Dade City teenage golfer Bailey Shoemaker is set to tee off at the U.S. Women’s Open, which begins June 2, at Pine Needle Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
It will mark the first major golf event for the local, amateur golfer, who is, remarkably, just 17 years old.
Shoemaker, who is an online student and committed to play women’s collegiate golf for the University of Southern California, qualified for the U.S. Open after shooting a 1-under-par in a 36-hole event at Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart in May.
Shoemaker prepared for that by playing in various events, including those hosted by the East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour (ECWPGT), which is an amateur golf tour for young women who are in high school, college or recent graduates from collegiate golf. She played in one event that was held at her home course, Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club, in March and finished tied for eighth place (+4).
“It’s great that everyone is encouraging us (young women) to get out and play,” Shoemaker told The Laker/Lutz News in March. “I know when I started golfing, just after I was born, that’s when women’s golf really started to boom and then the women (golfers) started to get longer and longer (on shots). Now, with each generation, you keep seeing everyone getting better and better.”
For those hoping to see Shoemaker in her professional golf event debut, the opening rounds of the U.S. Open on June 2 and June 3 will air on the streaming service, Peacock, and the Golf Channel.
Published on June 1, 2022.
