By: Melinda Eckley

The Lendl sisters grew up swinging things. Baby spoons at first, then tennis rackets. Now golf clubs have become long standing items of choice.

Marika and Isabelle Lendl of Goshen, Conn., first started playing tennis because it was in the genes. With their father, Ivan Lendl, former No. 1 player in men’s tennis for four consecutive years and top-10 finisher for 13 consecutive years, you could say that the Lendl sisters have more than just tennis in their blood. A healthy dose of winning comprises their genetic make-up.

Marika Lendl

Fourteen-year-old Marika has been playing AJGA tournaments since 2003. In her second season, this young star won the 21st Annual Scott Robertson Memorial, placed second at the Fidelity Investments Junior Classic and played in major tournaments such as the Rolex Girls Junior Championship, Rolex Tournament of Champions, McDonald’s Betsy Rawls Girls Championship and played for the victorious East Canon Cup Team.

She also qualified for match play at the 56th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, shooting a 77-77–154. She was halted from entering the quarterfinals with a loss to Hsiao-Ching Lu of Taipei, China.

Her 13-year-old sister, Isabelle, has quickly followed her sister’s streak of top finishes. In her first year on the AJGA circuit, the youngest Lendl tied for sixth at The Greater Hartford Jaycees Junior presented by St. Paul Travlers and placed seventh at the Lessing’s AJGA Classic. Isabelle played in the 104th U.S. Women’s Amateur, finishing 33rd and qualifying for match play. She lost in the opening round to Kathy Hartwiger of Birmingham, Ala.

Isabelle and Marika both began taking up golf as a hobby with a little prodding from their father. The former tennis star now plays on the Celebrity Players Tour with a 2-handicap. The daughters have come a long way from their beginning days and now each of the girls has a 1-handicap.

“He can’t even beat my sister or me when he is playing from the back tees and we are playing from the reds. But he says it doesn’t count if we beat him until we beat him from the same tees,” Isabelle said.

Isabelle Lendl

The girls credit their father’s sports background to giving them better understanding of the sports world and grounding for their future in golf.

“Experience is everything,” Isabelle said. “It’s helped a lot because my dad understands the situations that we are in and he knows what to do.”

Even though Marika and Isabelle have not yet faced each other in a tournament, they were hesitant to comment as to who would win in a tournament shoot-out.

“We’re pretty competitive. I’d say I’m more competitive because if we have contests, I like to put something on it and she’d rather play for pride,” Marika said.

Playing together on the AJGA circuit has kept things less intense for the sisters.

“I think that I enjoy the friendly competition between the two of us, and if you play bad or are not hitting well, there is always someone there to help you,” Isabelle said.

The two played together during the practice round for U.S. Girls Junior. Isabelle said that on the eighth hole Marika discovered something wrong with her swing. After analysis from the younger sister, the problem was resolved.

“I shouldn’t have told her,” Isabelle said. “She beat me! But that is the kind of support we have. We will always have each other to lean on.”

Both would like to make playing on the LPGA tour a family event with high hopes of following the family tradition of winning streaks and broken records.

“I want to make the LPGA Tour. Hopefully, I won’t be too old whenever it happens!” Marika said.