Bailey Shoemaker might one day work for the CIA, but now she's focused on strong showing in ANWA
· Yahoo Sports
EVANS, Ga. — When Bailey Shoemaker isn’t playing golf in tournament such as this week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur, she’s working in intelligence. Not officially, but she sure is doing a good job of it. The sophomore is studying intelligence and cyber operations at USC, and she practices her skills on those she knows well.
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After her first date with her boyfriend, Jared Ramirez—an aerospace engineering graduate from USC—she got to work on making sure he was legit.
“I’m a hacker. I hack computers. After our first date I hacked into my boyfriend’s Spotify account and hacked into my mom’s bank account before,” Shoemaker said. “I don’t know how applicable it is to golf or anything. I’ve done some cool stuff.”
Asked if Ramirez didn’t mind, she said: “He’s here this week. He thought it was great.”
Her mom was startled at first. Shoemaker has tried it on her roommate, too. She hopes to work for a federal agency, maybe the secret service or CIA, and do national security intelligence.
But first, more golf.
Shoemaker shot an ANWA course record six-under 66 at Augusta National Golf Club in 2024 to finish one shot back of winner Lottie Woad. Even though that was the only final round she’s played in the event, she’s no stranger to the famed course. In 2018, she finished second in the Girls' 12-13 Division of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
And now Shoemaker is healthy again after missing the cut last year and will be making her fifth appearance in ANWA when the tournament begins on Wednesday at Champions Retreat. One year ago, she wasn’t sure she’d be here. Right after the tournament in 2025, she felt unbearable pain while swinging a club. She was diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome (which, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is what happens when the ulnar nerve gets irritated or compressed at the inside of the elbow).
She tried rest and then playing through it, but it wouldn’t go away, so she had surgery, and she’s back doing what she loves pain-free.
“Once I’d get to the top of my swing, I’d get a shooting pain down my arm, and then in my ring and pinkie finger they’d come up off my club,” Shoemaker said. “I lost motor control of them. I didn’t have any function over them, which was scary. It was bleeding into my sleep and just sitting, which was kind of tough. Very scary for a while. Yeah, totally gone now. It took a while after surgery to fully set in because my nerve was re-adjusting but now I’m 100 percent. That was some tough pain for sure.”
Even though Shoemaker is getting a great education and has a post-golf plan, she’s focused on playing professional golf one day. That was in jeopardy.
From left, USC teammates Catherine Park, Bailey Shoemaker and Jasmine Koo pose on the 11th green of Augusta National Golf Club during their 2025 practice round for the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
Augusta National
“The thought came in my head that ‘this could be it; my career could be over,’” she said. “I was told a few times that doctors weren’t quite sure. They thought if I took time off it would get better on its own. It wasn’t. I am just glad to be here right now. I have a new perspective on the game for sure, knowing what can happen if I don’t end up playing and it’s taken away from me. I love this game.”
During her time away while recovering, she discovered something about herself. She wasn’t as open as she needed to be, and that was a problem. From the first time she played the ANWA in 2022 to now, she’s evolved.
“Exponentially. It's insane,” Shoemaker said. “I talk to my [USC] head coach, Justin Silverstein, all the time about it … I was a punk kid, like even a year ago. But I've changed so much as a golfer, as a person, dealing with a lot of adversity in the last year, especially. But my game is transformed. I'm a lot longer now, which is nice. So much more of a well-rounded person and golfer. It's kind of nice to come back here and see how I've grown. This is an annual event, so coming back here you can really reevaluate yourself and see where you are now.”
Asked why she can look back and call herself a punk, Shoemaker said: “I’ve always been pretty stubborn and set in my ways. It’s good and bad at the same time. It’s my greatest strength and my greatest weakness. A double-edged sword there. I’ve become way more receptive to criticism and feedback. I used to think it was my way or the highway a little bit. Being a little more receptive like a sponge, learning from my peers, what’s right and wrong has been pretty big for me.”
Shoemaker, a junior at USC, learned plenty after the injury. She appreciated the incremental improvements. She putted for the first time since surgery on Thanksgiving Day. She played her first nine post-surgery with her dad on Christmas Day. After that, she said the progress was fast.
Bailey Shoemaker hits her shot on Augusta National's famed 12th tee during her 2025 practice round.
Augusta National
She rehabbed at USC and shared the grueling process with basketball star Alijah Arenas, who was rehabbing a torn meniscus at the same time. They had plenty of conversations. “In the summer it was just me and [Alijah]. I worked with him and we bounced stuff off each other for sure,” Shoemaker said. “He’s having a heckuva year. He’s coming back and so am I.”
Perhaps Shoemaker can recreate some of the Augusta mojo from her sizzling final-round at ANWA in 2024.
“That was so special. It’s always a tough time for me getting through this course and being able to play Augusta,” Shoemaker said. “I wish I would’ve made the cut a few more times, but, ,unfortunately, I haven’t. Being able to play Augusta in the final round of this tournament or any tournament is unbelievable. It was special to have my dad there for me that day, too.”
Her fifth start at ANWA might be the most meaningful, given all she’s been through.
“It’s always a target on the calendar for sure, to get in prime gear and come out here and compete at the highest level I can and put as much work in as I can to be where I want to be,” Shoemaker said. “This is kind of my goal is to be 100 percent by now, and I am, so it's really exciting and also relieving to see that all my work paid off.”