Q & A with Jo-Anna Krupa, Director of Golf at Fresh Pond Golf Course
Interview conducted and edited by Sabrina Xiaorui Wu
In the world of golf professionals, Jo-Anna Krupa stands out for her unique background in golf course architecture. After playing collegiate golf at the University of Hartford, Jo-Anna earned her master’s degree in Golf Course Architecture from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She spent four years working for Pete Dye’s golf course design firm in Colorado before transitioning to the golf professional side of the industry and becoming a Class A PGA Professional. Jo-Anna served as an assistant golf professional at Ellington Ridge Country Club and Charles River Country Club and as the lead assistant golf professional at Belmont Country Club before becoming the Director of Golf at Fresh Pond Golf Course. Throughout her career, Jo-Anna has been committed to making golf more accessible, working to expand opportunities for youth, women, and military service members. She has also earned several accolades, including the 2020 New England Assistant Golf Professional of the Year and the 2021 Massachusetts Chapter Teacher of the Year. I had the privilege of speaking with Jo-Anna about her personal journey in the golf industry and her perspective on the experiences of women golfers.
WU: What first attracted you to golf?
KRUPA: I grew up playing basketball in Connecticut. When I was fourteen, one of my coaches said I was good, but I wasn't tall enough for the position I was good at. So he actually hooked me up with a golf pro in Central Connecticut that let me pay him with a twelve pack of Diet Coke because we didn't have a lot of money. I was the shyest kid on the planet, so this golf pro would make me play with three strangers. They were always guys. That kind of just helped me get out of my own way and got me playing better. There was also a little par three in town. Between that small golf course and that golf pro, they got me hooked. The other bit too was I grew up playing team sports and it can become frustrating at times with coaches and teammates and personality dynamics. I fell in love with golf because it's just me against the golf course. Even if I'm on a team, I can outthink the golf course and I can be strategic with how I hit shots. My golf game magically clicked between my junior and senior year of high school, and I was fortunate enough to get a golf scholarship to the University of Hartford.
There’s the social part of it as well. I met a lot of really nice girls and guys playing Junior Golf Tour in Connecticut. Golf is definitely special in that way. You can just meet somebody that can change your life in one round of golf. Playing golf on the right day with the right person is how I got my job working for Pete Dye.
WU: What inspired your transition from pursuing golf course architecture to becoming a PGA Professional?
KRUPA: I fell in love with architecture. I just love the design of the course and the playability of the holes. But when I got into design work around 2008, there wasn't a lot of construction in the US, so most of our clients were in Asia, Portugal, and Australia. All I was doing was sitting at a computer doing AutoCAD, designing golf courses and doing drainage and design work. I didn't have the opportunity to travel and I just didn't feel fulfilled sitting at a desk. When I had left Ellington Ridge in Connecticut, the pro had said, "When you finally figure out you are meant to be a golf pro, call me”. And I called him that February. I said, "I just don't think I can sit at a desk anymore. Can you still take me up on that offer?" I've been lucky with timing. He had just lost an assistant golf pro for that year, and he's like, "If you can move home by the middle of March, I have a job for you”. So I left Colorado, which was definitely anxiety driven. But I needed to at least try this. And I just fell in love with it.
WU: If you could go back and have one conversation with your younger self at the beginning of your golf journey, what would you tell her?
KRUPA: I would say have more confidence. I feel like sometimes you can let golf get in your head. You just gotta believe that you can execute things and don't doubt yourself so much. The coolest thing about golf is you just have to play your own game and not compare yourself to others. I caddied for a good friend in an individual tournament, and he was a shorter, smaller guy, so not as long of a hitter. We were playing with two long hitters, and we had a game plan, but then he started comparing himself to those two guys. We ended up missing the cut by one shot because he was trying to play a game that wasn't his. So I think when you have confidence in what you can do and know that you can do it, then you can execute anything in life more easily.
WU: Golf course architecture remains a field with relatively few women. What mindset or personal qualities have helped you embrace your individuality when you first entered this field?
