How Texas A&M Club Golf is Building Their Team to be No. 1 in the Country

Danielle Bailey is grateful for her introduction to golf. The Texas A&M sophomore’s introduction to the game came when her dad dropped her off at a week-long golf camp in fourth or fifth grade.

“No one in my family plays golf,” Bailey said. “But I really liked it, and it came naturally to me. That’s when I caught the bug.”

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 –– a later start compared to her fellow competitors, she says.

“I’m grateful for that [late start], honestly,” she added. “A lot of the girls who started early ended up burning out. I still love golf.”

When she made the varsity team her freshman year at Ronald Reagan High School, she wasn’t 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 “amazing people and great role models.” 

“I’m also really grateful for them because having a bad coach can really stifle your love of the game,” Bailey said. “They made it a really great team environment and were always encouraging and fun to be around, which made me love the game even more.”

“My four years of golf were the best my high school had ever seen,” she continued. “Having that amount of talent on the team gave us the opportunity to play well in the district, state and ultimately nationally."

Bailey’s team competed in both the 2023 and 2024 PGA High School Golf National Invitational at PGA Frisco, capturing the girls’ title by a whopping 35 strokes their first year and following it up with a runner-up finish the next. 

“Nationals was such a fun time,” she said of her experience. “To travel and play such a super nice course was great, and the hospitality during the tournaments was really well done.”

Bailey comes from a family of Texas A&M Aggies, and she’s 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.

“I was told I would either need to change my major or I was going to hate my life,” she recalled. “Engineering and college golf are two extremely high-level commitments, and it can’t be done.”

Ultimately, those conversations convinced her to follow her long-time goal of becoming an engineer and forgo playing for her school … or, so she thought.

“I’d 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,” she said. “Club golf is seriously one of the best choices I've ever made for myself. It’s still a very competitive atmosphere … I still have to perform, practice and play well to qualify for these tournaments.”

The PGA National Collegiate Club Golf Association (NCCGA) is helping students like Bailey find a school-life balance that creates flexibility and autonomy for its participants. At Texas A&M, the club team falls within the Department of Recreational Sports. 

“It’s what you make it,” she continued. “I 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.”

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.

“The whole team has bought into the idea that we’re building the No. 1 club in the country,” said Sherrell. “We’re going to travel, have a good time and bring in others … and as much as it’s competitive, we’re not going to lose our minds over this, because it’s club golf. I’m having a fun time watching the next generation come through.”

From Sherrell’s first year of 13 dues-paying members, the club has grown to a capped 50 members, with hundreds of applications coming in each semester. 

Sherrell and former club president Collin Ross took it upon themselves to build the Texas A&M Club Golf Team into a complete organization, including a robust point system critical for building transparency with members while fueling competition within the team. When speaking to Sherrell for this story, the club was preparing to host its second annual scramble fundraiser, which he projected to net twice as much as the inaugural year. Sherrell reflected on how both club golf at Texas A&M and the NCCGA itself have grown.

“Coming from someone who has been with the program for three-and-a-half years, seeing how far NCCGA has grown is incredible,” he said. “To see how many new clubs are joining, it’s fun to see the level of interest and which schools are becoming big names and making a splash.”

Sherrell also praises the governing body’s competitive pathway evolution in further legitimizing the National Championship, which includes a singular, year-long season with Regional Tournaments hosted by clubs and premier tournaments administered by PGA of America competitions staff, including National Qualifiers and the Pinehurst Open.

“I have to give a lot of credit to NCCGA for how they’ve run tournaments and the work they’ve done to make qualifying more official,” he said. “They continue to be such a great resource for us.”

As for Bailey, she has plans to extend her love of golf beyond college, and how she’s making those dreams become a reality is “God’s timing,” she says.

“I always wanted to do something involving golf post-grad,” Bailey said. “I am getting my major in civil engineering and getting my minor in agronomy. With that, I’m hoping to go into golf course construction and renovation. It just so happens that my teammate Drew’s dad works in the field and is helping me line up an internship next year.”

Speaking of teammates, it’s quite the diverse bunch on the Aggies club golf team. Did we mention she’s the only girl on the team?

“There are plenty of people like me who didn’t want to commit to playing collegiately, or others who played in college for a couple of years and got sick of it. Then there are others who never played competitively but are really good. We are a co-ed team, but I’m the only girl." 

“Being in an all-guy environment is not for everyone, but I just love golf so much,” Bailey continued. “All of the guys are very inviting and inclusive, and they feel like big brothers to me. I’m currently our club’s treasurer and am running for president next year.”

While they’ve been to the National Championship several times as a team, they’ve never captured the title. They’re eager for a shot when the PGA NCCGA National Championship comes to Twin Warriors and Santa Ana Golf Clubs in New Mexico, April 24-26. 

Regardless of the outcome, as Sherrell prepares to close out the season and hand over the reins to the next generation of club golfers like Bailey –– or, as his teammates call her, “Dani Darts” –– he’s confident the future and the legacy of club golf at Texas A&M is very bright.

“It’s a great time to be in club golf,” he said.