A Pro Golfer's Van Life Odyssey

Pro golfer Paige Crawford was traveling to the first stage of Q School when her van, serving as shelter, kitchen, transportation and home, died on a dark Utah highway, nearly 100 miles from the nearest town. Crawford and her partner, Megan McCutcheon, called AAA and waited as night crawled by. 

The first stage of LPGA and Epson Tour Q school begins on Monday, around Palm Springs, California. Three hundred twenty women will play across three courses – Mission Hills Country Club’s Dinah Shore and Palmer courses, and Indian Wells Country Club – aiming to finish in the top 95 and punch their ticket to Q School’s second stage. 

Crawford and McCutcheon have been living in the 2018 Ram Promaster 2500 van they lovingly call ‘Solstice’ so Crawford can continue chasing her dream of playing on the LPGA Tour. Solstice is a sleeper van larger than a minivan and smaller than a traditional RV. The inside is cozy, with a small kitchen and full-size bed platform in the back. Dimmable canister lights are set into decorative wooden ceiling slats and set the mood over a working sink, built-in cabinets, a pull-out dining table and closet. A well-used portable camping stove resides in a drawer under a small refrigerator. It’s welcoming, it’s bright, it’s home. 

McCutcheon works remotely for a tech company, caddies for Crawford when she’s able, and is a diligent money saver. The two have unburdened themselves of some crippling expenses that shorten golf careers, and spent the past two years traveling the country with a sense of freedom that changing landscapes and open roads provide. 

Following a final round 67 at a mini tour event at Rolling Hills Country Club in Wichita, Kansas – where the LPGA was founded – Solstice began making concerning sounds. The odometer read 137,000 miles and the van began starting lazily and unreliably. Multiple mechanics were stumped, unable to diagnose the problem. With the first stage of Q School on the horizon, they bought the best van tune-up available and set off for Palm Springs, California. They made it all the way to the southwest corner of Utah before the engine died. 

“We broke down in the middle of nowhere,” Crawford says. She speaks in a calm rhythm that would make a monk jealous. Underneath that gentle tone, positivity and fortitude glow. 

“The guy towed us to Cedar City,” Crawford continued. “It was like 85 miles. That was the best town to go to. It took them four hours to tow us. By the time we got towed to the mechanic, it was like two in the morning.” 

This wasn’t the first time Solstice had broken down. Between Epson Tour events last season, their transmission blew on a hot, smoky Oregon day, leaving Crawford and McCutcheon stranded dozens of miles from civilization. After a long tow back to the nearest town, they were hit with distressing news: a new transmission cost $8,000. 

This most recent breakdown in Cedar City, Utah, however, would be their worst.

“It was very stressful. The mechanics told us they were super busy,” Crawford says. “We walked our stuff to an Airbnb. Then the mechanics told us it was going to be three months. So we called around. We found one engine. The place had one left. So we found that, but we had to pay out of pocket to get the van towed there.”

The $2,500 entry fee to the first stage of Q school was about to get significantly more expensive: the one engine they found cost a breathtaking $10,500. 

Despite stress and exhaustion that would deter most others from living in a van, Crawford and McCutcheon remain resilient. Crawford sees parallels between van living and golf that help her through such challenges. 

“When things would go wrong at first I would really stress about it,” Crawford says. “But Megan doesn’t really stress about things and I kind of learned from her. Just figure it out and try to figure out a solution. Breathe and try to figure out the next step. You learn how to be patient and not let things get to you. It’s a reflection of golf.”

Some lessons from the road have paid off this year as Crawford qualified for her first LPGA Tour event by winning THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup – a qualifier named after the first American-born professional golfer who has been called “the Jackie Robinson of golf.” 

The first of two women’s qualifiers brought together top black female professional and amateur golfers to compete for a spot in the LPGA’s Cognizant Founder’s Cup. Crawford beat accomplished players, like Lakareber Abe and Mariah Stackhouse, to gain her first LPGA Tour start at age 31. 

Crawford’s first experience on such a large stage proved to be overwhelming. Playing at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey, she missed the cut shooting 80-76, but she didn’t dwell there. She followed it up by qualifying for her second and third LPGA Tour starts a month later, winning the JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational in dramatic fashion. 

Starting the back nine in the final round of the 36-hole qualifier at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Crawford was four strokes behind the leader. She played steadily in the second round, making three birdies and few mistakes while the leaders began to falter. She arrived on the last hole unaware of where she stood and decided to ask McCutcheon, who was caddying for her. 