KRUPA: I actually got to work for Cynthia Dye McGarey when I was out in Colorado. I was told that along the PGA route, I would have to be five to ten times more educated than any man in this field, and it was the same with Cynthia. She went to Harvard for landscape architecture, she's Pete Dye's niece, knew how to run a bulldozer, and still had to earn her way. It can be very easy to be angry about that, but I just took that as a drive. I am like, the more educated I am, the better I am going to be at my job. Then I started getting those interviews. I kept getting further along in the process and then Cambridge Fresh Pond ended up working out for me. Let it fuel you in a positive way. I shifted my mindset. I am going to go into that room now with all the confidence in the world because I have all these certifications and memberships under my belt. But it is a harder route for women. I was told I was a finalist at a country club in Massachusetts, and the career consultant at the time said, "Female golf pros make really good golf instructors”. I got really upset because I'm like, "That's not all that we're good at”. That drove me even harder because I took it as I'm very competitive. I'm gonna prove you wrong. I'm gonna get a head pro job. I'm gonna get a director of golf job. And now I have one.
It's very easy to get down on yourself. But let anything you might see as a defeat or a frustration fuel you to get even better. Don't get me wrong; you have every right in that moment to be upset. But just like in golf, you hit a bad shot, you can be mad for a second, and then you go up to the next shot and you are like, "I am going to go through my routine. I know what I have to do and I can execute this."
WU: How did studying golf course architecture change the way you teach, and play the game?
KRUPA: It can be interesting how you can play a hole one way one day, and you can play it completely differently the next day and get the same score. When it comes to my teaching, the architecture standpoint has helped me teach course management better than anybody else can because I have an understanding of why a bunker is somewhere or the strategic manner in which you should play certain golf holes. It helps me teach people the intricacies, like if there is a bunker around a green, how we're shaping a bunker, those grades can feed into the greens. Greens are also typically their own little island. Because it really depends on who shaped them, who was on the bulldozer that day, and who was with the final grading rake. They can really mess with your mind.
I always tell everybody to zoom in on the green. Don't go into the overall topography of an entire hundred and fifty acre site. One of the coolest ways it was ever described to me is if you had a ton of water just fall onto a green, try and visually imagine where all that water would drain to, and if you are a visual person, that can help you see how the green breaks.
WU: When people first meet you, what do you wish they knew about you beyond the titles of golf professional, coach, and golf course architect?
KRUPA: I hope they know that I am genuine and that I do care. It was my big mindset at Fresh Pond when I took over. I grew up at public affordable golf courses myself, and just because we don't have the money that Belmont or Charles River have doesn't mean that we don't deserve somewhat of a similar experience. I hope that when people meet me, they know that I am genuinely asking about their day. It's not just a process. I care about their experience. I care that when somebody comes to Fresh Pond, they feel like they’re welcome, they're having a good day out there, and my staff's happy as well. And I hope that my students and the golfers wherever I work knew how much I genuinely cared about them. It's not just a show.
WU: What does an inclusive golf community look like to you, and how do you work to create that every day?
KRUPA: It's really just treating everybody with the same experience. I feel like the culture at Fresh Pond has been really refreshing for me. You sign up for a tee time and you join a threesome. You have no idea who those people are. The coolest thing at Fresh Pond is that everybody buys into that. The other piece is I've started going into schools in Cambridge and bringing this equipment called Snag Golf. It's these huge plastic clubs, and you can hit different things like small tennis balls. We're trying to expose kids to a sport that they typically would never even think was an option. But my true passion is veterans. I do an all women's veteran program at Winchester with another female golf professional, and this will be my third year at Fresh Pond doing a co-ed program. I've worked with the city, and we have a veteran department, so we are now working with them to get more veterans golfing. We’re also hiring veterans that need jobs. They either work as a starter ranger for me or they work for our superintendent out on the grounds crew.
WU: You often talk about how as a golf professional, you want to help people enjoy and learn the game of golf. What does that look like in the small, everyday moments that people don't see?
