Welcome to my blog! Happy you found me! Don't take the things I write too serious, I don't.

October 3, 2011

Solheim week

Where do I start?

The team
We had such a great team and I can’t praise my team mates enough. For the first time ever I felt we didn’t have a weak link. We had 12 strong players and with that comes freedom for the captain. I know I needed one match rest and with that I was able to go out in the singles and pull out what I needed. Without that match rest I’m not sure I would have been able to keep my good play up on the back nine on that Sunday.
When reporters asked us what we did during the three rain delays the answers were “we sang songs”. I know that sounds real lame but if you heard the songs.. you know were did it in true Euro style. The fun we had I will always remember.

Ireland
.. the greatest golfing country in the world for Sophie. Solheim was my 7th win on the Emerald Isle. I know I come off sounding like a right plonker but for months before Solheim, all that was running thru my head was “I have never left Ireland disappointed and I’m not about to start now”. I was not going to loose in the country where the people had adopted me as their own.

The interview
I have gotten so many responses for the interview I did during the week and I wanted to talk a little bit about that.
Many people don’t know how hard speaking is for me. For most people who stutter, the more comfortable they are, the better they speak. If you put us alone in a room, asking us to talk to ourselves, I can promise you, none of us will stutter. If you put us up in front of people, I can guarantee that we will all struggle.
For me to be able to do this I knew we had to do something out of the ordinary. As you can imagine, having camera guys and a reporter in the room with me would have totally messed me up. I knew I had to be alone in order to have any chance of making this work. So with the help of Val Skinner, the Golf Channel set me up alone in a room with a rolling camera. I had gotten the questions written down for me so all I had to do was read out the questions and then answer them. Sounds pretty simple.
What you saw in the 3 minutes and 30 second interview was a 70 minute struggle for me and a 2 hours and 30 minutes editing for the poor bugger at the Golf Channel.
I am, however, very glad I did it and I am overwhelmed by the amount of positive response I have gotten. I had absolutely no idea that this interview would stir up so many emotions in people.
I just wanted to say a few words about the tournament I love.

28 comments:

  1. Great Blog Sophie. Well done. Look forward to seeing u back in Ireland very soon. Good luck in Asia.

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  2. Really appreciate your blog - please keep it up, it's great.
    Knowing your interest in photography, I look forward to see some photo's from your Asian tour posted in here later on...
    All the best for your stay in Asia.
    //Kjell N

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  3. Sophie, very well done in the interview and in the Solheim Cup, great win for Europe. I think this Solheim Cup gave a huge boost to golf in general and women's golf in particular. It was great entertainment and the quality of golf was second to none for the most part. I had never seen the Solheim Cup before but I'm Irish so I couldn't help but be aware of this one, it was highly publicised here. I hope it results in a higher profile for women's golf, we so rarely get to see it on TV, it doesn't seem right!

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  4. I was going to post a comment but the previous one covers exactly what I wanted to say, however, it bears repeating; great entertainment, high quality golf, admirable sports(wo)manship and a partisan but respectful crowd. Well done to all involved.

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  5. Your interview about the Solheim Cup was incredible! You are an extremely courageous person and I applaud you for being brave enough to attempt it. I truly admire you and respect you all the more.

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  6. Always knew you had game, didn't realize how much heart was there too.
    Trite but true, You Go Girl!

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  7. Great interview that will help other who are dealing with same problem. Here is a blog that I found about your interwiev: http://blog.golfplanet.net/read/2011/10/05/sophie-gustafsson-%E2%80%93-the-queen%E2%80%99s-speech

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  8. Great to read your Solheim thoughts, we were in Ireland and were so impressed with your game and determination, our first Solheim Cup trip and we're already planning for Colorado!

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  9. I've never been a fan of yours before, but your interviiew has made me one. So brave to have done that! Can't imagine how hard it was. Please, please do more. It's worth however long it takes and however much editing is required!!

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  10. Great interview. You always look in control on the course. I even didn't know you were stuttering.
    Let your golf clubs speak for you!

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  11. Sophie you have always been my all time favourite Golfer (male or female) I feel you are always under rated and overlooked so I was overjoyed you were Solheim MVP this year. Then I watched your interview and I was truly moved by your bravery and delighted at how funny you are, you did make me chuckle. I have an 8 year old Nephew who also stutters severely, after showing him your interview he realises he is not alone and has come out of his introverted world and talks more than he has ever done.He now has a poster of you on his bedroom wall and each night says "Good night Sophie" you are his hero. Thank you for your extreme bravery, you have helped a little boy take a huge step to overcome his daily nightmare and when the kids at school take the micky out of him he tells them "you would not say that to Sophie" finally he has a reply, a voice, Thanks to you. Hope we hear more from you soon. Thank you so much, we Love you Sophie
    Lyn Baker England

