THE MODERATOR: Here with Jane Park and Paula Creamer after your first round here at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Jane, obviously I want to hear about how the day went for you, what your expectations were going into the round and if you met them or not.
JANE PARK: I really didn't have expectations. I was super nervous, and I didn't want to let my partner down. We got off to a shaky start on the first hole because we almost missed our tee time, and I was first on the tee, but you know, Paula grounded me, and we kind of got into a good flow, and I'm so glad that we got 18 holes under our belt and the harder format out of the way.
PAULA CREAMER: Out of the way.
THE MODERATOR: You said yesterday, Jane, that you really wanted to take the time to just focus on golf.
JANE PARK: Yes.
THE MODERATOR: Were you able to do that, or was it so distracting with all the Grace hats around?
JANE PARK: I'm not going to lie, I didn't do well with just focusing on golf, but I think in a way I wanted to take a mental screen shot of the atmosphere and remember the feeling of walking up the fairway and preparing for a golf shot because if this is my swan song, I want to gather good memories even though I didn't play great today.
But I'm cutting myself some slack, more slack than I normally would when I was playing, but I tried to stay in the moment, and I didn't sometimes, but I made some good memories today with my partner, Paula.
THE MODERATOR: Paula, she just mentioned that you helped ground her. Did you feel like you did that today?
PAULA CREAMER: No, I didn't do anything. She's too nice. Some of the golf shots that I put Jane in, you would have thought she's been practicing these for the last two years. Some of these shots I was, like, holy cow, all of us. It was impressive.
It's great to be out there. I haven't smiled that much on a golf course in a long time. As much as this is a healing and a therapeutic type thing for Jane and her family, it is for me as well just being out there and enjoying the opportunities that we get to play this great game.
We have both of our daughters here, our families, and it just puts things in perspective sometimes and especially in an actual tournament round. You can do that in practice rounds all day, but when you have a score card in your hand, sometimes things change.
I feel like me personally I was able to kind of keep that going even into a tournament when I haven't really been able to do that on my own.
THE MODERATOR: With that being said, how do you also focus on golf? I know you said you're going to the driving range after this. How is that routine just a part of you, and how do you stay focused on golf when you know there's something much else going on too?
PAULA CREAMER: I think that sometimes I have to also -- like Jane said, I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself, but I also know mentally for me I have to do a couple of little things. Whether I go there and hit ten balls, it doesn't really matter. It's more being in the right mental place.
I'm not going to go to the putting green or do any of that. It's going to be on the way home to food, but I'm learning.
I also can't do what I used to do all the time. My body just doesn't allow me to hit as many balls as once before, but it's just part of what I do, part of my kind of routine. We'll get Hilton, and we'll leave.
THE MODERATOR: Speaking of your body, Jane, how do you feel after 18 holes?
JANE PARK: On 17 I told Paula, My back feels like it's going to break. I haven't done this much walking since two years ago. Paula then --
PAULA CREAMER: Because I'm a good friend and partner.
JANE PARK: She's a great friend. She said, Well, you've got to play double the shots tomorrow. Thanks for that.
Yeah, I am going to get some rest tonight. I will not be going to the driving range.
PAULA CREAMER: That's fine. That's okay.
JANE PARK: A good rest is in store for today.
THE MODERATOR: Just last question. Did you see Grace out there at all while you were out on the course, and what does it mean to see her while you get to play and seeing all the pink hats everywhere?
JANE PARK: Yes. The pink hats have been incredible. They're just little nods of we're here and we support you, and we want to learn about the world of disability with you.
Just seeing the pink hats on the course, it was just very calming, and it made this wonderful, big event feel like a small family, honestly, seeing those hats out there.
Being able to play in front of Grace even though she wasn't out there the whole time, I could hear her, and I can recognize her little voice.
And I won't lie, and I'm sure Paula feels this way too, when you are playing, you kind of miss your girl.
PAULA CREAMER: Oh, yeah.
JANE PARK: I think about her. I just wonder how she's doing, what she's doing. But, yeah, priorities definitely change after you become a mom, and I'm glad that we can take this week to prioritize ourselves as mothers and fill our cups by spending time with people that we love and someone like Paula, who I grew up playing golf with.
THE MODERATOR: That was beautiful. Thank you so much.
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