Paige Spiranac

Paige Renee Spiranac (born March 26, 1993) is an American social media personality and briefly a professional golfer. She played college golf at both the University of Arizona and San Diego State University, winning All-Mountain West Conference honors during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, and leading the Aztecs to their first Mountain West Conference Championship in 2015.[1]

Paige Spiranac
Spiranac in May 2020
Personal information
Full namePaige Renee Spiranac
Born (1993-03-26) March 26, 1993
Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Nationality United States
ResidenceArizona
Career
CollegeUniversity of Arizona
San Diego State University
Turned professional2015
Former tour(s)Cactus Tour
Professional wins1

Spiranac first played professionally in December 2015, joined the developmental Cactus Tour in May 2016, earning her first and only win in June when she defeated an amateur golfer at Scottsdale's Orange Tree Country Club.[2] In August, Spiranac failed in her attempt to qualify for a card to play on the professional LPGA circuit, and she retired from professional golf in December 2016.

After initially creating her social media accounts to post trick-shot videos,[2] Spiranac had more than 2 million followers on Instagram by 2018.[3]

Early life

Spiranac was born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, to an athletic family of Croatian descent. Her father, Dan, was a member of the 1976 Pittsburgh Panthers national championship college football team; her mother, Annette, was a professional ballerina.[4] Her older sister Lexie also received a college athletic scholarship, competing on Stanford's track team.[4]

Spiranac grew up in Monument, Colorado, where she practiced gymnastics in hopes of competing in the Olympics.[1] Her talent allowed her to skip from level six to Elites, earning an invitation from Karolyi Ranch.[1] At 12, a twice-broken kneecap derailed her gymnastics dreams and pushed her towards golf.[1] A victim of bullying among other gymnasts due to a hair condition,[5] she sought sanctuary in golf's isolation. Spiranac split time between Scottsdale, Arizona, and Monument, Colorado, as a home-schooled student, so that she would have time to train.[4]

Junior, amateur, and college golf career

Junior golf

In her early golf career, Spiranac won five tournaments in seven tries on Colorado's junior golf circuit, including the 2010 CWGA Junior Stroke Play,[6] en route to becoming a top-20 junior player in the world, a top-5 college recruit, and a two-time West Region Player of the Year and first-team All-American as a member of the Future Collegians World Tour.[2] This earned her a golf scholarship from the University of Arizona.

College golf

In Spiranac's freshman year, 2011-2012, she competed in only three events for the University of Arizona Wildcats during their golf season - the Windy City Intercollegiate, the Pac-12/SEC Challenge, and the Wildcat Invitational.[7] Her best score of the year was a 73, shot twice during the Windy City Intercollegiate.

Spiranac transferred to San Diego State for her sophomore year. Improved success followed in the 2012–2013 season, with First-Team All-Mountain West honors, a fifth-place finish at the Cal Classic, a sixth at the Mountain West Championship, and nineteenth at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.[8] Her 2013–2014 junior season resulted in Second-Team All-Mountain West Honors, along with one top ten finish at the Mountain West Championship.[8] Her senior season ended with the Aztecs' first Mountain West Conference Championship in school history, which she described as "one of the absolute happiest moments of my life."[1]

In July 2015 the Colorado Golf Association hosted the 100th Colorado Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship at Raccoon Creek Golf Course. In a 35-hole title match against Brittany Fan of the University of Colorado Boulder, Spiranac won, finishing nine strokes under par.[6]

Professional golf

In 2015, a Total Frat Move[9] article encouraging people to check Spiranac out online, resulted in her Instagram following jumping from under 10,000 to over 100,000 in just two days.[2]

LET

The 2015 explosion in social media attention led the organizers of that December's Omega Dubai Ladies Classic, of the Ladies European Tour (LET), to invite her to play. She missed the cut,[10] but the online attention continued to attract sponsors and endorsement deals for her.

In July 2016, Spiranac competed in her second LET event, the Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald. She made the cut[11] and went on to finish 58th.[12]

Cactus Tour

Spiranac debuted on the developmental Cactus Tour at the Las Colinas club in Queen Creek, Arizona, in May 2016. A five-under-par final round earned her a tie for 14th place[13] and a prize of just $100 out of the $12,080 purse. Another strong final round at her second event at Lookout Mountain, a day's best three-under-par, resulted in a third place tie at one-under,[14] good for $950.

