The reigning Tennessee senior women’s amateur player of the year prepared for the Tennessee Women’s Amateur in a different manner than the rest of the field.
College golfers often listen to their iPods on the putting green and driving range. McCravey one-upped those musical preparations.
She went to Bonnaroo.
And she likes to brag about being sardined in a friend’s RV with seven teenagers, broken air conditioning and nearly 80,000 people who probably know less about golf than Kanye West.
“Before I went I would have said, ‘There’s no amount of money in the world that could get me to go,’” McCravey said. “But since my son asked me to go, I did it.
“We had a blast. It was wild, but it was fun.”
Ben Folds, Jack Johnson, Pearl Jam and Cat Power were her favorite performers at the four-day music festival at Manchester.
“Kanye came on at 4:30 in the morning, so I couldn’t see him,” McCravey said. “But I sure could hear him.”
McCravey has made plenty of noise in athletics throughout the Chattanooga area over the years. Golf, softball and volleyball — she played them all.
“I’ve been playing golf 45 years, and it started when I won a little junior tournament when I was 8,” she said. “I was the only girl, and I won.
“I love to compete.”
She’s competed at the highest levels of amateur golf available through the USGA. She qualified for the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur last year. Then she made the match-play field at Sunriver Resort in Oregon.
“That’s definitely been my highlight,” McCravey said. “I lost my first match after being 3 up at the turn.”
Making the field boosted McCravey’s ranking within Tennessee by enough points to make her the senior player of the year.
McCravey underwent hip surgery, for a second time, in December. That limited her play early this year and leading up to this week.
Back healthy again, McCravey proved she can still play by shooting an 80 in stroke-play qualifying Monday at The Honors Course. She lost to defending champion Dawn Woodard 5 and 4 on Tuesday.
“I was so nervous because I haven’t really played anything since last year and I had a great year,” said McCravey, 53. “I played well, but Dawn played great.”
McCravey has helped dozens of junior golfers through the years, mostly during her coaching days at GPS. She’s not exactly sure when that started — “maybe 1986” — or when she took over full-time for Peggy Johnson.
“Maybe it was 1996,” she said.
Brooke Pancake grew up a few houses down from McCravey and remembers talking golf with her at a young age. It’s still their favorite topic.
“I came in one time from a tournament when I didn’t putt so well and she said, ‘That’s how it goes sometimes, but if you put in the work, it will be there next time,’” Pancake said. “She’s one of the people that comes in name-wise with Betty Probasco. She’s a hall of famer.”
