Everyone always said she’d know when the time was right.
When eldest daughter Emery started kindergarten in August, Brittany Lincicome volunteered during lunch the first two weeks of school and felt a shift in her heart.
It was time to stay home.
“Kindergarten came around and I was like, you know what,” Lincicome told Golfweek, “there’s more to life than chasing a dream.”
Lincicome, 39, poured her soul into a hand-written letter to the Doyle family asking for a sponsor exemption to The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, the penultimate event on the 2024 LPGA schedule. When the call came that she’d been given a spot, she broke down in tears. Having the opportunity to say goodbye so close to home is “the cherry on top.”
This isn’t a retirement announcement, exactly. She’d like to play in a handful of events each year going forward as well as the occasional pro-am. Going forward, golf will take a backseat to family. With daughters Emery now five and Sophia two, there are new dreams to chase.
“My dad said when I turned pro, ‘Give me 10 years, and then you can retire,’ ” she said. “Here we are, 20 years later.”
She loved it too much to leave.
Brittany Lincicome of Team United States arrives to the Opening Ceremony prior to the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 12, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
As Lincicome winds down her competitive career, former Wake Forest standout Rachel Kuehn will play in her first LPGA event as a professional Nov. 14-17 in Belleair, Florida, on a sponsor exemption. Kuehn won eight titles in five years as a Demon Deacon.
Lincicome burst onto the LPGA scene as an amateur at the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open when she led Day 1 with a 6-under 66. She tied for 55th that week, but the experience helped cement the decision to skip college and turn professional.
The long-bombing Lincicome, who loves to fish more than practice, won her first of eight LPGA titles in 2006 and her most recent in 2018. She won what’s now known as the Chevron Championship in 2009 and 2015, hitting magnificent approach shots into the iconic 18th green both times to set up eagle putts of four and nine feet, respectively.
“Getting my first win with my dad on the bag,” she said, “my parents sacrificed everything to get me where I am today.
“Winning two majors – two school-teachers raising me to be a pro golfer – and to have eight wins is…
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