Martha Nause, the St. Olaf alum and Macalester golf coach, is the oldest player in the U.S. Women's Open field, at 53. When she learned she'd be teeing off with a 13-year-old, Nause called Macalester women's basketball coach Ellen Thompson, mother of a pre-teen.

"I said, 'Ellen, I need your help,'" Nause said. "She said, 'What?! What can I do?' I said, 'What do you talk to a 13-year-old about?'"

Thompson recommended talking sports. That should work for Nause, whose back story is far more interesting than her birthdate.

Nause not only won a major title -- the du Maurier, in 1994 -- she did so after overcoming a disease that paralyzed the right side of her face and left her stumbling around her hometown of Sheboygan, Wis., trying to regain her balance.

"Someone told me that if I had had a little paper bag," Nause said, "people would have thought I was a drunk."

The disease is called Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which infects facial nerves. In Nause's case, it caused facial paralysis, hearing loss, the loss of muscle strength around the eye and a complete loss of equilibrium.

Of all the problems a pro golfer can encounter, being able to stand up long enough to address the ball should not be one of them.

"It put me off the tour for half a year," Nause said after playing a practice round Tuesday at Interlachen. "It destroyed my balance nerve, and I couldn't walk. I had to relearn everything in terms of balance and movement and swinging, and how to swing without falling over. I still have partial hearing loss, and ringing in my ear."

Ramsay Hunt is related to the chicken pox virus. Nause said stress triggered the reaction. "I had to start wearing glasses," she said. "Because when my face was paralyzed, the muscles around my eye didn't come back all the way. I hadn't worn glasses before, but I needed my vision to orient myself in space, and my eyes weren't as good as they were before, so I would have to hang onto things. If I was walking and someone said, 'Hey, Martha,' I'd have to stop and hold my head steady to see who it was.

"My rehab was walking around town, moving my head the way a normal person moves their head. I was just stumbling all over the place."

She recovered, started working with a sports psychologist before the du Maurier in '94, and went to the 72nd hole one stroke up on long-hitting Michelle McGann.

Playing into a strong wind, McGann left her second shot well short. Nause hit her third shot to 10 feet and two-putted for her major victory.

Nause stayed on tour until 1999, before becoming burned out and becoming the Macalester coach. The Open will be her first LPGA event since.

While qualifying for the Open at Skokie (Ill.) Country Club, she found herself using her favorite coaching mottos on herself. "I feel like such a hypocrite," she said, laughing. "I tell my players, 'You can't say those things, you can't act like that, you can't get upset, you have to move on, you have to stay in the present.'

"The reason I know that is because I struggled with it. It wasn't until 10 years into my career that I learned those things, and by then it was already a pretty badly ingrained habit. So ingrain the right habits now and you'll be much better off."

It's easier advice to give than to take. Nause still grinds, still chastises herself for bad shots. "I don't throw clubs," she said. "But I might swear a little under my breath, so only my caddie can hear."

Thursday, the Macalester golf coach will encounter a wonderful teaching moment. She expects a large gallery, including current and former Macalester players, to follow her at the U.S. Women's Open, 16 years after she contracted Ramsay Hunt, and 14 years after she won her major.

This week, her friends will make sure she hears a ringing sound in both ears.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. jsouhan@startribune.com