Cilek Answers the Call to Change Roles
For LPGA first-timer Lee, the answer was clear
Audrey Neale
The sun opened to a calm, peaceful morning in Portland Ore., and the stage was set. More than 6,000 glorious yards of vibrant grass stood ready to greet the 144 competitors of the Standard Portland Classic.
Among them was newcomer Jacinda Lee.
The Colorado State junior looked out over the green in nervous anticipation, thinking about how she dreamed of this as a young girl. Standing right there with her, one person calming her nerves, was her college coach-turned-caddie, Laura Cilek.
Lee started the journey toward the LPGA not too far from home, hailing from Camas, Wash., sitting right along the Columbia River and Oregon border.
“The LPGA tournament happens every year in Portland. It's the longest running non-major event on the LPGA schedule and every year they host something called the PDX Open, and amateurs from around the area are able to play in a one-day qualifier,” Lee said. “Whoever wins gets an exemption into the tournament. That's what I won.”
In the Amateur open, Lee made four birdies in a row, forcing a playoff she won which clinched her spot in the Standard Portland Oregon Classic.
Growing up only 30 minutes from Portland, Lee had been watching the event as long as she could remember, inspiring her to pursue professional golf. She used to watch the professionals walk this same course, but now she was living the dream.
“It was a really cool experience especially because growing up I would go to the tournament and see all the professionals on the big stage and I got really inspired by them,” Lee said. “They're a big reason why I wanted to continue playing golf and pursue a higher level.
“It was really full circle for me to be able to play in the event this time. It was definitely a very nerve-wracking experience because I've never played in a professional tournament and all of these professionals who I've looked up to for so long like Lexi Thompson, she was there. I would walk past her during the tournament. So, that was really cool.”
Among the large field, Lee faced big names such as Aki Iwai who was ranked No.19 by Rolex Women’s World Golf and was a past Portland Classic winner, as well as other amateur champions.
For a first-time LPGA competitor, the big stage can be overwhelming.
As only one of three sponsor tournament invites, Lee knew she was a little fish in a big pond.
Standing next to her inspirations, Lee remained calm and collected. In an LPGA tournament as a rookie you have to look at it as an experience. Offering nearly $2 million for the winner, Lee wasn’t focused on the money but the green.
“I didn’t really have any expectations score-wise because I was just grateful to be there in the first place,” Lee said. “No matter how I played, I would be learning a lot and having exposure to such a big stage in the first place is what mattered most.
“I just went out there with an open mind and the ladies I played with were super nice and kind. They knew it was my first time out there and they were very nice to me. I just tried to focus on having fun.”
An experience of a lifetime, her teammates can relate to having played at higher levels.
As comes with playing in college, Lee and her CSU teammates have played in the spotlight across the United States and Europe. They know with bigger stages comes a lot of fear and unfamiliar faces but also opens up the ability for new experiences and invites grace under pressure.
“It's always super exciting to get on the bigger stages and see where you're at but it's also a little scary, seeing all these big names who you usually just see on TV and then standing next to them or playing in the same group as them,” Ebba Thalen said. “You're more nervous at first and then it just gets really exciting.”
For Lee, there was one way of making the unfamiliar feel more comfortable -- bringing along a familiar face. When Lee advanced to the Portland Classic, she had one person in mind and one phone call to make. To the person who has watched her develop in college, the one who will be here when this season starts on Sunday at the Badger Invitational in Madison, Wisc.
With no hesitation, a quick ring back to Fort Collins, and a plane ride later was her CSU coach, Cilek.
“I was going through people in my head and Laura knows my game really well,” Lee said. “She has experience caddying for me during tournaments, she's able to help me go through shots in different situations on the course and she knows my tendencies and how I play.
“If I had a different caddie like one of my other coaches from back home, they don't really know me on the course like Laura does. Laura's been here since freshman year, and she knows what she's doing.”
Cilek is not new to the golf scene or caddying, with more than 15 years of coaching experience, she’s spent plenty of time at the bag, understating what her players need.
As the face of CSU women’s golf, Cilek’s goal is to create an environment where her players can call on her for anything.
I think those are some of my favorite moments as a coach with players. It's just walking down the fairways, those are moments you will take way, way beyond their college career.Laura Cilek
“You hope you have that rapport with the player, that they can trust you in those big moments and that you're going to be there for them as a supportive role and a good influence,” Cilek said. “I think it probably meant the most to me that in a big moment, she's calling us to be there and that she wants CSU to be around.”
For Cilek and Lee, the relationship goes beyond golf.
Lee has spent the past two years learning and growing with Cilek, from working on her swing to course strategy and her next shot. However, in this moment the conversation called for something a little less serious.
Such as food.
A classic attention distractor, a major factor in the pair’s bond comes from less golf talk and more casual conversation.
“We talk about, man, everything. Netflix, a lot of food; talk about food a lot,” Cilek said. “You know, we talk about their golf game.”
But aside from food or what they’re doing during the week, there is real connection behind caddying. Especially in the case of Lee and Cilek.
A relationship with a caddie becomes especially important after grueling hours, when the pressure starts to build.
“You talk about everything,” the coach said. “You get to know each other really well. I think those are some of my favorite moments as a coach with players. It's just walking down the fairways, those are moments you will take way, way beyond their college career.”
A caddie isn’t necessarily there to tell a golfer how to take every shot but be a friendly face reminding them they are there, for the good and the bad.
They aren’t alone.
“Most of the time, the golfer knows what types of shots to hit and how to play your golf,” Thalen said. “You just want someone you're comfortable around to talk about something else between each shot or try to stay calm.
“It's not someone who helps with the golf, just someone who talks about anything else in golf.”
For Lee, having Cilek there didn’t mean a coach to tell her what to do, it meant a mentor, a familiar face in the crowd, and ultimately a trusted friend.
As well as assistance from Cilek on the sidelines, Lee also had help from her friends, even thousands of miles away.
Thalen, teammate and roommate, made sure to stay updated on the event, checking in from a nine hour time difference, all the way in Sweden.
“Jacinda, Kara (Kaneshiro) and I have a group chat, and she texted us the day before and after the rounds and she was pretty nervous but we're always just super supportive of her,” Thalen said. “I tried to watch as much as I could, I kept refreshing the leaderboard, asking Laura for some updates too. I was like, ‘wow, she's so tiny, but she's on this big stage.’ It's really exciting because I think it makes us all believe in ourselves that we could also be there one day.”
For Thalen, she wasn’t only watching as a teammate and friend, she was seeing live the possibility given to Lee and the relationship between a golfer and her caddie.
Lee, the same player who had once watched her favorites on TV was now sharing the green with them, no longer a spectator but a competitor.
When Lee looked out over the grand 72 holes of the Portland Classic, standing next to some of the biggest names in women’s golf, she wasn’t standing alone.
To have a coach who knew her game and her personality was more than the money offered, more than the hours put in and balls hit.
Picking the person next to you can be a hard and daunting task, but for Lee the answer was always right there.
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