Danielle Bailey is grateful for her introduction to golf. The Texas A&M sophomore\u2019s introduction to the game came when her dad dropped her off at a week-long golf camp in fourth or fifth grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one in my family plays golf,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cBut I really liked it, and it came naturally to me. That\u2019s when I caught the bug.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey continued to play other sports in school, never taking golf too seriously but always making time to hit the range with friends for fun. At 12 or 13, she started playing in tournaments \u2013\u2013 a later start compared to her fellow competitors, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful for that [late start], honestly,\u201d she added. \u201cA lot of the girls who started early ended up burning out. I still love golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she made the varsity team her freshman year at Ronald Reagan High School, she wasn\u2019t quite sure what to expect with the newly hired coach. The fear soon dissipated, though, because both her coach, Russell Aki, and assistant coach, Stephen Martinez, turned out to be \u201camazing people and great role models.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m also really grateful for them because having a bad coach can really stifle your love of the game,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cThey made it a really great team environment and were always encouraging and fun to be around, which made me love the game even more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy four years of golf were the best my high school had ever seen,\u201d she continued. \u201cHaving that amount of talent on the team gave us the opportunity to play well in the district, state and ultimately nationally.”<\/p>\n
Bailey\u2019s team competed in both the 2023 and 2024 PGA High School Golf National Invitational at PGA Frisco, capturing the girls\u2019 title by a whopping 35 strokes their first year and following it up with a runner-up finish the next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNationals was such a fun time,\u201d she said of her experience. \u201cTo travel and play such a super nice course was great, and the hospitality during the tournaments was really well done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey comes from a family of Texas A&M Aggies, and she\u2019s known from a young age that she wanted to become an engineer. She stayed open to attending other schools, but when college recruiters began calling, she was met with skepticism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told I would either need to change my major or I was going to hate my life,\u201d she recalled. \u201cEngineering and college golf are two extremely high-level commitments, and it can\u2019t be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, those conversations convinced her to follow her long-time goal of becoming an engineer and forgo playing for her school \u2026 or, so she thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d heard about the club golf team and was planning on doing that as a way to satisfy the golf itch and competitive drive I still had,\u201d she said. \u201cClub golf is seriously one of the best choices I’ve ever made for myself. It\u2019s still a very competitive atmosphere \u2026 I still have to perform, practice and play well to qualify for these tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what you make it,\u201d she continued. \u201cI can make golf work around my schedule and not stress about 5 a.m. workouts or 36-hole qualifiers. Plus, I can join other organizations and have a life outside of golf and school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Texas A&M club golf president Luke Sherrell, a mechanical engineering major now completing his graduate degree, says the story of their team is one focused on building something together that leaves a lasting legacy for others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole team has bought into the idea that we\u2019re building the No. 1 club in the country,\u201d said Sherrell. \u201cWe\u2019re going to travel, have a good time and bring in others \u2026 and as much as it\u2019s competitive, we\u2019re not going to lose our minds over this, because it\u2019s club golf. I\u2019m having a fun time watching the next generation come through.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Sherrell\u2019s first year of 13 dues-paying members, the club has grown to a capped 50 members, with hundreds of applications coming in each semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n