Port Authority: 2026 BJA Recipient Much More Than a Prolific Champion

Lucy Bloomstran (Former John Burroughs Golfer)

Because of the timing of her departure to Washington University in 2015, Bloomstran, a 2019 Burroughs graduate, never officially played for Port on the girls’ golf team. But if it wasn’t for Port, the former standout NCAA Division III golfer (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in California) might never have pursued competitive golf.

During a PE class, a then-12-year-old Bloomstran found herself on the soccer field hitting limited-flight golf balls under the tutelage of Port. There were maybe 40 kids, and few knew of Port’s stature in the game. But Bloomstran was certainly aware of her credentials and approached the legendary player.

A gracious Port invited Bloomstran, who had just switched from volleyball to golf – to walk with the 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team at St. Louis Country Club. She watched how Port molded a group of uber-talented players into one cohesive unit.

“I knew this was what I wanted to do,” said Bloomstran, 24, who now does fund-raising for non-profits. “A lot of coaches only care about winning. From Ellen, I learned that we are so lucky to be playing this game. Even if you go out and bogey every hole and have a horrible round, you then have to sit down and reflect. It’s just a game at the end of the day. It’s what Ellen and the USGA really exemplifies.”

But Port also showed Bloomstran that you can enjoy amateur golf at the highest levels while pursuing a successful career in something else.

“There is life beyond golf,” said Bloomstrann. “We do it because we love it. There has definitely been times when I’ve wanted to hang it up. Ellen just gets back on the horse [after a tough event], and she does it with a smile.”

Michael Epsten (Former Burroughs Golfer)

As Epsten embarked on his junior year at Burroughs – and third as a varsity golfer – he received devastating news: his father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He would die three days before he graduated in 2012. Had it not been for Port’s influence, Epsten might have quit playing. In fact, he took a break from competitive golf from the end of the 2011 season until the start of the 2012 boys’ golf campaign that spring.

Port would become like a second mom to Epsten, serving as a springboard for those dark days. She often made sure he had a meal after matches and would ensure he got home safely.

“She would always watch out for me,” said Epsten, now 34 and a successful attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This was especially true in 2011 when Epsten thought he had qualified for the state championship after carding an 81 that included a five-putt on his opening hole that led to a triple-bogey 7. In previous years, Epsten would have advanced right on the number. In the past, players on qualified teams didn’t count towards the allotment for those advancing individuals. Port had been misinformed and now she had to tell Epsten, already devastated from his father’s health issues, that he wasn’t going to the state event.

After his final class, Ellen was waiting for Epsten in tears. Epsten thought she was delivering the news that his father had passed. Instead, it was the disappointment that one of her players was not going to the state finals.

“I remember feeling that Ellen was on my side to the end,” said Epsten. “She would never do anything to hurt me. I don’t really have words to explain how much that meant to me and how awful that period of my life was, and what a bright, shining person Ellen was in that period of my life.

“She told me, ‘I want you to know that this is going to seem like the worst thing in the world to you now, but this is not the worst part of your life, and you are a better person for what you have gone through here and elsewhere.’ From another person, it might have felt shallow or meaningless. But from her it was so real and genuine.”

Sam Haubenstock (Former Washington University Golfer)

At Washington University, Port knew she wasn’t getting players who dreamed of teeing it up alongside Nelly Korda or Lydia Ko. Division III athletes are not on scholarship. But that didn’t mean Port didn’t want the best from her charges.

“It was very clear to all of us that she knew golf probably better than the whole team combined,” said Sam Haubenstock, a native Floridian who became a three-time Division III All-American and led Washington University to a top-10 finish in the 2018 NCAAs. “If she was showing us a certain type of chip shot, she was knocking it right next to the hole every time. For me, I knew she was really good and it was easy to listen to what she was saying and apply what she told us.”

In the summer of 2017, Port brought an expert on AimPoint, a putting technique employed by a number of top players, to a practice session. Haubenstock, who played two seasons for Port (she resigned after her sophomore year), had never tried it, but because of Port’s expertise and knowledge, she was a willing participant.

“I didn’t use every single [facet] of AimPoint, but I certainly incorporated it into my green reading,” said Haubenstock, now 28, who works in the family furniture business in Florida. “She was always trying to teach us new things and help us improve.”

Erynne (Lee) Yoo (2014 USA Curtis Cup Competitor/Current UCLA Assistant Coach)

A few days before the 2014 Curtis Cup at St. Louis Country Club, Captain Port split up her eight players into groups of two and had them deliver a musical skit to a parody of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Instead, it would be Old C.B. Macdonald Had a Course as a tribute to the legendary designer of St. Louis Country Club.

This put the talented players completely out of their element. They all had the ability to execute 250-yard-plus drives and demonstrate dexterity with their short games. Now they had to improvise a song in front of club members, officials and Match supporters.

“At the time, it was one of those silly things,” said Erynne Lee (now Yoo), one of two UCLA stars on the team. “We had to put our egos aside and do this performance that none of us had in our DNA. Playing golf and performing [a skit] are two different things.”

This was Port’s way of bringing a group of immensely talented golfers together to work on a common goal. Coaches in team sports often talk about having “one heartbeat” and Port was attempting to develop chemistry amongst a group of college All-Americans.

All of the players knew each other from junior, college and amateur golf. Some were college teammates or crosstown rivals (USC and UCLA each had two representatives).

“All of us immediately bought into it,” said Yoo, who helped the team to a resounding 13-7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland, which had won the Match two years earlier in Scotland. “We wanted to represent the United States and also represent each other. There’s a lot of pride when you play these team events. There is pure pride and joy of wearing the red, white and blue. But with this team, it went beyond that because of the energy Captain Ellen brought.”

Emma Talley (2014 USA Competitor/Recently Retired LPGA Tour Player)

Like so many of the talented golfers on the 2014 USA Curtis Cup Team, Emma Talley didn’t know much about Ellen Port. Who is this champion? What is she all about?

The first thing Port did with her team was give each player a personality test, which Talley originally thought was “so stupid.” But as she found out, there was a method to Port’s madness. Leading into the week, each player received a head cover that matched their personality. Talley, the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, got a monkey to match her fun-loving and outgoing character.

“Her attention to detail was immaculate,” said Talley, who recently retired from the LPGA Tour to spend more time with her New Zealand-born husband and ex-LPGA Tour caddie Patrick Smith and their 7-month-old daughter. “Everything she did was A-plus, and that is how she runs her life.”

Besides the Old Macdonald skit, Port arranged for the team to be on the field prior to a St. Louis Cardinals game (the captains threw out the first pitch) and invited the squad to her residence for a home-cooked meal that included Port’s husband, Andy, and their two children.

Port also had all the players’ parents send in baby pictures, and there was a slide show the night before the Flag Ceremony. Port’s son, Drew, created customized driver heads with each of the players’ names and the words “2014 Curtis Cup” and “St. Louis C.C.” painted on them.

But Port didn’t rule with an iron fist. She accepted input from the players in terms of pairings for the four-ball and foursomes sessions. That led to one of the most cohesive Curtis Cup teams in recent memory.

“I gained a lot of respect for that [approach],” said Talley, a Kentucky native who played at the University of Alabama. “Sometimes when you go into team environments, you are kind of told what to do. She made us all feel comfortable, and we had everything we needed.

“She absolutely crushed it.”

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.