Episode 11: The Art of Golf and Life with Amy Alcott

Anna Hall: We’re taught from a young age to value independence. But what if our true strength is our ability to connect with others? Through conversations with the fascinating folk who live and work at Front Porch Communities and Services, we explore how community shapes us, how we can learn from people in every stage of life, and how each of us makes an impact in our own communities and beyond. Welcome to The Front Porch Podcast. I’m your host, Anna Hall.

Words really matter, in life and in work, because they shape how we think about things. And at Front Porch, we have a lot of conversations about the appropriate words to use that accurately illustrate the kind of lifestyle that we make available for people in our communities. One of the words that is hotly debated is the word retirement or retirement community. Because really, what does retirement mean?

It usually in a dictionary definition means ending something. And in our mind, moving to a community and the life that it offers is sometimes a new beginning, but more often an incredible extension of possibilities, dreams, wishes, hopes, elderhood, etc..

And in the midst of those conversations, our CEO, Sean Kelly, met Amy Alcott, a world-class, award-winning champion golfer who was also very intrigued with retirement in her own experience of what that looks like. And through those conversations, there was so much synergy that we invited Amy Alcott to become our first ever Front Porch ambassador. And so I’m so pleased to bring you, Amy Alcott, and our really fun conversation from the Front Porch Golf Tournament, where we are raising funds for our Home Match program.

During her 27 year career, Amy Alcott rose from practicing golf at age seven in her Santa Monica front yard, putting into soup cans and sprinkler heads to become a world class champion. A member of both the World Golf and LPGA Halls of Fame. Amy also leads Amy Alcott Golf, an event consulting and golf course design company. She’s the author of several books, including The Leaderboard: Conversations on Golf and Life. As the first official Front Porch Ambassador, she promotes a purposeful vision for later life.

Hi, I’m Anna Hall. I’m so excited to be having this conversation with you, Amy.

Amy Alcott: Glad to be here.

Anna Hall:  Thank you for sitting down with me at the Front Porch Golf Tournament.

Amy Alcott: Well, this is wonderful. I mean, we have a beautiful day.

Anna Hall:  Beautiful day.

Amy Alcott: Yes.

Anna Hall: So, Amy, you are an ambassador for Front Porch Communities and Services,

and we are so glad to have you. What exactly does that mean?

Amy Alcott: Well, you know, I don’t know completely, but I’m still very active out in the golf world and out in the world of business. I’m learning a lot about this industry. My job is just spreading the word and, and shedding light on the, you know, what Front Porch does.

Anna Hall: I think you’re the perfect ambassador because you just naturally embody what it is that that means something to us as an organization. You know, we’re not-for-profit organization.

Amy Alcott: Yes.

Anna Hall:  We create revenue and then we reinvest it in our people.

Amy Alcott: Right?

Anna Hall: Right. And a lifestyle that helps people think about their next adventures, who they want to continue to become. Or think about what’s that next transition and get some support to like live the heck out of life.

Amy Alcott: Yeah. Exactly.

Anna Hall:  And so you are the perfect ambassador. I see why Sean chose you. Good job Sean, good job.

Amy Alcott: Good job Sean.

Anna Hall: Yes. Very good.

Amy Alcott: The first thing people ask me now at this phase of my life is, what are you doing now? You know what? What is it? What are you doing? And you know, they’re used to seeing me make a five foot putt in Toledo, Ohio in the golf tournament. But I’m more than that. You know, and what I’m doing now is I’ve kind of gone from one part of something I know, golf and the life of the tour player to… I’m my life is more of a smorgasbord. Where when you’re a professional golfer, your life is extremely myopic. It’s when I want to practice, when I want to do this, when I want to do that. And now I’m in a different phase of life where, you know, I can design golf courses and I can write books.  And part of that is, you know, learning about a new industry, senior living. This whole senior living concept and I know many people who were older than me that were part of this. And now I’m getting older and I’m learning about it. Yeah, it’s just something that I’ve, you know, embraced.

Anna Hall: That’s beautiful to hear that you’ve embraced it. For so many people that embrace it enough to eventually join us and live in a community. The number one thing they say is, I wish I did it sooner.

