Columnist Victoria Sun: Reece makes move from playing in sand to trying to avoid it

Victoria Sun

Wednesday, May 2, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

Victoria Sun covers golf for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@lasvegassun.com.

Gabrielle Reece was polite, but cautious when discussing her aspirations to play on the LPGA Tour.

As the accomplished beach volleyball player and model has quickly learned, golf can be a very humbling game.

"I don't really try to talk about it that much," Reece said Saturday night before attending Tiger Jam IV at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. "Just because it's such a work in progress.

"I try to stay down low, low key about it. Golf has it's own agenda, it's own timeline and it's super humbling, but I am sort of motivated by the fact that I'm improving at a regular steady pace."

Reece, who says LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster is her favorite, has been splitting time between her home in Malibu, Calif. and the one she purchased in the Las Vegas area so that she can train at the Butch Harmon School of Golf in Henderson.

She spends six to seven hours a day at the school under the watchful eye of Claude Harmon III, Butch's brother.

The 6-foot beauty retired from volleyball two years ago and plans on going to Q-School in 2002.

"I love volleyball, but I think sometimes you just know when it's time to move on," Reece said. "It's time to move on."

So why golf?

Reece felt she was too old for tennis, "It's hard on the body," and felt golf would be the right fit.

"I have the good fortune of being surrounded by the best, not only people, but the best coaches," Reece said. "It sounds silly, but if I think about it mathematically it doesn't make sense, but instinctively it feels exactly like the right thing to be doing.

"Now that I'm at the school with Butch and Claude, it couldn't be a more positive learning environment. But Butch and Claude are very honest with me."

Another bonus is the advice she sometimes gets from Tiger Woods and David Duval. Both have trained at the school to prepare for tournaments.

Reece, 31, took up golf last January after she was contacted by Gravity Golf. The company started by David Lee paid Reece to train with their unconventional methods and see if she could be good enough to turn pro.

After nine months, Reece decided she needed to take a different approach.

Turning to the Harmon school made sense to Reece because Butch is Woods' swing coach.

"That's exactly why," Reece said. "He has helped the best."

For Reece, mastering golf has been a challenge, but one she relishes.

"You can't compensate with physical talent in golf," she said. "And it's so contrary to volleyball.

"In volleyball, you think athletics, physical and jumping. In golf it's sort of somehow finding a way to be aggressive, but in this really controlled, relaxed way. So, it's really different and it's really hard."

If Reece and her coaches determine that getting her tour card is unrealistic, she'll stop trying.

Until then, she will continue her pursuit, one stroke at a time.