KRUPA: A lot of guys will come in and be like, “This was happening with my driver”, and I'll be like, “All right, go grab a club out of the sim room, and we're gonna do hallway lessons”. I do like these quick two to five minute lessons in the hallway where I'm just doing little tips here and there for people because I don't want them to feel like they have to pay me for a half hour lesson. If they take my tip and it works that day, they're probably going to hire me for a lesson anyways, but that's not my end all be all.
The reason I got involved with the veterans is I specialize in biomechanics and injuries around golf. I've had back surgery and knee replacement. So I teach people how to swing in a way that works for how their body works. When I am working with a student, I try to get them to swing in a way that is not going to cause injuries, or if they do have injuries, to get them to swing in a way that doesn't create pain. My favorite type of lesson to teach is somebody that's been battling an injury and hasn't been able to play. They come to me almost given up, and I can help them find a way to swing a golf club again.
WU: Looking back on your golf career, what has been one of your most rewarding experiences?
KRUPA: Definitely passing my playability test. To become a Class A PGA member, you have to play thirty six holes in one day and they give you the score you have to shoot. When I moved home to Connecticut, I kept getting in my head being like, “You quit being an architect to make eleven bucks an hour living with your parents again. You are never going to be a golf pro”. I ended up working with a sports psychologist on the mental side of it, because it wasn't that I wasn't good enough; it was that I would implode on the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth hole each time. So when I passed that playability test, it was like the coolest moment ever. Then you have three levels of coursework, so you go to Florida for a week. You do this very tedious portfolio online that has to get approved, and then you take tests at a random testing center. You know right away if you pass, and I passed. It took all of my willpower not to scream because the PGA of America logo is probably one of the most recognizable logos in the world, and to know that I earned that and I get to wear that logo each day with pride. It's been sixteen years since I became a pro and it's still so cool when I get to wear that logo knowing I earned it.
WU: What are some lesser known qualities that the most successful golfers you’ve coached tend to have in common?
KRUPA: Being disciplined between each shot. Even on the golf course, sticking to their routine and trusting the process. They know their swing works, they know what they need to do, and they're not going to tinker with it. When you are disciplined and you trust that you know what you can do and have confidence in that, you're going to be able to execute more shots. If you're out there questioning things, your anxiety is going to go up and your confidence is going to go down. So I would say just discipline, sticking to your game, and not letting bad shots get in the way. Be a goldfish. If you can let go of that bad shot, your scores are going to plummet.
WU: How can young golfers begin developing these qualities? Are there any habits, drills, or mental exercises that you would recommend?
KRUPA: The biggest thing I focus on with every student I work with is a routine. I will do the same exact routine every single time I step to the ball. Whether it's a pitch shot or my full swing, I have the same routine. If I do that routine every time that I step up to the ball, I know I can hit a good shot. I am reinforcing positive habits. If you are over the ball and you don't have a consistent routine, you are going to start questioning, “What am I doing with my hands? What am I doing with my arms? What am I doing with my body?” I think social media is one of the worst things to happen to golf because there's a lot of good information, but there's also a ton of bad information. What works for one person is not going to work for you and I because we're all built differently. We're all going to swing the club differently. So I think you have to buy into your instructor and be disciplined about your routine, and your scores will go down.
WU: You've served on committees dedicated to women's growth in golf. Where do you see the biggest opportunities—and the biggest barriers—for women entering the game today?
KRUPA: One of the biggest benefits to golf for women is it can help you in your career. I have architects out at Fresh Pond almost three, four days a week, and they're bringing clients or they're playing together. One of the hardest things for women is it is still a male dominated sport. In this industry you just have to be more educated. Your resume has to be that much longer. Even for me it's still battling that women should just be golf instructors. And I think a lot of the times you kind of got to stick it out through some not fun experiences.
WU: Even today, there still aren’t many women in leadership roles in golf, whether as coaches or golf professionals. How important is representation for the next generation of girls entering the game?
KRUPA: I think it's really important. What the LPGA is doing, paying their golfers more and making them more visible on TV, is big. I wish they would make it even more visible. I think women's sports overall are not going to be watched as much as men's sports, but visibility and having more opportunities is important. I am on the foundation board for the New England PGA, so we're trying to do more women's events. There can be a really cool niche in this industry.