Amy Alcott: I can, I can see that, you know, you lose a spouse you have… it can be a lot of things. You can have just been on your own, and just this need for connection with people and activities and was talking to Sean, maybe one of the communities or a couple of them.  we build some putting greens.

You know, people have had maybe had golf or not had it in their life, but most people can putt and they…

Anna Hall: There’s hope for me?!

Amy Alcott: Yes.

Anna Hall:  I can putt.

Amy Alcott: Yes.

Anna Hall: Okay.

Amy Alcott: And socialize with somebody and walk around outside and whatever. So we’ll work on that idea.

Anna Hall: And part of the reason well, our main reason for the golf tournament this year is that we’re raising funds to support Home Match.

Amy Alcott: Right.

Anna Hall: Home Match is a home matching program where somebody who has a room in their house, can offer space to someone who needs some room.

Amy Alcott: Fantastic.

Anna Hall: Housing insecurity and the expense of that is

Amy Alcott: yes

Anna Hall: is outlandish.

Amy Alcott: Right.

Anna Hall: Right. And as we’ve been saying, we need other people. We need community. It is a great way to not move through the transitions of life alone.

Amy Alcott: Right.

Anna Hall: So what are your thoughts about Home Match?

Amy Alcott: First of all, it’s a wonderful idea.

Anna Hall: Yes..

Amy Alcott: But I think as you get older and you lose people in life, but you still have a lot to offer and you have that home insecurity or can be home, health, whatever, and the need to be around people.

Anna Hall: Yeah.

Amy Alcott: and not be sitting in a room by yourself and being able to interact and share thoughts and ideas. And if it’s a good match, then it’s a Home Match.

Anna Hall: Yes.

Amy Alcott: Yeah

Anna Hall: I love, oh I love that.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall: I think that’s our new slogan, right? If it’s a good match, it’s a Home Match because we do have a lot of process in place to match people with others who will be compatible with them. So that’s a good one. Thank you.

What is it that you love about golf?

Amy Alcott: Well, what I love about golf hasn’t changed since I was a nine year old kid putting into the sprinklers on my front lawn. And having watched it on TV, I became fascinated by the artistry of the golf swing, the whole art of it all is probably what I still enjoy the most. Having had a Hall of Fame career at it.

Anna Hal: You think of golf as a form of art.

Amy Alcott: Oh, yeah.

Anna Hall: Is that accurate?

Amy Alcott: Yes. Yeah. I don’t know how many people would would maybe tell you that, but the golf movement and swinging a golf club is what attracted me. You know, I think I was pulled into the sport because I think we gravitate towards things that are maybe perfectly suited for our personalities. And in golf, you have to really be willing to spend a lot of time alone, because you’re working on developing your talent, your craft. And so, yeah, it’s definitely an art. It’s a hard art to learn.

Anna Hall: Takes so much patience.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall:  I tried golf in high school gym class, and I kind of decided, oh my goodness. Really hard.

Amy Alcott: Yeah. And it’s a stationary object on the ground. And you’ve got to get that ball. It’s not reactionary where something’s coming at you and you can pivot.

Anna Hall: So if golf is like art for you, do you ever see yourself completely retiring from it?

Amy Alcott: No. I mean I would play… I was telling somebody the other day at the U.S. Open, I would play golf whether I had gotten paid to do it, made a career at it, I’d still be playing golf. But, you know, it’s like I told Sean Kelly with Front Porch, you know, people should never retire. You just kind of morph into another aspect of life, you know? And although I’m not traveling and living on the golf tour anymore, the way I did for 35 years,

living out of a suitcase, having room service, working, you know, being very myopic…

Anna Hall: Yes.

Amy Alcott: I still, you know, would be playing it whether I was dedicating my entire life to being the best.

Anna Hall: You’re speaking purpose to me.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Because purpose is something that we’re born with. It’s a part of who we are. It shapes how we see the world, how we experience things. But it’s also what brings us meaning and joy. And the way that you describe golf is not: I hold a putter and I win a championship, although that is definitely a part of it. It’s the joy, it’s the meaning. It’s the adventure.

Amy Alcott: Right.