In her third start, a sudden-death win at Scottsdale's Orange Tree Country Club over Hannah O’Sullivan, the then top-ranked amateur in the world, earned Spiranac her first tour win.[15]

She next finished ninth at Stallion Mountain, earning an $800 prize.[16] At the Aliante Golf Club, in June, Spiranac finished 17th out of 52 golfers, her twelve-over-par score netting a $575 prize.[17] In July, she finished eight-over-par for a seventh-place finish at Walnut Creek in Mansfield, Texas, earning $600.[18]

Spiranac competed in the August/September 2016 CoBank Colorado Women's Open,[19] placing ninth at one-under-par[19] and earning $1,750.[19]

In September 2016, Spiranac finished in a three-way second-place tie at Legacy in Phoenix, Arizona;[20] her second-best finish of the year, earning $935.[20] A two-under-par final round produced another top-five finish at Trilogy, in October,[21] and $800. The final event of the season was the 2016 Arizona Women's Open in November 2016 in Sun City, Arizona, where Spiranac shot an opening round 78 and finished 30th.[22] She ended the season with $8,010 in winnings.[2]

After the season, seeking to concentrate on growing her social media presence and influence, Spiranac changed her agent to Jeremy Aisenberg of Octagon.[2]

LPGA attempt

In August 2016, Spiranac competed in her first LPGA Qualifying Tournament, attempting to earn a card to play on the professional circuit;[23] she was unsuccessful.

Return to LET and retirement

Spiranac was again invited to play at Dubai in December 2016.[2] After missing the cut once again,[24] she has not played professional golf since.

In business

Spiranac has been featured in magazines such as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and Golf Digest. She began writing a monthly column in Golf Magazine, with the December 2018 issue.[25]

In 2017, Spiranac signed with Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) to represent its golf clubs in social media and television ads.[26] That year, she also became a brand ambassador for 18Birdies to help market its golf app nationwide.[27] She also has signed deals with Mizzen + Main and Philip Stein Watches.[28]

In 2017, Spiranac became an ambassador for Cybersmile, a non-profit which provides global support and educational programs to help combat cyber-bullying. Spiranac was bullied in her youth over a medical condition that impaired the growth of her hair, giving her personal insight into the challenge when addressing groups of school children.[5]

In social media

Spiranac's self-promotion has brought criticism and raised the question of what she brings to golf.[29] Spiranac's appearance on the May 2016 cover of Golf Digest, having never finished in the top 300 of the NCAA ranking, and having missed the cut at her then-only professional event, sparked controversy.[30] In its nearly seven decades of publication, the magazine featured a woman on its cover only 23 times, with eleven of them being professional female golfers.[29] This raised the question of what she had actually accomplished on the golf course to warrant such attention.[31] Sports commentator Sarah Spain of ESPN argued that the only reason Spiranac was chosen was her appearance and type of clothes she wore.[32][33] Spiranac has received criticism for "sexualizing women's golf".[34] On numerous occasions, Spiranac has mentioned that the criticisms have hurt her.[34]

Spiranac sought to use the exposure to promote her anti-bullying campaign and continue to fight for a woman's right to feel comfortable in her own skin.[35] In both the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and Golf Digest Spiranac shared accounts of random internet users harassing her online,[33] and how she uses the experiences as motivation for her fight against online mistreatment.[33]

The LPGA Tour introduced a stricter dress code in July 2017, restricting plunging necklines, leggings, and short skirts. This triggered immediate criticism, characterized by the Fox Sports headline "LPGA slammed for 'slut-shaming' its own players after new dress code restrictions revealed".[36] Spiranac spoke against it in a Fortune magazine op-ed piece, "The Progression of Women's Golf Is Plunging Further than Our Necklines", which appeared just days after the LPGA announcement.[37]

In February 2020, Spiranac started a podcast called Playing-A-Round with Paige Renee. The premiere episode, entitled "Teeing Off", was released on February 7, 2020.[38]

Personal

In December 2016, Steven Tinoco, a former minor league baseball player, proposed to Spiranac. [39] They married in 2018.[40]

Other honours

Paige Spiranac Wins ‘The PWI Most Beautiful Woman In The World’ Award 2020[41]

