Q&A with LPGA Tour Pro: Alison Walshe

1) You’ve played golf professionally since 2009 and still play in select LPGA events. Clearly, you’ve enjoyed longevity on the LPGA Tour. Besides shooting good scores, what are some of the intangibles that it takes to stay out and compete among the game’s elite year after year, because, clearly, it’s not for everyone?

Yes, I have been fortunate to have a long career and was comfortable with the choice to step away from full time playing after the time I spent out there.  Obviously playing well leads to longevity on tour, but so much more goes into it -  from fitness & nutrition to prevent injury,  learning how & when you like to travel, knowing when your body is tired and how many weeks you can play in a row, etc.  There are so many pieces to the puzzle that you really have to learn and perfect to maintain your good play and time given out there. 

2) Because you had so much success as an amateur, do you think you felt extra pressure early in your pro career to go out and win and be one of the top players on tour?

I definitely had expectations that were pretty high right out of the gates, but I was fortunate to have surrounded myself with a good team and was pretty grounded and never fogged by expectations.  Did I want to win right away... of course, but I was good at setting small goals early and chipped away at those to not get ahead of myself.  It was a  learning process. 

3) Is the women’s game today as strong as you’ve ever seen it?  

Yes.  The golf is SO good right now and I think the talent is just getting better each rookie class.  It’s exciting and I think the more exposure we are getting will only increase the strength of players to come.

4) What’s your Ultimate Travel Disaster story from your time playing on the LPGA?

Ha! I have too many that come to mind.  When you travel as much as we do on the tour there are always mishaps.  All comical to look back on, but they certainly were not in the moment.  I have booked tickets on the wrong days, gone to the wrong airports, been stuck in foreign cities for days, had no luggage or clubs show up, spent countless hours in delays...you name it, it happened! 

5) When you’re playing golf full-time, what is your fitness regimen like? What’s the unseen, unheralded process to keep your body and your mind in shape to compete at the highest level?

I think that's one of the unseens that would shock a lot of people.  Working out is essential to not only get some competitive advantages, but also to rehab and prevent injury.  When I was out on tour full time I was working out 6 days a week - different routines for off weeks and tournament weeks, but I was sure to make it a part of my routine always.   The other unseen is PT needs, travelling and playing week in and week out for years really takes a toll on the body and there's always something to get worked on, looked at or taken care of.  

6) You’ve gotten involved with the DriveForce team and their new pre-round performance blend DF-18, for hydration, stamina and focus. I hear you were the ideal candidate for DF-18 when you first tried it. How did you first learn about DriveForce?

Yes and I am so excited.  I was lucky enough to get introduced to the founders by a friend who knew me not only as a golfer but someone who is an athlete beyond golf... I play many sports, I love fitness and I am always interested in health and nutrition.  So to be involved with DriveForce and help develop supplements that encompass all of what I love is really rewarding and fun.

7) What do you like about it versus other products you’ve tried?

What I like about DF18 compared to other products is that we aren't just another hydration product.  There are so many hydration products on the shelves nowadays that I never have a reason to choose one over another.  However with DF18, knowing that the ingredients were strategically formulated to go beyond hydration and provide enough ingredients that  feed to the mental side of things is a huge deal for me.  I also like that I only need one serving and will have fueled my body with what it needs to help me succeed on the course.  

8) DF-18 recently became Informed Sport certified? How critical is that to a professional athlete like yourself and in talking about it with other athletes?

Being Informed Sport Certified is crucial for any professional athlete.  Most professional sport leagues, and any Olympic sport is subject to drug testing.  So if a product is not certified most athletes won’t even take the product given the risk that there may be something in the supplement that is “banned”.    The list of banned substances is extremely lengthy that there's too much risk to take a product with no certification. Confidence in what we put in our bodies is so important - DriveForce gives me that. 

9) Now that you’re a DF-18 believer, how do you use it in your daily life, part of your nutrition and pre-round routine?

I use DF18 everytime I play golf - I will generally take it about an hour before I tee off to get the benefits right away.  Having experienced the good from taking DF18 I have carried over using it to even non golf days for health benefits in itself as well as for extra pep for a long work day.  

10) What’s your role with DriveForce and what does that have you doing in addition to your other work?

 I kind of wear many hats with the DriveForce team.  Not only am I an ambassador, but I helped co-develop the formula with the team and now am really honing in on partnerships and business development in many aspects.  Being a startup we kind of go with the flow and if a job or task needs to be done we all collaborate and funnel the priority to whom we think will work it best.  It’s been a blast working with this team. 

11) Having a lifelong career in golf, amateur to professional, you must have developed unique lifelong friendships both on the women’s and men’s side - who are some of your closest friends from traveling/tour life?

Yes, this game fortunately brings so many friendships along the way.  Having grown up playing with a lot of the tour players, both from the PGA and LPGA tours, many starting from junior to college to now professionally has been one of the best parts.  It's really too hard to name only  a few when I have been fortunate to call many best friends.  

12) When you look at your life beyond playing on tour, is golf a part of what you want to do next?

Golf will always be a part of what I do, whether it’s the physical act of playing it or being in business that’s within the industry or using golf as a resource to aid a business goal.  I am too in love with this sport to let it take the back seat :) 

13) What are your best memories of growing up and playing golf in the Boston area?

I have so many great memories from learning the game with my dad, to travelling all over the place to playing tournaments and really developing the player I became.