Anna Hall: It’s a journey because nothing in golf ever stays the same twice. The U.S. Open was in Los Angeles this last week at my home course, Riviera Country Club, where I grew up. And the young gal Nelly Korda, who was the favorite in the tournament, she’s just an amazing young player, but she’s never won the U.S. Open. And it’s obviously my course. I’m a U.S. Open champion and got me thinking when I was 23 years old, and I was very nervous about going out. I was in contention. The final round of the U.S. Open, and the pressure

to have all your dreams come true. You know,

Anna Hall: Or not.

Amy Alcott: Or not. It’s really scary. And I was just channeling back 40 something years. I remember a conversation the night before the final round I had with my mom, who was not a golfer. She said to me, “Amy, just go out and let the world enjoy you.” And that took all the pressure off. You know, if I had had parents that were pushy parents and the love of the sport hadn’t come from me, she just knew that just go out and let the world enjoy you. Let your talent shine. You know, if it’s not this time, you know it’ll happen. After the tournament… Nelly won. Was on national television, everything. I got the chance to hug her. And I said, “you let the world enjoy you.”

Anna Hall: You passed that gift along, the mindset of that gift.

Amy Alcott: And it’s great to be able to pass that along to the next generation of young players.

Anna Hall: Absolutely.

Amy Alcott: And so that’s why no one should ever retire.

Anna Hall: Is there a better word for retirement than retire? Because when I hear the word retire, it seems to mark an ending, but not a what’s next?

Amy Alcott: Yeah, I don’t know. It’s got to be a better word for it because the better you’re… sometimes your better years are beyond when you punched a card for 50 years with a company.

Anna Hall: So true. It’s in a way a chance to live into and lean into what brings you meaning and joy and purpose even more.

Amy Alcott: Right. Meaning, joy…

Anna Hall: The word that I’m liking a lot instead of retirement these days is transition.

Amy Alcott: Okay.

Anna Hall: Because it’s from something to another thing. And there’s no there’s no like definition of what that transition needs to be. But the word means that we’re in the flow of life and things are always changing. And there’s always time for new art.

Amy Alcott: Art, new art to be created. Yeah. Like pickleball. Or whatever it is.

Anna Hall: Exactly. And that’s what I love about Front Porch. You know, it’s living in our communities is an invitation to go even deeper, to figure out who am I? And what am I going to continue to do? How am I going to continue to live my life? And really an opportunity to, to live into yourself and others.  

Amy Alcott: It’s that time you get to spend with others within the community, that’s such a diverse group of people that kind of open up your world.

Anna Hall: Yes. Isn’t that the beauty of community and diversity?

Amy Alcott: Yeah, absolutely.

Anna Hall: Did you have a golfing community that helped you through your career?

Amy Alcott: No. I had an older man named Walter Keller who taught me how to play. He didn’t have children, and he taught me how to play hitting into a net in his golf shop, right by UCLA. And he remained my teacher my entire career, until the day he died. And yeah, I learned a lot from Walter. You know, I learned a lot from my years as a junior golfer, meeting kids from all over Southern California. I played nationally, so I met kids from all over the United States. And then I turned pro quite young. You know, I didn’t go to college. There was no active title nine.

Anna Hall: How old were you when you turned pro?

Amy Alcott: Eighteen.

Anna Hall: Wow.

Amy Alcott: 18. And I won my first tournament when I was 19. I was thrown out into the world, staying in private homes all around the United States in different cities, playing tournaments, meeting different kinds of people. And I had to learn to manage myself.

Anna Hall: In real time.

Amy Alcott: In real time.

Anna Hall: Like flying the plane while you’re building it.

Amy Alcott: And I was in a very competitive environment where you’re out there every day with people that want to knock you off the cliff.

Anna Hall: Does that motivate you or scare you? Or a little of both.

