Christina Proteau, a five-time B.C. Mid-Amateur Women’s golfing champion and a three-time Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, strives to achieve a balance between work, family and golf.
Proteau won the PNGA’s mid-amateur tournament earlier this summer. She is calling it her last major tournament of the year, as she is now seven months’ pregnant with her second child.
“That’s what made it special, too,” Proteau said. “To end it with a win.”
But Proteau took a run at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in 2014 while she was six months pregnant with her first child, making it all the way to the quarterfinals.
“I competed quite a ways,” she admitted. “It was a little bit easier back then. I was younger, and I wasn’t running around after another little one.”
Proteau works hard to balance her time between her professional life, her family life and her golfing. “It’s a lot different than it used to be. When I was young, I had a lot of time. When I went to law school, I had a little less time. Once you have kids, it’s whittled away.”
She said she manages her time by setting goals for herself.
“I set goals every spring, and I post them in places I want to see them,” she said. “I feel like I’m able to accomplish the things I am because there was a good foundation laid 10-15 years ago, when I was younger. Really, I’m able to find time to do it because I have friends and family who support me.”
Her husband, for example, often works as her caddie during tournaments. “He has been for years,” said Proteau. “That could create some tension in some relationships,” she laughed. “It’s a relationship that works really well on the gold course. That’s our date night, rather than a dinner out.”
Her support system also includes the Port Alberni Crown Counsel office, where Proteau works as a prosecutor in the Alberni courtroom. She said she uses some of the same techniques on the green and in the courtroom.
“You have to have the right preparation, otherwise your performance is going to be affected. You have to have the right attitude, otherwise your performance is going to be affected. You have to be adaptable, because things change hour to hour, day to day. I’m able to take things from each and apply it to the other. I think they help each other.”
Proteau said she heard from plenty of naysayers after the birth of her son, who thought it would be the end of her golf career.
“I think it’s pretty typical,” she said. “People like to tell you things are going to end. Life does change, but it changes for the better. Every time someone does tell me I can’t do something, I get even more stubborn.”
But Proteau is nowhere near finished with golf—she is still making goals for herself, looking ahead to next year.
“I’ve won provincial and national tournaments, but my goal would be to win the U.S. mid-amateurs,” she said.
Because of a maternity leave exemption policy, Proteau will be eligible to compete in next year’s tournament in September 2018.
“I have quite a long time to organize and get back into the shape I want to be in,” she said.
She has made it to the quarterfinals twice and the semifinals once. “I’m still missing out on the big goal there,” she said. “With the right preparation, I can achieve it.”
Meanwhile, she will continue working to achieve a balance between work and life. “We keep it pretty simple when we’re on down time,” she said. “We love Port Alberni. We love the outdoors and hiking. Our lives are pretty simple when it’s not golf season.”
Protean said her son is old enough now to attend her matches. After her PNGA win in Seattle in July, she said her son declared, “’Thanks Mama, you won me the trophy.’”
“That’s all the motivation I need,” she said. “To show my kids, you don’t have to limit yourself. I’m not just the person you see at home. Dedicate yourself to something, whether it’s the arts, singing, painting, and try to do the best you can.”