Sophomore Dani Bailey plays on Western Washington University’s women’s varsity golf team. She grew up in Queenstown, New Zealand and is majoring in communications.
She started golfing when she was about 12 years old because her brother played.
“I didn’t really take it seriously until I was 15 or 16 years old,” Bailey said. “That’s when I started playing tournaments, [and] I went to China and played for the New Zealand team.”
While on the U-19 New Zealand team, they won gold at the U-19 China versus New Zealand championship in 2019, and Bailey won her individual matchplay games.
Bailey chose to attend Western for a few reasons.
“I saw Western on an advertisement online, and the photos reminded me of Hogwarts,” Bailey said. “The representation was solid, and it just looked so amazing.”
The size of Western’s campus also appealed to her.
“Because I’m from New Zealand, it’s such a small country that knowing if I went to a bigger university, I probably wouldn’t have handled it as well,” she said. “I like the fact that Western is a smaller school.”
Bellingham is also in between Seattle and Canada, and she said it’s very accessible to travel to California as well.
“Everywhere seems like it’s within arm’s reach,” Bailey said.
Bailey said that golf in New Zealand is also a big sport.
“It’s a go-to travel destination for golf,” she said. “There’s sensational courses.”
Golf is definitely male-dominated in New Zealand, Bailey added. And, that she was pretty much the only girl who played in her town.
“I think that was a big push for me to come over to the United States to really see if I could make it because I had to play against more females,” Bailey said.
Bailey got recruited by Luke Bennett, the men’s and women’s head golf coach, in 2020, and she has enjoyed every day of it since.
“I never knew an individual sport could have such close friends because you’re always playing on your own,” Bailey said. “But we have a great dynamic here. … Every girl on the team is my best friend … and we’re a big family.”
Bennett said Bailey also plays a very inclusive role on the team.
“Dani is definitely a little bit more outgoing,” Bennett said. “[She’s] just someone who’s infectious in terms of engaging everyone [and] wanting to know about others.”
She also practices year-round and said that golf is a sport where taking a break is not a good idea because it’s hard to come back to.
“I like to play as much as I can,” Bailey said. “It’s such a nice way of socializing and being competitive.”
In February 2021, Bailey shot 18 pars in a row at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club scoring a 72.
“It’s not my best round, but it was my most impressive,” Bailey said.
From Feb. 28 to March 1, Bailey and the varsity women’s golf team travels to Alameda, California, to compete in their first tournament since October 2021 at the California State East Bay Invite.
Click here to read about other international student-athletes at Western.
Taras McCurdie (he/him) is the sports editor for The Front this quarter. He is an aspiring sports journalist entering his final quarter at Western Washington University (WWU). Outside of school, you can find him freelancing for the Lynden Tribune, playing on the WWU club tennis team or running on the treadmill at the Rec Center. When chilling at night, he listens to throwback slow jams and ’90s hip-hop. You can reach him at tarasmccurdie.thefront@gmail.com.
