When Lindsey McCurdy first got sick, she joked that she had to jot down the locations of all the bathrooms in her yardage book. Only this was no laughing matter.
When her mom, Amy, showed up to caddie in Idaho at the 2021 Circling Raven Championship, she’d often find herself standing on tee boxes alone as Lindsey raced across the course to the nearest port-a-potty.
“It was a nightmare for me,” said Amy, “and I can only imagine what she was dealing with.”
Lindsey typically felt the worst at night and in the morning. She barely slept. Amy, who stayed with her in the family’s 19-foot travel trailer, said it felt like Lindsey got up every 15 minutes. Amy implored her daughter to go home and see a doctor. She had no idea things had gotten so bad.
“I was so close to top 80, or full status,” Lindsey explained, “and that was the No. 1 thing on my mind.”
In the end, mom got her wish, and Lindsey headed home to Texas for a barrage of medical tests. For four weeks she stayed in bed, scared to get too far from a bathroom. Lindsey had a colonoscopy, and Amy grew terrified looking at the photos of her inflamed colon.
“I tried to stay calm and be rational,” said Amy, who felt like she was watching her daughter’s dreams crumble before their eyes.
“Not be dramatic,” added Lindsey, who grew up in the Austin suburb of Kyle, Texas. “I was really not sure if I could live a normal life again.”
In time, Lindsey was given a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of the large intestine in which the lining of the colon becomes inflamed and develops tiny open sores, or ulcers. There is no known cure.
“When she informed us of her diagnosis, my heart broke for her,” said good friend Dorsey Addicks. “To be 26 years old and your life is kind of forever changed.”
As she tried different medications, Lindsey set a goal of coming back for the 2021 Epson Tour Championship. She was hitting it 20 years shorter, but thought this might be the last time she’d get to play in a professional event with friends.
Seeing their daughter compete that week in Daytona Beach, Florida, felt like the Super Bowl for this Texas family.
“We were Patrick Mahomes’ parents,” joked Amy.
Lindsey McCurdy (right) plays a practice round at the 2021 Epson Tour Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida, with friends Dorsey Addicks (center) and Kristin Coleman (left). This was McCurdy’s first tournament back after being diagnosed with…
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