By Nate Allen
Special to the News-Times
ROGERS - Stacy Lewis comes to this Northwest Arkansas Walmart Classic like she’s never come to it before.
And she’s come to each of these Ladies Professional Golf Association tournaments since winning the first one in 2007 as a University of Arkansas NCAA champion and winning it in 2014 as an LPGA touring pro for the 13th of her 14 professional victories, including two of LPGA’s five major tournaments.
Married to Gerrod Chadwell, the University of Houston’s head women’s golf coach, Lewis returns expecting the couple’s first child in November.
She also returns after being on the committee that advised Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz on replacing athletic director Jeff Long last December.
The selection of Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Houston while Chadwell coached the Cougars’ women’s golf team, naturally prompted Lewis fielding questions both about her pregnancy and committee role at Pinnacle Country Club.
“I’m super excited to be back,” Lewis said. “I got back a couple of days early because I love being up here.”
Especially while resting for two.
“I get pretty tired and the heat makes it a little bit harder,” Lewis said. “But still, I’m able to hit all the shots I need to, which I’m excited about. The golf course isn’t one of our longest and I’m excited about that too. I think it will keep me competitive and stay in the mix. I’m probably not hitting a driver as far, but my irons are still going the same distance.”
Still, she’s ready to wrap it up after two more tournaments to concentrate on being a mother-to-be with a Nov. 3 due date.
“I’m going to play the KPMG PGA next week and two weeks later in the Marathon Classic and that will be my last one,” Lewis said. “I’m looking forward to the break and to be a mom. I’m super excited.”
What about her role on the Arkansas advisory search committee coming at the request of Arkansas Senior Associate Athletic Director Julie Cromer Peoples?
“That was a really cool experience for me,” Lewis said. “Julie actually called me and asked me to be a voice for the female Razorbacks. To make sure the females were heard from.”
She must have had a heads up that Yurachek would be the choice given her connections.
Not really, Lewis replied.
“Honestly. I found out that Hunter was going to be hired through my husband,” Lewis said.
“The Chancellor really at the end made the call. We gave our opinions and told him what we thought we needed and he made the call from there.”
What input did she provide?
“Names were thrown out, but a lot of it was what type of person do we need?” Lewis said.
“What kind of qualifications do you want? A business person? Is it a coach?
“That’s what we talked about, the type of persons more than names specifically.
“Truthfully, I know a lot of people said, ‘No’ just because of the way things went down with Jeff leaving. So we were in a position where we were kind of going by lists instead of maybe our first choice.”
This week, she’s back in her familiar role as still the queen of Razorbacks women’s golf, but with the palace expanded.
SEC Player of the Year Maria Fassi led coach Shauna Taylor’s Razorbacks to the first SEC team championship in the golf program’s history.
“It just shows you the talent level we’re getting to come to Arkansas,” Lewis said. “They won the Southeastern Conference championship this year, which is super cool. Just really cool what Shauna has been able to do.”
Fassi has Arkansas’ annual exemption to play as an amateur in this tournament and Razorback Dylan Kim made the cut during Monday’s qualifying.
“Dylan is a great player,” Lewis said. “And Maria is going to be unbelievable. Once she figures out how to manage things just a little bit better, she’s going to be really good. I’m excited to see what she’s going to do in the next couple of years.”
Taylor has said having this LPGA tournament in Northwest Arkansas casts an immeasurably vast impact for Razorbacks golf.
Lewis concurs.
“No other college program has what these girls get to do,” Lewis said. “To have it in their backyard where they can come and watch and be with us, they have a great opportunity and great chance to compete against the best. I know for me it was huge.”
And still is.
“The way that Razorbacks fans support Razorbacks and former Razorbacks, there’s nothing else like it,” Lewis said. “I just love this week that I get to come back.”