High Hopes for Huffer

Before the beginning of the 2024 season, I spoke with Becca Huffer, a Notre Dame alumna who has been playing golf professionally since she graduated in 2012. She’s a 34-year-old grinder who has spent most of her career on the Epson Tour. 

‍Last season, the Epson Tour awarded LPGA Tour cards to the top 10 on their points list. Huffer finished 11th. Because of  her finish at LPGA Q school at the end of last season, she’s bouncing between the Epson and the LPGA Tours this season. 

‍This year, the top 15 on the Epson Tour will earn LPGA Tour cards. Huffer enters this week’s event – the Four Winds Invitational at South Bend Country Club – in 44th. With only five events left in the season, Huffer needs some exceptional golf to avoid Q school, and she’s hoping to capitalize on being down the road from her Alma mater.

‍You graduated from Notre Dame in 2012. You captained the team and had a solid collegiate career. At what point did you decide to give pro golf a shot?

I legitimately thought of it my junior or senior year. Through college, I really struggled with my putting – I legitimately had the yips. It was like, I know I can do a lot better than I did in college. I had a good college career but it wasn’t awesome and I knew I could do better. Right after I graduated, I went home and played in the Colorado Open and finished 2nd, and then I qualified for the U.S. Open. So, I was like, this is easy!

‍What were your goals when you set off to play pro golf?

I was looking forward to playing in the U.S. Open and playing in a couple others, like the Michigan Open, and going to Q school in the fall – and that didn’t go well for me. Between my junior and senior year, my wrist started really hurting so I was trying to deal with that as well, and I was dealing with that for a few years. 

That came to a head the second time I tried to do Q school. I was putting my hand in a bucket of ice during the tournament. My old swing coach from junior golf – he knew one of the good players from Colorado who knew someone who did cold laser therapy. I had a ganglion cyst in my wrist, and it made it go away. It was pretty amazing. 

The next week was the Colorado Open and I won that without basically practicing. It was one of those where I was basically like, “I think I’m done,” and then it was like, “fine, I’ll keep going.”

I was in Arizona working at Longbow Golf Club and playing the Cactus Tour. The first event for the Symetra Tour in 2014 (Epson Tour) was at Longbow. I got a sponsor exemption and finished 3rd or 4th. After the reshuffle, I’ve basically played on Epson Tour since. 

My best year was 2018, where I finished like 20th on Epson, and finished 10th at Q school to get LPGA status. 

‍What helped you break through in 2018? Was it putting?

I think so. My strength has always been in my wedges and hitting – but that year I putted pretty good, but it wasn’t awesome. They don’t have the best stats for Symetra/Epson Tour. 

I had a good year that year and my year on LPGA wasn’t terrible; it was one where I just missed a lot of cuts by one stroke, and that knocked a lot of confidence out of my game. You’re trying so hard, and I know I was trying too hard. 

‍Were you questioning your place in the game after that season?

It was a really frustrating year. You're right there and you’re like, if I had just been one stroke different a couple times, it would have been a whole different thing. 

In 2022, I finally put the gauntlet down on my putting because it was so frustrating. It was almost one of those things where I’d be standing over the ball and I’d have all these thoughts in my head – I didn’t even know where I was aiming. 

‍How were you able to remain resilient through all of that?

I think I knew what I needed to work on. In the middle of the season (in 2022), I was like, I don't know if I can keep doing this. I needed to do something about my putting but it was like, if this doesn’t work, it’s time to do something else.

‍If you weren’t playing pro golf what would you be doing?

And that’s the problem: I don’t know! If I knew something I really wanted to do, I’d probably be doing it. I know I’m a better golfer than I was out of college. The women’s game has gotten a lot more competitive since I started playing professionally, and I know I’ve kept up. Obviously, I want to be at the top level but getting up there is the hard part. I know I have the game, it’s just getting it together. 

‍How have you been able to fund all this?

My parents have been nice and I’ve been able to live at home the last few years. The Colorado Open has always been good to me and I’ve never lost money playing mini tours. During my LPGA year, I had a sponsor for that. LPGA is a lot more expensive than Epson because you’re traveling so much more. But I’m a good deal-finder and drive to the majority of tournaments and stay in a lot of host housing. 

‍You had four top-5 finishes in 2023. What did you find in your putting that led to that consistency?

A big thing is I’m capitalizing on the good shots and I think that was a big piece of it. I made a lot of putts I would have missed in pressure situations in the past. There have been a lot of little confidence builders. I think if you’re putting well it takes pressure off your game. You don’t need to hit it so close. The world opens up. 

‍That final round at the final stage of 2023 Q school was wild but you closed so well. What was it like to regain some Tour status and comeback so strongly after a tough start? 

I started with the double and I was like, “I have a lot of work to do.” My 4th or 5th hole, I hit it to three feet and made an eagle. I knew I had to put my foot on the gas. Then I birdied four holes. It was one of those rounds where you’re just like, I need to keep going and see what happens. I had a good group, we were all in the same situation and making birdies and building momentum. 

‍How do you reflect on finishing 11th on the Epson points list last year and coming so close to an LPGA Tour card? How do you reflect on your career so far? What has kept you going during the hard times?

It was very disappointing after the last event. I put together a really good final round and people are congratulating me afterwards for making it, and then obviously, it didn’t work out. That was quite disappointing. Then you don’t want to see golf courses and I took a couple weeks off. But I have to look back and say I played really good golf and sometimes, things just don’t work out. You have to take disappointment and say, well, I played the best I ever did, why would I stop now? You take a little time off and reflect on it and you see where you need to improve. I think I keep getting better, so that’s a big part of why I can’t just go. I have friends who are like, “why would you keep doing this to yourself?” And I’m like, "I don’t know, I’m crazy!"

I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to let myself play and see the results. When I get into LPGA events, I’ve been there and I know when I’ve practiced too much and put too much pressure on, I didn’t get the results I wanted. I’m taking that learning experience and enjoying it, and seeing what happens.