Passionately Unified With Jensen Hamblett
Jensen Hamblett
First Assistant Golf Professional
Raintree Country Club, Charlotte, NC
Q: Tell us a little about you work experience at Troon (and before)?
A: I have been a Troon employee for almost a year now and I couldn’t say enough great things about Troon. Raintree became a Troon property in June of 2023 and it has been an incredible transition for our club. I started my career in my home state of Vermont at Vermont National Country club where I worked for one season in 2020. I then took a position down in Fort Myers, Florida at The Forest Country Club where I was at for 3 years. I have worked on the assistant’s ladder as a seasonal assistant, 2nd assistant, first assistant and Ladies Program Director while I was at The Forest. I have learned a lot from a variety of great PGA professionals, and it has developed my professional career to love this profession more than I ever anticipated.
I have developed the love for tournament operations, player development, junior golf programs and also merchandising. My experience in different locations has exposed me to different markets and has always brought me new working experiences.
Q: What/Who got you into the game and/or business of golf and what was your first experience with the game?
A: Both of my parents got me into the game at the young age of 5 years old where I learned to love the atmosphere of the game. I had one coach from five to 18 years old, when I graduated High School. Stephen (Steve) Gonsalves, PGA was my coach but also the reason I got into the industry of becoming a Golf Professional. We maintained a good relationship through the years with the highs and lows of competing, but he also knew that I could excel as a professional. He pushed me to become a professional and got me my initial interview with Vermont National Country Club. I never considered this to be my career path prior but with my first season I quickly learned to love the industry from the other side of things.
My first experience with the game was participating in a summer program with Steve and learning how play and compete with other players that were at my skill set. He showed us the ropes of the game, practicing, course management, club repair and so much more. He made the game fun for me and showed me more than just how to hit a golf ball.
Q: What do you do in your daily job or life to inspire other women to get them interested in the game of golf or the hospitality business as a career?
A: Being the First Assistant as a Female Professional is an incredible honor especially for other women that I am surrounded by. My daily life at the club revolves around tournament preparation, instruction, association play and merchandising. I have a great team that I am surrounded by every day that also helps me promote my best self to all membership especially to the women. It is a great way to get women of all ages interested in the game by having female presence at the club. When it comes to junior instruction, I love working with the younger girls of the game because it makes them see and believe that they also can achieve it. Having a supportive professional staff around me is key for me on being the best professional I can be especially as a female. They bring out the best in me which only helps support all golf and most importantly women in golf as well.
Q: What is an event or program at Raintree that you are a part of that you are most proud to share with us?
A: I would have to say that our Junior Golf Program is something I am very proud to be a part of. Steve Bogdanoff and Miles Chapman are our Teaching Professionals and they have done an incredible job promoting junior golf. We have an extensive summer golf camp schedule, Operation 36, PGA Jr. League, Raintree Junior Association and so much more. To watch the game grow for juniors is the future of our game and to be a part of that is very rewarding. I work closely with Miles, and he has a great eye for junior golf programming. Making it fun for junior golfers to show up and play is very rewarding but also very relatable for why I got into this industry.
Q: What is something that not many people know about you that you don’t mind sharing with us?
A: I try my best to be an open book just to relate to others around me, but I am a small-town girl that is from Colchester, Vermont. I was raised in a family of five with an older sister and a younger brother. We were a competitive family from the beginning but between my brother and I we played both Golf and Ice hockey growing up. I stuck with both sports until I graduated high school and decided that I wanted to focus on my Ice Hockey career throughout college and I ended up going to University of Southern Maine to play Hockey. I stepped away from golf while I was in school which a lot of people around me didn’t know I did. I have an incredible support system from my family where most of them still live in Vermont besides my younger brother who lives in Bozeman, Montana. They are the reason I push myself to be the best but also push me to be impactful in anything I do and promote women in sports. I am beyond thankful to have my family as my support system and for always pushing me to be a strong female athlete in anything I did.
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