Dowd to be youngest LPGA golfer

Tuscola County Advertiser
Apr. 11, 2006

When Dakoda Dowd steps onto the tee in golf tournament next month in Florida, she will be fulfilling the dream of two lifetimes.

Playing in a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event someday is dream of 12-year old 's, and seeing her daughter play in it is the dying wish of her mother, Kelly Jo (Dennis) Dowd, who is 1983 Caro High School graduate.

Dakoda will make her LPGA debut at the Ginn Clubs & Resorts Open at Reunion Resort & Club April 24-30, in Palm Harbor, Fla., which is about one hour away from her home.

She will be playing in her first professional tournament.

At a little over five feet tall and 100 pounds, Dakoda will be going up against some heavy hitters. She will be playing against 144 others at the tournament, including top-ranked Annika Sorenstam.

"By the time Dakoda plays next month, she will 13," said Kelly Jo on a cell phone call from Florida after having a cancer treatment. Dakoda's birthday is April 3. "She is the youngest to play (ever on the LPGA tour). She is able to play under a sponsor's exemption.

"When she was little, she was daddy's girl," added Kelly Jo. "She was always with him whenever she could be. She was at a driving range with him when she was four years old. Dakoda picked up a golf club and started hitting balls, too. She had natural, raw talent for the game right away. She kept playing and was good at it, so we bought clubs for her.

"She played in her first tournament when she was eight years old."

Having Dakoda play in an LPGA tournament isn't just fulfilling a dying mother's wish, and young girl's dream.

Dakoda earned her right to be there. She has won over 185 junior tournaments and is the nation's top-ranked female player in the 2011 graduating class. In 2005, as a sixth-grader, she was the number two player on the high school golf team at Northside Christian High, helping the team to its first state title.

Kelly Jo knows Dakoda will be an LPGA player one day. but facing terminal stage-four cancer, she probably wouldn't live long enough to see her daughter play.

There have been numerous stories in Florida newspapers and national magazines about Kelly Jo's cancer struggle, her daughter's golf achievements and Kelly Jo's wish to see her daughter play in an LPGA event.

The story caught the attention of the Ginn Company, who gave Dakoda a sponsor's exemption into the tournament.

"At age 3 (and an amateur), it is impossible for her to win any money. She will be there to play," said Dowd. "She is excited about it. We all are."

The family's joy comes at a heartbreaking time.

Kelly Jo learned in May 2005 the breast cancer she beat three years ago has returned in another form of the disease. She was diagnosed in 2002 with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy with 20 lumps removed, then went through eight chemotherapy treatments and 30 radiation sessions.

Then, she had to have more chemotherapy done.

"Things were going well after that. My blood work came back clean. I thought 1 had beaten cancer," said Kelly Jo. "Then last May, I was diagnosed with stage-four bone and liver cancer."

As she goes through her third round of chemotherapy, she clings to the dream of seeing her daughter play in an LPGA tournament at the end of April.

"Dakoda is doing amazing well in this sad time. She is handling things well. We are very proud of her." said Kelly Jo. "She is practicing every day. She is going in with an attitude that the LPGA game is just another tournament.

"I know she will do great."

As Kelly Jo struggles with her illness, the days are counting down to achieving a dream, but that doesn't mean giving up her fight.

"My dream is to live to see her play in an LPGA tournament. That's days away," said Dowd, "I will keep fighting. Fighting every day. Fighting to keep healthy and to spend as much time with my family as I can."

The Dowd family spends their days waiting for the tournament, making trips to the hospital for cancer treatments and being together as much as they can.

Dakoda has been home-schooled for about three years because mother and daughter want to spend as much time as they can together, while giving Dakoda a good education with one-on-one educational instruction and allowing her time flexibility to practice golf.

Dakoda is the granddaughter of Jim and Marilyn Dennis of Caro.