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  12. Sophie, I was so moved by your interview !! I have been following you since last year and I was lucky to have had the chance to see you play at Evian Masters (I was there both times, thanks to my daughter who played the junior cup) and it was such a pleasure watching you play both last year and this year !! And then to come across your blog and see your collection of pictures was so delightful...you take such lovely pictures and write so well !! And if I may just speak my heart...here you are a brave and beautiful person at heart !! I have always believed and told people around me that "Inspiration has many faces" but today, to me its you !! And now another dream moment I await for in my homeland..to see you play at the Women's Indian Open 2011. I will be there with my daughter and I am looking forward to seeing you again. Always do what you love doing..and while in India do enjoy eating Indian food and please do take a few pictures in India... See you soon...God Bless You !!
    Mash, Bangalore, India

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  13. Sophie, I must have watched your interview 5 times now. I was so moved by how AWESOME you were and I am so glad that you did that interview. It seemed that the further into the interview it was, the more I admired you...and soon I did not notice any stutter, I just saw a beautiful, funny intelligent woman. I was sad it ended so soon, I wanted to hear more:-) You now have a fan for life in me. Do more interviews, you inspire more that you can possibly imagine.

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  14. That was a great interview, straight from the heart. Good luck to you in golf and life; you can make an impact on this world

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  15. Neat to be at the Solheim and to be part of that great win for the Euros!

    I can't get over your interview and the courage and effort it must have taken to get it done. From one of the posts above it's clearly been very inspirational already, it's a wonderful thing you did.

    Your comments regarding the editing had me laughing, as do your immensely funny tweets! Great use of English and great sense of humor - love it!!

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  16. I helped you at the Apple store on Tuesday (iMovie) and I had never heard of you before. However, I want to say that you inspired me. You do not let your stuttering to stop you in meeting new people and things. Most people have problems that no one knows about in their life. However, YOU are incredible! The heights you have gone, the things you have done. I teach leadership in college and I am speaking about leaders all the time. As far as I am concerned the BEST leaders are ones who overcome difficulties. YOU Sophie are a leader and I feel humbled to have met you and taught you a few things in the store.....finish strong and have a great day!!!!!

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  17. Hi Sophie,... I saw you play in Calgary a couple years back,...you played great that day,...was fun to watch. As a stutterer myself I am inspired by your interview. I am 39,... and as you know, it always remains a struggle. I am thinking this interview is a breakthrough for you, don't stop now, we want to hear more. All the best to you. I look forward to bringing my daughter, Sophie, to see you play next time you're in our area.

    Thank you

    Noel
    Calgary, Canada

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  18. Sophie,

    When I watched your golf channel interview I just wanted to reach through the screen and hug you. Incredibly moving! Don't stop talking; your words are no doubt as beautiful as the person inside. God Bless!

    K McKenzie

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  19. You did a great job on the game, and I think no words can describe how well you managed to get through that interview. I saw your video here:
    http://thesandtrap.com/t/53584/sophie-gustafsons-solheim-cup-interview

    More luck to you Sophie!

    Much respect for you,
    Randall

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  20. Just saw your interview on the Golf Channel. Very powerful! My wife and I have just become fans.
    Dennis and Pam
    Denver, Colorado

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  21. Thank you for sharing another part of yourself. Clearly, you are self conscious about your stutter yet you appear very humble about your golf ability. We all have abilities and disabilities. Your public revelation exposes a warming personal glimpse in a world where celebrities are put on pedestals. You seem to be someone that I'd enjoy talking to over coffee!

    Please know that the people that REALLY matter do not judge! I do acknowledge your courage personally and talents on the playing field, and send you a BIG WARM HUG...

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  22. Hey Sophie, just your saw your interview for the first time. I have been a fan of your golf for a long time, but I’m now a big fan of you!

    All my best and Merry Christmas,
    Ken from Ottawa, Canada

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  23. Just saw the interview. Very brave; very touching. I had serious problem related to public speaking. Hypnosis really helped.

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  24. I have had a severe stuttering problem all ny life (I am now 64 years old).

    That is, until 2 year ago.

    When I was around 25 years old, I found out, that I could speak fluently by means of "Delayed Speech". Unfortunately at that time, if was not possible to contruct a "machine" small enough to carry around, so I gave up that idea.

    But 2 years ago I discovered, that an american company had "invented" a device at the size of a normal hearing aid. I tested - and bought - the device, and it has helped me very much. Most of the time I speak fluently - and my few stuttering "sessions" are very short and soft.

    You will find the device if you search (Google) "SpeechEasy". There are other similar devices available, and I know, that they can help a lot of stutters.

    Kindest regards

    ..Jeppe

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  25. sophie,just read your article in si golf,it was great.i too stuttered severely for 18 years as i was growing up and suffered the usual things that accompany this problem.i was able to conquer my stuttering and found that each of us has to find their own path through this.i know you will too.good luck in everything you do.i'll be quietly rooting for you in front of my tv.regards,bob

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