Taylor Babcock, PGA, learned you can go home again. The PGA/LPGA Head Professional at Mount Vernon Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia, got to return to her roots when she qualified for her first PGA Professional Championship in late April at Oregon’s Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
The 35-year-old Babcock grew up four and a half hours from Bandon Dunes in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where she was a three-star athlete. She picked golf over volleyball and basketball, and she was reminded that was the correct choice when she arrived at the PGA Professional Championship.
“The PGA of America truly makes that event special, like a true major championship,” Babcock says. “Out of the gate, the attention to detail and the communication was next level.”
It will be an experience Babcock always remembers. And while it had been 18 years since she last played Bandon Dunes, she knew she would have to make club adjustments to properly play the under-the-wind shots required at the oceanside links.
Babcock shot 74-79 and missed the cut, but she left the Championship with the same gratitude as the 20 PGA of America Golf Professionals who qualified for the 2026 PGA Championship. Then it was back to her day job at Mount Vernon, where the members congratulated her on her success.
It’s not easy to qualify for the PGA Professional Championship — Babcock played her final four holes in 4-under in the Middle Atlantic PGA Section to earn her spot at Bandon Dunes. As a Head Professional, finding time for lunch can be a challenge, much less carve out time to work on your game.
“Combining the two is one of the hardest things we have to manage,” says Babcock, who was named to Golf Digest’s 2026–27 Best In-State Instructors list in Virginia.
“Fortunately, over the winter, we have an indoor studio open for three months that I use when our club is closed on Mondays to play the course with Trackman. I’m proud to show our members and staff that if you have a competitive desire, there is a path for you to play competitively.”
Babcock first got that competitive desire late in high school when, with the help of Jerry Mowlds, PGA, former Director of Instruction at nearby Pumpkin Ridge, she transformed her game from a 15-handicap to a scratch player.
With the help of Mowlds, Babcock joined Division II golf powerhouse Barry University near Miami. She earned All-America honors and was named captain. Babcock graduated in 2013 and became an assistant coach at Yale (2013-15), the University of South Florida (2015-16) and the University of California (2016-17).
But she soon grew tired of the nomadic life of a college coach, where Babcock was subject to the whims of an athletic director and head coach.
“I had to make a decision,” she recalls. “Did I want to coach or provide members with awesome experiences?”
Babcock chose the latter. She says one of her key jobs was working alongside Keith Barber, PGA, at Pine Brook Country Club near Boston.
“To see the level of creativity he had as a Head Professional, along with his business knowledge, I knew this is what I wanted to do,” Babcock recalls.
And Barber knew she would do it well.
“She has a tremendous personality,” points out Barber, Pine Brook’s Director of Player Development after serving 31 years as Head Professional. “She believes the staff should have fun, like I do.
“And she was a really good player, although she didn’t get a chance to practice that much.”
In 2024, Babcock was hired as the seventh Head Professional in Mount Vernon’s 65-year history. She also happened to be the first woman, though she downplays that significance.
“All the golf professionals before me at Mount Vernon had so much to offer,” Babcock explains. “One of the best things I can do for the club is fuel my own desire to compete at a high level when representing the club and the members, and being dedicated to the job and the game.”
By making time to play the game, Babcock also solves the other balancing act PGA of America Professionals battle: finding time for their family. Her partner, Chelsea Hester, has a 9-year-old daughter who loves to play the game.
“I’ve got built-in practice partners,” Babcock says. “On days off, I get to practice with them and that fuels family time.”
What drives Babcock now after playing at Bandon Dunes is finding a way back to another PGA Professional Championship.
“That’s an added benefit,” she says. “I want to play again.”
It will seem like home again. –Craig Dolch