Back
There are a lot of ways to fall in love with golf.
Some people are captivated by the competition. Others chase perfect swings or lower handicaps. Some dream of major championships, while others simply love four (okay, maybe five) uninterrupted hours with friends.
I think golf is all of those things. I also think it’s one of the best ways to experience the world.
If we’ve never met before, hello. I’m Bailey Chamblee.
You may know me from my work with Golf Channel, where I’ve had the privilege of covering everything from major championships and professional tournaments to the PGA Merchandise Show and the people shaping the future of the game. Along the way, I’ve interviewed major champions, club professionals, innovators, course architects, equipment designers and amateurs chasing lifelong dreams.
Those experiences have given me a front-row seat to golf.
But my link to the game began long before I ever stepped in front of a camera.
You could even say I literally carry a piece of golf with me everywhere I go. It’s written on my face: I have a scar on my left lip from walking into the backswing of my oldest brother as a child. Thankfully, I don’t remember the incident, but I’m told that after reconstructive facial surgery, all I wanted were Wendy’s French fries.
So, yes, golf has been part of my life for a long time, even though I didn’t take up the game until I was 15.
I wasn’t traumatized by my freak accident. Rather, I grew up an active participant in all sports…except golf. As the youngest of three with two older brothers, my extracurriculars were more, shall we say, aggressive in nature. From basketball to soccer, baseball to volleyball, I left little room in my calendar for golf.
That changed at 14, when a degenerative cartilage disorder in both my knees and subsequent surgeries sidelined me from the sports that required a lot of running, jumping, pivoting and otherwise harsh motion on my joints. Essentially, all the sports I had played throughout my childhood.
So I turned to golf.
My father, who had grown up caddying at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was a collegiate golfer, became my teacher. At 15, I quickly committed myself to earning a Division I scholarship.
At Old Dominion University, I had another goal in mind: finding my way onto Golf Channel, inspired in large part by watching Kelly Tilghman, who was then a host on the network.
Somehow, both things happened.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that I didn’t necessarily have to be the person who could tell you exactly how to hit an 80-yard bunker shot—seriously, to this day I still struggle with this. But what I could do was have a very informed conversation about the more important things in golf—like who has the greatest halfway-house snack.
Is it the burger dog at Olympic? The peanut butter, jelly and bacon sandwich at Fishers Island? Or the Michelin-star-quality fish tacos at Makena? These are the things I’ve sought to determine. And I’m hoping they’re the types of things you’d like to know, too.
My golf life has taken me places I never could have imagined when I was 15. I’ve played around the world. I’ve shanked a chip on the 18th hole at the Old Course in front of the 50-plus townspeople who gather every day in St. Andrews to watch golfers finish their rounds, only to sink the 30-footer to save par and, more importantly, my dignity.
I’ve shared dinners with major champions, Ryder Cup captains and a World No. 1. I’ve been inside the ropes, mere feet away from Tiger Woods as he authored a five-win season in 2013.
I’ve caddied in professional events and have some wild husband-and-wife golf stories to share (stories for another time, another article). I’ve spearheaded Golf Channel’s fashion coverage for the better part of a decade, emceeing fashion shows and sitting in the metaphorical front row, talking with the people behind the styles and designs now filling fairways everywhere.
I’ve walked alongside players, talked with architects and equipment designers, and listened to amateurs whose biggest dream was simply to earn the right to play in the U.S. Open.
And while there have been many highs, there have been some lows. Like saying "the F-word" on live, national television.
Read that again. The quotation marks matter.
I was referring to the word “fifty-nine,” as in Jim Furyk’s historic 59 at Conway Farms in 2013.
Golf has given me plenty of stories. But more importantly, it has given me a way of seeing the game. I’m part-insider, part-enthusiast. I know enough about the industry to understand what is happening behind the scenes, but I’m still enough of an avid golfer to get excited about a great walk, a beautiful course, a new piece of apparel or a 30-foot putt that has absolutely no business going in.
Golf has afforded me some of the greatest gifts of my life. It has given me a career I once only dreamed about, taken me around the world, introduced me to remarkable people and provided more than a few stories I probably shouldn’t tell on television. It has also taught me that the stories beyond the weekly leaderboard are often well worth telling, too.
That’s what I hope to bring as GolfPass' newest contributor.
I'll take you inside the biggest events in golf, but also the quieter moments that often matter more. I'll give my take on some bucket-list destinations and hidden gems, the courses worth traveling across the world to play and some that might be hiding much closer to home. And there will be plenty to explore in fashion, etiquette, architecture, food and the traditions that make this game unlike any other.
I look forward to sharing the things I’ve learned from being inside the game and the things I’m still figuring out right alongside you. Some columns may make you laugh. Some may inspire your next golf trip. Some might make you reconsider what you thought you knew about the game. And hopefully, a few will simply remind you why you fell in love with golf in the first place.
My hope is that when you finish reading each month, you’ll want to book another tee time. Or another plane ticket. Or both. Because for me, golf is about finding the spark: the reason, the positive, the little thing that keeps you coming back for more.
Thanks for joining me. I’m excited to see where the next round takes us.
Comments (0)