Sandra Post, a two-time winner, claims that the par 3s played longer in the early days of “the Dinah,” as it’s known around the world, especially before mature trees and condos cut through the desert winds. Post pulled out her driver and the TopFlite that she always kept in the bottom of her bag on the par-3 14th hole while playing in a twosome with her friend Judy Rankin on a very windy day while playing in a twosome with Judy Rankin.
Post’s missile peaked at 3 feet off the ground and crept onto the green after Rankin’s tee ball soared out of bounds, setting up a two-putt par.
Rankin, winner of the 1976 Colgate Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle, commented, “I can’t believe you keep a TopFlite in your luggage.”
After 50 years in the same location, such tales abound among the generations. With the exception of Babe Zaharias, who died in 1956, every notable LPGA star has competed at Mission Hills Country Club since the Dinah, now called as the Chevron Championship, began 22 years after the tour was founded.
Do you want to keep track of the women’s game? At golf’s first major, simply turn the pages of history.
“When the news about Colgate broke, here you have a worldwide multinational Fortune 100 corporation going supporting women’s golf,” said 1972 winner Jane Blalock. It represented the LPGA’s entire transformation from a barnstorming organization to a celebrity status.”
Perhaps it’s fair, then, that the golf world honors not only the influence of a tournament – but one woman in particular – as the LPGA prepares to depart Mission Hills at the end of this year’s event, destined for Houston and the promise of more. The idea that the voice in the booth, the First Lady of Golf as her television colleagues have dubbed her (she won a PGA of America honor by that designation in 1999), will be standing aside adds to the bittersweet tone of these final circuits around the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.
At the age of 77, Rankin is far from retiring. In 2022, she’ll still work a few events. However, this week’s Chevron will be her final appearance as main analyst for Golf Channel, as she makes way for another desert darling, Morgan Pressel.
“I wish it wasn’t,” Rankin added. “I wish I had the energy of a ten-year-old.”
Tuey Rankin grew up watching his mother win many of tournaments around the world long before tour childcare existed. Tuey, now 54, enjoys watching the action from Mission Hills on his big screen in his Lubbock, Texas home office.
Every year for Christmas, the Rankins would travel to Mission Hills, and Tuey recalls family rounds on the Dinah Shore course.
“When I was 11 or 12 years old, I didn’t realize how nice I had it,” Tuey remarked. “I just assumed that’s how everyone did it.”
Rankin, like many of today’s biggest names, began playing the LPGA as a teenager and won her first tournament in 1968. Judy Rankin and her husband Yippy were trailblazers when it came to child-rearing on the road, winning all 26 of her matches after giving birth.
A poor back forced Rankin to embark on yet another groundbreaking journey in 1985, when she became the first female to don a headset and cover the PGA Tour from inside the ropes.
Rankin was dubbed “one of the brightest players on the tour” by Post, and her methodical, balanced approach paid off on television as well. Former Vice President of Golf Events and Executive Producer at Golf Channel, Jack Graham, worked with Rankin from the beginning and claimed one of her best qualities is her ability to be critical without condemning. A word that comes out of Rankin’s mouth without any consideration is rare.
Graham describes her as a “warm listen,” stating that viewers consider her to be someone they’d like to be friends with if given the chance. They’re probably correct as well.
Because of the number of stops made on the golf cart to talk to fans, Terry Gannon, a coworker and close friend of Rankin’s since the mid-90s, said the trip from the complex to the set often goes down to the wire before going on broadcast. Rankin, according to Gannon, is incapable of being anything other than genuine, and will answer a fan’s question the same way she would on television.
“I’ve never met somebody who is so identical off camera to who she is on camera,” Gannon remarked.
According to Rankin, there was a difference in the terminology. Pressel was in the booth for the first time and pondered if it was time for a more modern take on the game. It’s certainly logical that someone who has traveled for more than 60 years might desire to spend a bit more time in west Texas. Perhaps a round of golf.
“I wasn’t as invested as I should have been” in certain recent programs, according to Rankin. “On Thursday, I’d peek at my watch, which isn’t a good thing.” It’s just too great a job to be looking at your wristwatch.”
On Sundays, however, Rankin was as invested as anyone down the line, and he will be from the moment the first shot is fired as the tour comes to a close.
Over the years, Rankin has told a number of people that she did not grow up loving golf. Paul Torluemke, her father, was a strict taskmaster, and money was scarce.
When Rankin was with her father watching the U.S. Open on TV one of the last times, he said something emotional that meant a lot to her.
Paul informed her, “I believe you played golf for me.” “I believe you were born to watch television.”
Rankin excelled in both of these areas. She was tough when she needed to be, but she was always compassionate. Grant Boone, Rankin’s co-host in the booth most weeks, likened his Hall of Fame pal to west Texas’ famous cuisine, chicken fried steak. It’s the perfect balance of rough and delicate when done correctly.
Rankin’s TV family enjoys getting on her nerves anytime they can. They’ve established a habit of telling people it’s her birthday at parties, and there’s always singing and cake, according to Gannon.
And why not have a party?
“Male or female,” Graham added, “I would tell you she’s the best golf analyst there has ever been.”
Pressel, like the venue that will take Dinah’s place, realizes she has huge shoes to fill. Rankin, the LPGA’s calm and collected voice, believes the moment is ideal for both measures.
When the tour first arrived in glitzy Palm Springs, the stars were all A-listers, and network television was a given. The event received unprecedented exposure because to Colgate-Palmolive chairman David Foster.
For the first time in almost a decade, the tournament will be broadcast on network next year thanks to a passionate blue-chip sponsor in Chevron, a new TV deal, and a new spring date.
This week should be a fitting tribute to a fan base that has supported the LPGA for the past five decades. And to a woman who dedicated her heart and soul into the game for an even longer period of time.
What does Rankin have to do with golf?
Many people, Boone feels, would respond to that question in the same way he does: by considering how Rankin has influenced him.
“She had one biological son and countless more who saw her as a spiritual, emotional mother, big sister, aunt, or key role in their lives,” Boone added. “I believe that is a significant component, if not the most significant aspect, of Judy’s personality.”
Those who are unfamiliar with Rankin feel as if they are, just as those who have not visited the Dinah feel as if they have.
The game will be without two old desert pals.