“(Megan) knows, don't tell me anything,” Crawford says. “She usually tells me, just focus on hitting this shot, or making this putt. But I wanted to know where I was. We were on the last hole and I got on the green, and I have no idea what’s happening. She was like, ‘you just need to make this putt to win,’ and I end up blowing by my first putt. Then she was like, ‘ok, you definitely have to make this one!’”

It was an uphill 13-footer to shoot one-under par and win two starts on the LPGA Tour. 

“Honestly for me, the more pressure, the better I play.” Crawford says. She remembered what McCutcheon told her: that she always plays better when there are people watching and money on the line. 

Crawford hit a perfect putt, and when it fell, she earned starts in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and the Dow Great Lakes Invitational.

In the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a team event where partners play both an alternate shot and best ball format, Crawford managed to shoot one-under par on her own ball during the best ball day. Despite missing the cut in both LPGA Tour events, the experience fueled a confidence boost. A couple weeks later, Crawford played the best round of the season during the final round of the Women’s All-Pro Tour event at Rolling Hills Country Club, carding a five-under, 67, good enough for a T-7 finish. 

Through the ups and downs of the season, the van has served as home. Though they’ve spent much of their summer in Michigan and the midwest, the van has been from Canada to California this year. Crawford says they’ll stay in an Airbnb if they can’t find a nearby campsite, or a place to park, which is becoming more common. 

“It’s getting harder and harder to do van life because I feel like places are getting strict about letting you stay overnight,” Crawford says. “Even a lot of Walmarts are not allowing you to stay overnight now.”

During a Cactus Tour event in Aerie, Colorado, Crawford had been given permission to park the van in the golf course parking lot for the week. After a practice round, Crawford came home to find a police car parked next to the van. A local had called the police and reported people living in the club’s parking lot. With Crawford unable to find her I.D. and a somber officer onlooking, the situation became tense and it shook Crawford. 

“It’s frustrating. People have a perception of van lifers: that we’re trashy, that we’re not doing anything with our lives – that we’re bums – and we’re not.” 

To the contrary, Crawford and McCutcheon have given up many basic comforts to chase their dream – sacrifices that were once celebrated as part of the American dream. The two have connected with other members of van life communities making similar choices. They’ve bonded over life on the open road, sharing best maintenance and practice information, and cautionary tales. 

“The majority of people I know wanted to do van life,” says Crawford. “I have a friend – she owns a coffee shop in San Diego and she lives in a van. You see a range of people. People who are retired; they wanted to retire and travel the world. You also see people, and it’s definitely their only option. The majority of people want to do van life because it’s a way of saving money.”

In another charged confrontation, McCutcheon was grocery shopping while Crawford waited in the store’s parking lot. A security guard soon began circling the van menacingly. 

“Megan came back with the groceries and within seconds the security guard is on us, saying we can’t park here. I cut him off and I was like, ‘we’re just getting groceries.’”

Despite the stresses and uncertainties of van life, Crawford appreciates that she wouldn’t be able to afford professional golf without it. The overall savings of cutting plane tickets, hotels, meals, rental cars and rent from their budget, nets a significant annual cost savings. 

“This year we were more strategic with our expenses and gas is higher,” McCutcheon says. “We spend about $400 a month on gas. We get an oil change every month, which is about $100. New tires every year. Campsites are about $200 a week.”

Their expected van living annual expenses total about $12,000, a fraction of what they’d pay for rent alone. Of course, the savings become less clear when a transmission blows or an engine dies, especially before the most important tournament of the year. 

Crawford and McCutcheon left Solstice behind at the Cedar City mechanic, rented a smaller van to drive to Palm Springs for first stage, and will stay in an Airbnb during the tournament. McCutcheon has been on the bag in all of Crawford’s best rounds this season, and she caddied the last time Crawford made the three-round cut during the first stage of Q School. The duo hope this will be their best performance yet. 

Crawford says she’d still travel in the van to as many tournaments as possible if she gains Epson or LPGA Tour status this year. She hopes to achieve her dream of earning an LPGA Tour card but knows with better status comes greater expenses. Regardless of her Q School results, van life is in Crawford’s foreseeable future. 

“It’s a way to save money, travel the world and you have your home with you,” says Crawford. “I think it’s great.”

The two hope they’ll come back to Cedar City to find their van good as new and ready for a new adventure to Q School’s second stage. 

“I feel really good,” Crawford says. “Especially winning the two John Shippen exemptions and getting to play three LPGA events. Having more confidence this year, getting to play on the LPGA – that’s the top dream, right?”

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