On Friday, Nov. 6, our founder, Emily Haythorn, will be inducted into the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame.

Her grandparents, Don and Bea Hungenberg, helped her get there. During her last two winters of high school, Emily flew to Arizona, where they spent the winters, six times on weekends so they could work on her game.

"Their support meant so much to me. They were always willing to invest their time and energy in helping me become a better golfer. My grandma even flew out to watch me compete at the national championships, which is a memory I'll always cherish."

One rule: west of the Mississippi

Colleges noticed. Texas Christian University recruited her, along with a school in Virginia and a handful of Midwest liberal arts colleges. Her parents had one rule: she had to go to school west of the Mississippi River.

Linfield, in McMinnville, Oregon, felt familiar. The campus had the same school spirit and sense of team she knew from Eaton High School, where she lettered in four sports. Eaton had no girls golf team, so she played for the Greeley Unified team, with golfers from Greeley and nearby schools, and was an all-state golfer and team captain. It was also a program on the rise, restarted just three years before she arrived in 1998.

Her first practice is still a favorite story. "My coach handed me a pair of galoshes with spikes on the bottom and told me, 'These are your golf shoes.' Then it rained for 93 straight days, and I understood exactly why my regular golf shoes weren't going to hold up in the Pacific Northwest. I remember thinking, 'Maybe I should have reconsidered going to Texas Christian!'"

Building a winning team

The same year, retired Air Force pilot and former Wildcats baseball player Marty Bergan became head coach. There weren't enough women golfers her freshman year to post a team score at the conference tournament, but Emily still earned all-conference honors.

"Marty Bergan was so much more than my golf coach, he was like a grandfather to me. I'll remember his huge smile and the way he would pat you on the back after a great golf shot. Marty and his wife, Margie, also welcomed us into their home for team dinners, creating so many wonderful memories, both on and off the course."

Under Bergan, Linfield won three straight conference team titles. Emily won back-to-back individual conference titles herself, and as a senior she finished second by one stroke in a sudden-death playoff for a third.

In 2000, she and the Wildcats played at the NCAA Division III Championships in Illinois. Emily finished 12th, the highest individual finish by any Linfield golfer, man or woman, and became Linfield's first women's golf All-American. The team finished eighth, the best national result a Wildcats golf team has ever had.

The Pacific Northwest suited her. "One of my favorite things about playing golf in the Northwest was how lush and green everything was. The courses were always in beautiful condition and made for an incredible backdrop to play." Her teammates did too, including a friend from the team who later stood next to her as maid of honor, and the two had their first children a month apart.

After Linfield

Emily graduated in 2002 with a degree in International Business and Anthropology and was named Linfield's Female Athlete of the Year for 2001-02. She stayed on for a year as an assistant coach under Bergan, later coached at Northern Colorado near her hometown, and worked as a golf professional at Langdon Farms near Portland and at Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club in Colorado.

Linfield, she says, taught her the value of hard work, staying focused on a goal, and never being afraid to follow a dream.

Sassy Caddy

While working as a golf professional and teaching lessons, Emily kept hearing the same thing from the women she taught: they couldn't find golf bags they liked, and nothing was made specifically for women. So she decided to make them herself.

Sixteen years ago, Emily started Sassy Caddy for women who love to golf, play pickleball, spend time by the pool and show off their style. It began as a women's golf bag brand and has grown into a full lifestyle collection of golf bags, towels, headcovers, tote bags, purses, hats, and pickleball and tennis bags. She also teamed up with her mother, Joy, to start Center Stage Interior Design.

"Building a business has certainly had its share of unexpected challenges, setbacks, and opportunities. Linfield taught me to keep showing up, be resourceful, trust myself, and enjoy the journey. Looking back, the confidence and resilience I developed there have stayed with me far more than any individual accomplishment."

One bag holds a special place: the Adelaide, which Emily designed after her grandma Bea, with bees on the inside of the purse.

Thank you

Emily and her husband, Russell, are raising two daughters, and the family loves to travel and go to country music concerts.

We are a small team making bags in small batches, and we are proud of our founder. Congratulations, Emily. If you'd like to send her a note, leave a comment below and we'll make sure she reads it.