. Everybody got there safely, tested negative. I mean, 26 people, it's crazy. I think being on the LPGA and getting 150 people, 200 people overseas and back kind of gave me peace of mind, but we test it out here regularly, whereas my family and friends weren't.
But it all worked out in the end. Angela Stanford was a big help. She helped me a lot. She went with me after Evian. We did the food tasting together.
I know nothing about wine, so she helped big time with that. But, yeah, she was great.
Q. There have been a lot of marriages on the LPGA Tour lately. Was there anyone else you reached out to, like, hi, help?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: No, but I think I kind of bonded with those girls, like how is it going, did you get your dress. I know Austin and I had weddings around the same time, so it's just been a fun year.
At Solheim I think in 2019 Steven was the only significant other there. This time there was a bunch and it was fun. I think they all got to hang out, we all got to meet each other and bond a little bit, so it was fun.
Q. Awesome. So on the pro-am party now, do you have a favorite Pitbull song?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: I didn't realize how many of them I knew. Okay, he's pretty popular. I kind of liked all of them, to be honest with you. Yeah.
Q. Looking ahead to this week, big week, last regular season event. How is your game? How are you feeling coming off a really big momentous occasion? How is the energy?
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Good. I feel really good. I got some good time in with my coach last week and yesterday. My swing feels really good. Putting feels good. I'm ready for a good two weeks.
THE MODERATOR: We appreciate it. Good luck.
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Thank you.
Q. (Question off mic.)
BRITTANY ALTOMARE: Yeah, I guess. Okay, I'll feed off Ally's energy, so...
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