Amy Alcott: It motivated me. ‘Cause I wanted to see how good I could be, you know. And it’s weird, some of the greats of my generation in my sport now we can be friends. Where before there was a line in the sand, you kind of didn’t cross it. You didn’t eat with them, you didn’t have much conversation. Now you can kind of, like, reminisce about memories. Do you remember in Montreal when you did this or you did that? Do you remember going to the Philippines and we ate in that restaurant or whatever? Or do you remember the days of the Colgate, the beginning of the Colgate Dina Shore when you jumped in the water? You know, it’s like it it’s still present. You have these relationships with people and they’ve gone on with their lives to do other things, too, you know?

Anna Hall: But it’s all, I think those memories that we hold dear to us do touch a part of our essence, our purpose. And maybe that’s why they stick with us and stand out. And then the question is, how do I take that essence of that memory or that thing that I did and extend it into today and tomorrow?

Amy Alcott: Right.

Anna Hall: And the next day.

Amy Alcott: Right. There’s almost a safety, if that’s the word. And as you kind of get older in life, you know, you have, you’re looking back at more memories. Those memories can be a very safe place.

Anna Hall: So what is one of those memories for you that brings you back to a safe place?

Amy Alcott: Well, I had great parents, so my childhood, I was very lucky. What was really amazing was as a young 18 year old kid I started traveling the world.

Anna Hall: Your parents said, go out and do that art.

Amy Alcott: Go out and do that art. So I went to Japan, made 40 trips to Japan, and I won in the Philippines. And I met President Marcos in the Philippines. And I’ve met and played golf with several U.S. presidents. And, but you just kind of you never know, I could be in Medina, Ohio, you go in for a coffee and meet somebody in a coffee place that doesn’t know anything, that you’re a World Golf Hall of Famer or a U.S. Open champion. And they might say something to you that’s inspiring, you know? That’s the beauty of it. The safety of life, I think was just opening. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but we’ll go with that one.

Anna Hall: I feel what you mean. To me that’s like purpose. It’s like a root system.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall: It anchors us. We can change and sway and grow.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Go through different seasons.

Amy Alcott: Yes, Yeah.

Anna Hall: Right.

Amy Alcott: Yeah. For every season there’s a reason.

Anna Hall: Yeah. Exactly, exactly.

So how would you describe this season that you’re in now.

Amy Alcott: Transitioning. But, you know, I just had a big birthday.

Anna Hall: What birthday? Can we share?

Amy Alcott: Uhhh…seven-oh.

Anna Hall: Congratulations.

Amy Alcott: I’m still two under par.

Anna Hall: Bigger congratulations.

Amy Alcott: Yeah. And, and, you know, it’s weird. You’re never sometimes so honest with yourself. I said to myself, you know, I’m having a good time, I. I don’t want this to end.

Anna Hall: Does it have to?

Amy Alcott: No, no, but I know, I know, I want to be around for a while. You know, when you’re young, you don’t think about that as much. But as you get older, you start losing people and friends and stuff. I want to keep learning and doing my thing, whatever that is.

Anna Hall: Can’t wait to watch your journey continue.

Amy Alcott: Thank you.

Anna Hall: Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Amy Alcott: Just that this relationship with Front Porch kind of is a new adventure for me, and I’ve always thought and felt that I’ve enjoyed being around older people

Anna Hall: Me too.

Amy Alcott: in my life. I think they have so much to offer, and I’m just looking forward to embracing what comes next.

Anna Hall: It will be an adventure for sure.

Amy Alcott: Yeah.

Anna Hall: Thank you so much, Amy.

Amy Alcott: Thank you for chatting.

Anna Hall: My pleasure.

You’ve been listening to The Front Porch podcast. I’m your host, Anna Hall. Our theme music was composed by Geoven Snaer and Dianne Kae Enriquez. Carmen Elena Mitchell is our producer and editor. Our recording engineer is Jeff Gall. Special thanks to Laura Darling, Kate Vermillion and Joanna Aceves for production and marketing support.

Front Porch is a dynamic nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to live connected and fulfilled lives through community and innovation. In support of this vision, Front Porch provides high quality, accessible and welcoming human services through senior living communities, affordable housing communities and other programs and services. Learn more at FrontPorch.net.

If you enjoyed today’s conversation, please share it with a friend and help others find us by subscribing and leaving a review. We’ll be back soon with more stories from the fascinating folk who live and work at Front Porch. Until then, stay connected and inspired.