by Michele Coffill

Annika Sorenstam, once a dominant professional golfer, retired from the LPGA six years ago yet she continues to hold a special place in the hearts of the Laker women’s golf team.

The team’s connection to Sorenstam is Molly Esordi, a senior from Grosse Ile. Esordi was 13 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. During Esordi’s hospital stay, social workers at Detroit Children’s Hospital reached out to Make-A-Wish Michigan, the organization dedicated to granting wishes for children with serious illnesses.

Esordi, a biomedical sciences major, said she knew her wish would somehow involve golf. She began walking the links and pulling a set of clubs at age 7, tagging along with her parents and grandparents at Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club.

After two months of chemotherapy, Esordi entered a clinical trial that had her bypassing radiation, a typical next step for Hodgkin’s patients. The scans of her chest and lymph nodes soon showed she was cancer-free and Esordi was ready to concentrate on her wish.

“My mom told me to think of something cool that we normally wouldn’t be able to do,” Esordi said. “We talked about playing golf in Hawaii, but I knew I wanted to play golf with Annika.”

It was more than the clutch play and jaw-dropping drives of the Swedish golfer that impressed Esordi.

“When I first met her, she had taken six months off for an injury then came back and immediately won a tournament. Watching her play used to give me chills,” Esordi said.

Esordi was a ninth grader at Grosse Ile High School when she first met Sorenstam. Make-A-Wish Michigan flew Esordi and her family to Sorenstam’s golf academy in Orlando.

After presenting her with a new set of golf clubs, Sorenstam led Esordi to the driving range, where they were met by 15 or so reporters with still and video cameras. “I was pretty nervous,” Esordi said. “They followed us through the first two holes. After that, they left, and Annika told me it was time to relax and have fun.”

After her nerves settled and the reporters left, Esordi said she played fairly well; she remembered one of Sorenstam’s tremendous drives that landed within six feet of the cup on a par-4.

Her round of golf with Sorenstam was a lifetime memory for Esordi. She continued to stay in contact with staff members at Sorenstam’s academy throughout her high school golf career and as a first-year player for Laker golf coach Rebecca Mailloux.

It was that year when Esordi noted that the Lakers would be in Orlando during spring break, she asked Mailloux her thoughts about a possible team visit to Sorenstam’s academy. Mailloux was quick to react.

“Annika is the greatest female player ever to play the game, so to have a chance to meet the best in our sport was a dream come true,” Mailloux said.

The Lakers met Sorenstam, her trainers and staff and — a bonus — Anna Nordqvist, a Swedish golfer who at that time was relatively new to the LPGA tour.

Esordi said talk shifted from life on the LPGA tour to Vision 54, a golf philosophy that it’s possible to envision and strive for shooting a birdie on every hole, thus, a score of 54 rather than a par score of 72. Mailloux brought Vision 54 to Grand Valley in 2008, her first year as head coach. “Having a first-hand interpretation of what Vision 54 meant to Annika was a great tool for the team,” she said.

While few golfers can achieve a score of 54, Esordi shot 5-over 77 and helped the Lakers take second place at the Pioneer Invitational in Ohio last October. An academic standout, she has been named to the GLIAC All-Academic team every year.

The Lakers play a split season, with tournaments in the fall and spring. Esordi projected that her last collegiate season will be bittersweet.

“I plan to take the time to enjoy my last few months of competitive play and remember how much I love the game,” she said.

Esordi will graduate in December. She said she plans to enroll in a pharmacy school to earn a doctorate and would someday like to work in a hospital or for a pharmaceutical company.