WU: Women's golf has grown significantly in recent years. From your perspective, what has driven that growth? And what still needs to happen to keep the momentum going?
KRUPA: The biggest change I've seen is that everybody's time is more valuable now. I think marketing golf to women in a way where you can do it all and still be able to play golf is really important especially if you have a family. Like you can go out and have a fun two hour to two-and-a-half-hour round and still be able to get home. By the time I left Belmont, their nine-hole program was bigger than the eighteen hole program because those women were like, “I can get in, play nine holes, have a quick lunch, and I'm still home before my kids get off the bus”. It's just important that we show you can play golf quickly. It doesn't need to be this all-day commitment.
WU: If there's one thing you could change about women's golf across the industry, what would it be?
KRUPA: I want golf stores to be more mindful of the person, not just the gender, when it comes to helping them. They would ask any guy what's your skill level? What's your handicap? How far do you hit your clubs typically? When a woman goes to a store to ask for help, especially when it comes to equipment, they need to be treated with the same type of experience that guys do because it can be really off putting to go in somewhere and they're just making assumptions. That's just an industry wide issue. We need to train golf pros and fitters. These people in these stores need to be a little bit more careful. Talk to a lady like she's an athlete. Don't assume that every woman who walks into your store is a beginner golfer and you're just going to sell them a box set of golf clubs. If they say, "I'm a beginner”, then we give you the beginner clubs. But at least give them the option to say that. That's the thing that really irks me for ladies, even at golf courses, that guys just assume they're not good or they're a beginner.
WU: Have you faced any challenges or barriers that you feel are unique to women in golf? If so, how have you navigated them, and what advice would you give to other women facing similar challenges?
KRUPA: I would say having that career consultant tell me I should just be a teaching pro or a lot of interviews that didn't go my way for head pro jobs. I used those hits as fuel to drive me to get better. There were a few interviews where it's like, I needed more golf operations experience like budgeting. So I went and talked to the general manager at Belmont. He took an hour and a half to sit down with me and show me how he went through budgeting. Then when I went into my interview for Fresh Pond, that helped me go a long way. Most people want to help you. If they don't want to help you, you probably need to find a new job and work for somebody that's willing to mentor you better.
Never be afraid to ask for help. The best piece of advice I ever got from my pro in Connecticut was if you don't know the answer, people are going to respect you more if you say, "I don't know, but I'll get you the right answer later”, than if you lie and fake an answer. That helped me realize it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to ask for advice. A person might get frustrated in that minute, but at the end of the day, they'd rather you come to them with the correct answer or advice than making it up on the fly.
WU: If a young woman is interested in golf course architecture today, what advice would you give her about entering this profession?
KRUPA: For your undergraduate degree, you should either do civil engineering or landscape architecture. The hardest part about golf course architecture is it is a dying field because there is not a lot of land left on our planet that wants to get developed, so a lot of it is remodel work. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Something that also helped me is actually working golf course maintenance. When you work maintenance, you understand if I build a bunker like this, that's going to be really tough for my grounds crew to maintain. If I shape my green or tee boxes like this, that's going to take them exponentially longer to mow versus if I did it this way. So working grounds crew, which is also an all-male dominated field, allows you to see what works and what doesn't work from a maintenance standpoint. Because if you can't maintain it, you shouldn't design it that way.
WU: If a young girl picks up a golf club because she heard your story, what's one message you hope she carries with her?
KRUPA: Don’t give up if you have one bad experience, because without fail, you'll go to a driving range, and some guy will try and offer you advice, or you'll go to a pro shop, and you won't have the best check-in experience. The worst thing you can do is just chalk that up to what golf is, because most of the time, you're going to have a really good experience. You just got to keep going back. Don't give up.
Also enjoy it. Golf is so special, especially the social interactions and the relationships that you can build through this sport. Some of my absolute dearest friends are because of golf. My wife is because of golf. My best veteran friend is because of golf. Golf can change your life in the weirdest ways you don't expect.
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