It's not all about golf anymore for Reading, Pa., native
Look into Betsy King's eyes, and you still see the emotion, intensity and commitment to winning.
But for the first time since playing her initial LPGA event in 1976, it's not all about golf for the 51-year-old native of Reading, Pa.
Sure, the Solheim Cup battle with Europe awaits in September at Halmstad, Sweden. King is the American captain. But a life-changing journey to Africa in October has given the LPGA Hall of Famer and winner of 34 events, including six majors, a new purpose.
"You are not going to be able to change the whole world, but you can make a difference in certain areas," said King, who has not played in an LPGA Tour event since 2005 following shoulder surgery.
King joined eight other LPGA pros during Monday's annual Clearview Legacy Foundation Pro-Am at Clearview. Three of those women - Clearview pro Renee Powell, Reilley Rankin and Australian Katherine Hull - will join King and pro Juli Inkster for an October trip to Rwanda.
The trips are arranged through World Vision, an international Christian organization with offices in Seattle among other sites.
King has made past trips to Honduras and Tanzania before her latest African journey.
"When you go and come back," King said, "you're on fire to tell the story, because you've seen it first-hand."
The story is of poverty and orphaned children in a country still reeling from AIDS and a civil war that led to one million deaths in 100 days during the 1994 genocide.
"I knew very little about AIDS, but 57 percent of African cases are women," King said. "In a lot of ways, they are powerless in that society.
"World Vision had 25 caregivers going door-to-door to assist these women in getting tested, to help them get the drugs they need to prevent infections. The amazing thing is, of that group, 20 of those were HIV-positive themselves."
The trip had a significant effect on King, who also wanted to get the golf world involved.
Hence, King initiated Golf Fore Africa, a project designed to raise funds for the children of Mudasomwa, a poverty-stricken village in southern Rwanda.
Her original goal is to raise $250,000. But for the competitive King, reaching the goal is not enough. Special golf kits, including a special Golf Fore Africa wrist band, are available for $5 donations through www.worldvision.org/golfforeafrica.
"Right now, we have raised about $57,000 (from sales of the kits)," King said. "I was at a special event in Long Island recently with Lorena Ochoa, and we netted about $100,000.
"Next week, the LPGA will announce this as an international charity initiative. One man I met during an Easter Seals outing had the idea that there are 20 million golfers in the world. If just one million would go play a round at their club for $100 in honor of someone, we could use that to fight AIDS and help the orphans of victims.
"There are over 15 million children orphaned by AIDS worldwide. You can't build orphanages for all of them, so you have to help them through other means."
That also includes helping golfers who play at the lone course in Rwanda.
"The course manager ... told me the girls were forming a national team. They didn't have shoes to wear," King said. "So we've collected things to ship to them. I've got a 500-pound pallet ready to go as soon as I can find a way to ship it."
It hasn't been an easy two years. King's father died of cancer in September 2005, and she lost her mother to Alzheimer's in April. Then there is the Solheim pressure and the realization that a career that produced more than $7.6 million in earnings is ending.
"I only played 10 events in 2005, and I didn't play well," she said. "I laid off eight months after the surgery, then dad died and I wanted to be there for my mom. There's always that chance I could come back and play a couple of events, but I don't see that happening."
But it does open a new chapter in her life.
"After the Solheim Cup ends and being retired, I'm going to have more time on my hands," King said. "And my mission now is to make a difference."
Reach Canton Repository sports writer Bill Snier at (330) 580-8342 or e-mail: bill.snier@cantonrep.com