After playing at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, New Jersey, on Friday, Brittany Altomare will skip the next event the following week, although it is also held in Garden State.
She has something far more important to do. Altomare will marry her Shrewsbury native Steven Stanislawzyk on Saturday October 9th in Tuscany, Italy.
The young couple waited an extra year to get married as the wedding was postponed due to the pandemic last October.
“We’re both really excited,” she said in a phone interview this week from her Tampa, Florida home.
After playing at the Evian championship in France in July, Altomare and Stanislawzyk took some time off to explore their wedding venue in Italy.
“It was a lot,” she said. “Between trying to form the Solheim Cup team and planning a wedding and whatever, it was a lot, but it was a lot of fun. It’s been an exciting year, but a lot more happens than usual. “
Altomare ranks 40th this season at $ 429,760.
She has decided that she will bother traveling to South Korea during the pandemic to stop on May 21-24. Playing at the LPGA Tour event October wasn’t worth it -14 in Belleair, Florida.
Although Altomare has skipped a few events over the next few weeks, Altomare is still hoping to be among the top 60 golfers in the CME Globe Season Points to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship at the end of the season from November 18-21 in Naples, Florida. It is now in 44th place.
That season she was in the top 20 and three times in the top 10, including a season best draw for third place in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June for $ 137,324. That event was one of the first to see fans at full capacity during the pandemic, and Altomare said it was motivated by the large crowds.
Solheim Cup was a highlight
Another highlight of her season was on Labor Day weekend when she played for Team USA in the Solheim Cup for the second time. She set a 2-2 record and her two points were third-highest for Team USA, who lost 15-13 to Team Europe at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
“When you lose, you always look back, of course,” she said, “and think to yourself, ‘I should have done this or I could have done better,’ but I felt like I played pretty well.”
Altomare and Lexi Thompson defeated Europeans Charley Hull and Emily Pederson, 2 and 1, to avenge a 1 loss to them in their previous four-a-side match.
“It was fun playing with her and getting to know her better,” said Altomare.
Altomare, 30, described the Solheim Cup galleries as amazing and she said she is pumped to play in front of fans this season after they were banned due to the pandemic last year.
“We’re entertainers,” she said. “That’s our job – to entertain at the end of the day and it’s great to have fans back, especially in Solheim. That’s what you play for. You play to get into these teams, you play to get into the majors and compete and play in front of an audience. There’s just nothing like it. I feel like they make you play better. You get all these feelings that you didn’t have if you didn’t have fans there. It is great. I love to have her back. “
LPGA Tour golfers are tested regularly, and Altomare said she has not had a COVID to the best of her knowledge.
“I feel like you never know,” she said. “So I can’t really say I didn’t have it, but I feel like I didn’t have it. All of my tests were fine, but who knows how accurate these tests are? “
At the Solheim Cup 2019 Altomare set a 2-1-1 record and scored 2½ points, also the third highest for Team USA, who lost 14½-13½ in Scotland to Europe. Her performance two years ago was one of the reasons Pat Hurst chose her as one of her three captains this year.
After the Women’s British Open finals on August 22nd, Hurst and assistant captain Angela Stanford announced that they had made it to Team USA.
“I was super excited,” said Altomare. “Every time you play in such an individual sport in a team and especially to play for your country and for a captain whom I really like and respect, it was great and a lot of fun.”
Last Monday, Altomare played in a Stanford Pro-Am in Fort Worth, Texas that gives scholarships to teenagers whose lives have been affected by cancer.
“She’s one of my really good friends and I just love being able to help where I can,” she said.
Back on track
In their last four LPGA Tour events, Altomare has missed the cut twice and the 42nd twice.
She’s happy with the way she hits the ball, but wishes she’d pocketed a few more birdie putts. This is a common complaint for LPGA tour golfers, but Altomare is usually a tough putter.
“I putted well,” she said. “I just didn’t do anything. It wasn’t like I was hitting putts and my speed was way off, or I was hitting putts where they didn’t look like they were going in. Everything looked really good, they just didn’t go into the hole. Everything feels good. This is golf. You always have such ups and downs. “
She still works with golf coach Justin Sheehan, putt coach Mark Sheehan and coach Jeremy Maddox, but she hired a new caddy, Audrey Gerdes, in May. Gerdes was touring for Kim Kaufman, a good friend of Altomare’s, and she filled her bag in Asia a few years ago.
Back home to Shrewsbury
Altomare spent Christmas in Shrewsbury with her and Stevens’ families. Her father Tom has since moved to Reynolds Plantation in Georgia, so he’s only a six-hour drive from her home in Tampa.
She stays in touch with her former Shrewsbury High golf teammates and former golf pals at Cyprian Keyes GC in Boylston, including Brett Malboeuf and Falcucci twins Dave and Dan.
At the Solheim Cup, broadcaster Amanda Balionis asked the players questions about the programs submitted by fans. Altomare’s question was about the 3 Card Blitz game.
“I laughed,” recalls Altomare. “She said, ‘Do you know what that means?’ I said, ‘Yes, and I know exactly who asked the question.’ ”
It was Dave Falcucci who had played the game with her when he and a few others visited her last winter to play golf.
“They’re great fun to keep in touch with,” said Altomare, “and to know that they’ll follow me. They are a great group of guys. “
—Contact Bill Doyle at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @ BillDoyle15.