Amy Olson To Compete At US Women's Open While Seven Months Pregnant

Amy Olson is gearing up to compete at this week's US Women's Open while seven months pregnant. 

The 30-year-old golfer from North Dakota qualified for the tournament in May, earning medalist honours when she carded a six-under par at the Somerset Country Club in Minnesota. 

It will be the sixth time she will have competed at the event, with her highest finish coming as a joint runner up in 2020.

This is also her tenth season on the professional golf circuit, with Olson having played in three events so far this year. 

Upon finding out that she was pregnant, she sought the advice of other players on the LPGA Tour to work out how long she should continue to play for. 

Olson told Golf Digest: “When I found out I was pregnant, I texted some of the moms on tour.

"I asked about what the sweet spot was for them and when was their cutoff. I kept hearing from people who played from 28 to 30 weeks. Beyond that was pretty borderline. I thought, 'OK, I’m going to be 31 weeks when Pebble rolls around.'"

Brenda Corrie-Kuehn is another golfer who played when she was 39 weeks pregnant with her daughter Rachel.

She was born in 2001, and since then, Rachel has followed in her mother's footsteps to pursue a career in golf. 

She was interestingly in the same field as Olson at the Meijer LPGA Classic last month, who sensationally hit a hole-in-one and an albatross, and wrote on Instagram: "The baby's bringing me some serous golf mojo."

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Olson, meanwhile, posted a video of herself enjoying a practice round at Pebble Beach on her Instagram this week, as she prepares to take on the golf course later this week. 

While she'll be playing for two at the tournament, there will be three generations of the Olson family walking the fairways this week, with the golfer also revealing that she has asked her mother to caddie for her. 

"It really was sweet to think about—three generations walking down the fairway," she said. 

Speaking on how she has found playing through her pregnancy, she said to Golf Digest: “One of the hardest things for me during my pregnancy was stopping and starting.

"It used to take me five balls to warm up. Now, it takes me 50 to 55, and by then I’m tired.”

She'll celebrate her 31st birthday on July 10, the Sunday of the Major championship, and while she admitted that she thought her swing may not be quite the same as before, she was confident she would be able to post a good score. 

"I know what it takes to play at the elite level and play in a Major championship, she said. 

"Realistically, my ball-striking is not there right now. Do I think I can post a good score? Yes. But to say I can be competitive, that’s probably a stretch. With the weight gain, I don’t think this is going to be anybody’s formula for success.

"That’s OK. This is just so much bigger than golf. Golf has been a dream of mine for so long, and so is being a mom. 

"I get to do both of these things, and I don’t want to put them at odds with each other. Both are really special, and I’m excited."

"This is a gift," Olson added. "There is a narrative in our culture that women can do everything, and I think that puts a lot of pressure on women to be good at everything all at the same time. There are different seasons in life, and you have to embrace each season, be grateful and joyful in each of those seasons."