References
  1. Shipnuck, Alan (February 1, 2017). "Paige Spiranac is trying to make peace with her place in the game". Golf.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  2. Woods, Alden (February 8, 2018). "Paige Spiranac: Bullied her entire life, Instagram star changes professional golf world". azcentral. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  3. "Paige Spiranac (@_paige.renee) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  4. Stephens, Bob (July 18, 2009). "Vaulting to the top". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  5. Moody, Darrell (July 11, 2017). "Paige Spiranac talks to Tahoe youth about overcoming cyberbullying". Tahoe Daily Tribune. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  6. Baines, Gary (April 21, 2016). "Cover Paige - Colorado Women's Golf Association". coloradowomensgolf.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  7. "Paige Spiranac – 2011–12 Women's Golf Roster". University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  8. "Paige Spiranac". GoAztecs.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  9. Regester, Dan (February 8, 2018). "The Whole World Is About To Fall In Love With Paige Renee, This Smokeshow Golfer From SDSU". totalfratmove.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  10. "Paige Spiranac (77-79) Misses Cut at Ladies European Tour's Dubai Masters". Golf Channel. December 10, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  11. Dean, John (July 24, 2016). "Paige Spiranac makes Ladies Scottish Open cut". GolfPunkHQ. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. Shipnuck, Alan (February 1, 2017). "Paige Spiranac is trying to make peace with her place in the game". Golf. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  13. "2016 Event #14 Las Colinas". Cactus Tour. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  14. "2016 Event #15 Lookout Mountain". Cactus Tour. May 23, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  15. "Paige Spiranac gets first pro win on Cactus Tour | Golf Channel". Golf Channel. June 6, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  16. "2016 Event #17 Stallion Mountain-Vegas". Cactus Tour. June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  17. "2016 Event #18 Aliante Golf Course-Vegas". Cactus Tour. June 15, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  18. "2016 Event #19 Walnut Creek". Cactus Tour. July 2, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  19. "2016 CoBank Colorado Women's Open". cogf.bluegolf.com. September 2, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  20. "2016 Event #25 Legacy". Cactus Tour. September 29, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  21. "2016 Event #26 Trilogy". Cactus Tour. October 5, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  22. "2016 Arizona Women's Open". Cactus Tour. November 9, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  23. Lasky, Bret (August 24, 2016). "Paige Spiranac Ready for First LPGA Qualifying Tournament". LPGA. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  24. "It looks like Paige Spiranac got engaged in Dubai". Golf Channel. December 13, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  25. Spiranac, Paige (November 5, 2018). "GOLF's new columnist Paige Spiranac will add both style and substance to your game". Golf.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  26. "Paige Spiranac". PXG.com. 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  27. Matuszewski, Erik (March 27, 2017). "Paige Spiranac Teams With Golf Technology Startup 18Birdies For First TV Commercials". Forbes. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  28. "Philip Stein Announces Paige Spiranac as Newest Brand Ambassador". Twitter. December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  29. Alvarez, Anya (April 28, 2016). "Is Paige Spiranac an 'innovator' for women's golf?". espnW. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  30. Mell, Randall (April 20, 2016). "Spiranac on Golf Digest cover irks some within LPGA". Golf Channel. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  31. Corrigan, James (December 9, 2015). "Instagram sensation Paige Spiranac rejects claims she does not deserve Ladies Masters invite". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  32. Glasspiegel, Ryan (April 22, 2016). "A Conversation With Sarah Spain". The Big Lead. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  33. Weinman, Sam (October 24, 2017). "Speaking from experience, Paige Spiranac opens up about sexual harassment". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  34. Gray, Andy (February 6, 2018). "Paige Spiranac gets personal on topic of bullying". SI.com. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  35. Mandell, Nina (February 6, 2018). "Paige Spiranac talks about appearance in SI Swimsuit". USA Today. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  36. "US LPGA slammed for 'slut-shaming' its own players after new dress code restrictions revealed". Fox News. July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  37. Spiranac, Paige (July 20, 2017). "The Progression of Women's Golf Is Plunging Further Than Our Necklines". Fortune. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  38. Hendrick, Jaclyn (April 15, 2020). "Paige Spiranac's dating disasters included men using her for golf". New York Post.
  39. Myers, Alex (December 12, 2016). "Sorry guys, dream girl Paige Spiranac is officially off the market". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  40. Fleming, Kirsten (June 20, 2020). "How Paige Spiranac became golf's sex symbol — and pissed off other players". New York Post. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  41. Inspire, People Who (December 19, 2020). "Paige Spiranac Wins Most Beautiful Woman 2020". DKODING.
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