JERSEY CITY, New Jersey – Just a couple days removed from playing in the final group at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club, teenage amateur Megha Ganne snuck onto Liberty National after dark with her younger sister and a couple of friends to play the 14th hole.
“We see this cart rushing towards us and we are like, ‘Oh, no, this is not good,’ because we had never seen a cart before,” recalled Ganne.
“A very angry security guard comes out and says like, ‘You guys know there are cameras out here, right? You can’t be out here.’ Very serious. And then he kind of gets closer and he’s like, ‘I feel like I saw you on TV like yesterday.’ ”
That security guard was Joe Cieri, now the director of operations at Liberty National. Cieri was on hand Wednesday at the Mizuho Americas Open for Ganne’s pre-tournament press conference. It was during that presser that the Stanford freshman announced a new partnership with Liberty National, sporting the course’s logo on her bag. Now she can legally play anytime she wants.
“To have this golf course I looked out of my backyard every day and know I have playing rights and practice privileges here,” said Ganne, “just so lucky to be a part of this golf course in some way.”
Ganne spent the first 14 years of her life in Port Liberte and had a view of the 14th hole from her bedroom window. That summer evening in 2021 wasn’t the first time Ganne had snuck onto Liberty National, but it was the first time she got caught. Cieri, a retired Springfield cop, and Ganne became fast friends.
“I was not as mean as she said I was,” said Cieri, laughing. “I think I joked and said ‘Listen, you guys won’t get in trouble as long as somebody makes par on the hole. And then I saw her swing and hit the ball … and I was like, wait a second.”
Ganne, who is playing this week on a sponsor exemption, followed in the footsteps of Stanford teammates Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck in signing with Excel Sports Management for NIL representation. On Tuesday, Delta announced Zhang, Michelle Wie West, Ganne and Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn as brand ambassadors. This marks the first time the airline has sponsored LPGA players on a national level. Ganne also has NIL partnerships with TaylorMade and Ralph Lauren.
“It was just such a quick turn of golfers being allowed to have NIL,” said Ganne, “I took it slowly and saw what Rose and my other teammate, Rachel, did, and I had them as examples and people to lean on.”
Ganne, who now resides in nearby Holmdel, New Jersey, still has people approach her to talk about that special week at Olympic. She’s a different player now than she was then, having learned how to work the ball both ways and fine-tune her course management.
But that mega-watt smile and sparkling personality remain.
“The biggest thing on the golf course is my optimism and positivity,” said Ganne. “I feel like I had that for the last few years and that’s something I always try to maintain because I think it gives me a really big edge.”