Commentating on golf is a core requirement of Shane Bacon’s television/podcast profession, where he can opine on Scottie Scheffler, Lilia Vu or Valhalla Golf Club as easily as putting on a new glove.
This summer, though, it’s Bacon’s golf game that merits being talked about.
He qualified to play in his first U.S. Amateur, made his second hole-in-one and finished third in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur. These achievements were more notable because he’s a 39-year-old who plays, when home in Westport, Connecticut, probably one round every week yet maintains a +2.8 handicap.
Bacon’s U.S. Amateur breakthrough occurred at a sectional qualifier at Bonnie Briar Country Club in Larchmont, New York, on July 11.
“Thirty-six holes against a lot of college kids who hit the ball a mile,†he said.
Bacon’s playing partner was Arthur Ouimet. Naturally, Bacon asked if Ouimet was a descendent of Hall of Fame amateur Francis Ouimet, who as a caddie at The Country Club in Brookline beat Harry Vardon and Ted ray to win the 1913 U.S. Open.
“He said he probably was,†Bacon said.
Bacon’s knowledge of the Ouimet name may have been fortified by his professional background, which has included stints with AOL, CBS, Yahoo, the Back9Network, Fox, NBC, Masters Live and Golf Channel.
In the U.S. Amateur qualifier at Bonnie Briar, Luke Colton was the medalist with rounds of 73-65. That left Bacon and Ouimet to duel for the remaining qualifying spot. No. 14 was the deciding hole, as Bacon made a birdie 3 and Ouimet a double-bogey 6 to provide Bacon with a two–stroke lead. It was reduced to one on an Ouimet birdie at 16 and both players then birdied 17.
At the short par-4 18th, Ouimet hit an iron off the tee but Bacon pulled driver. “I had driven the green in the morning, and my caddie told me to hit driver again, which I pulled right of the green,†said Bacon, a left-hander.
A deft pitch left a 2-foot birdie putt, which he converted for a 70-70–140, one shot clear of Ouimet, who also birdied the last.
Bacon said qualifying for the U.S. Amateur was special, not only because his game weathered well in such a competitive arena, but also because the first time he ever had hosted golf on national television (Fox) was the 2016 U.S. Amateur.
Twenty days after his U.S. Amateur entry, Bacon tried to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur at a sectional at Madison (Connecticut) Country Club. But his 73 missed a playoff for the final two spots by three shots.
Bacon was disappointed again in August at the U.S. Amateur near Denver, Colorado, where he shot 80 and 82 at Cherry Hills and Colorado Golf Club in stroke play and failed to advance to match play.
He wasn’t deterred, however.
Bacon’s next tournament was Aug. 29-30 in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur at the Country Club of Farmington. He arrived there after a nine-day work trip, which included covering the Tour Championship in Georgia and a World Long Drive event in Florida.
“Then I almost missed the flight out of Tampa, and I had never played there [at the CC of Farmington] before,†said Bacon, a member of Brooklawn CC in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Sitting 3-over after eight holes, Bacon seemed destined for a short tournament stay. He rebounded with birdies on his next three holes and walked to the tee at the par-3 12th.
“The pin was tucked over a front bunker, and I gassed a sand wedge 115 yards,†he said.
One of his playing competitors, Ray Floyd Jr. – the son of four-time major champion Raymond Floyd – said with the ball in flight, “It’s going to be great.â€
Floyd’s remark proved prophetic.
“The ball landed left of the pin and ripped back right into the hole,†Bacon said of his second career ace.
He played even par the rest of the way to shoot 2-under 69, which tied him for fourth place. A second-round 70 put him in the final group for the final round. His partners were Connecticut amateur luminaries Rick Dowling III and Cody Paladino.
Driving with distance and accuracy using Bacon’s “stock right-to-left fade†helped him keep pace with his partners, as he birdied 6, 9 and 10. But he fell back with bogeys at 11 and 14. Nevertheless, with Dowling and Paladino continuing to play well, Bacon was resigned he wasn’t going to catch either. “I wanted to finish third alone,†he said.
He needed to go 1-under over the last two holes. He accomplished that with a 4-foot birdie at 17 and a splendid 6-iron at the 220-yard, par-3 18th to set up a par.
Dowling, the Connecticut Amateur champion, won his third consecutive Connecticut Mid-Amateur title with a final-day 66-71 to finish at 204. Paladino, the Connecticut State Golf Association’s three-time reigning Dick Tettelbach Player of the Year winner, was second (71-69–206). Bacon finished third at 209, breaking par all three rounds with scores of 69-70-70. Rick Hayes and Michael Kennedy tied for fourth at 210.
“I hadn’t been in that competitive tournament situation in a while,†said Bacon. “It was fun.â€
"What I love about golf is it’s everlasting. Once you get into it, it will only grow and be a bigger part of you."
Shane Bacon
He then reflected on a season that was, as a broadcast colleague might say, better than most.
“Really for the first time in a long while my brain aligned up with my golf swing,†he said. “Honestly, I’m finally playing the kind of tournament golf I feel I should play.â€
Bacon credits his father, Monte, for his start in and appreciation for the game in Marshall, Texas, where Bacon played in American Junior Golf Association events and at Marshall (Texas) High School.
A wrist injury in his senior year contributed to him not playing college golf. At the University of Arizona, he started his media career as the golf writer for the Arizona Daily Wildcat.
He tried to play golf professionally on the Gateway mini tour 2007-08 and caddied briefly on the LPGA Tour before turning his focus back to media outlets that covered golf.
Bacon, who last year wrote a children’s golf book “The Golfer’s Zoo,†has worked (or will work) this year for CBS at the Masters and the PGA Championship, ESPN at the PGA Championship, the USGA at the U.S. Open, the Korn Ferry Tour for the PGA Tour and World Long Drive events on Golf Channel. He also hosts the “Get a Grip†podcast and co-hosts the Ping Proving Grounds podcast with Marty Jertson. The latter will work at the Final Stage of the PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry in December.
Bacon has done well at balancing his golf schedule first, and most importantly, with his family – wife, Cindy; son, Henry; and daughter, Charlotte – as well as the requirements of his profession, travel and then golf.
“What I love about golf is it’s everlasting,†Bacon said. “Once you get into it, it will only grow and be a bigger part of you. This year I played my best golf in 15 years, which is wild to think about. I think with a little more time I can be more competitive. Maybe set the alarm for 6, get up early and hit some balls. One of my goals is to play one USGA event, either the U.S. Amateur or U.S. Mid-Amateur, next year.â€
If it happens, well, that will require another conversation.
E-MAIL TOM
Top: Shane Bacon finishes third in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur at Country Club of Farmington.
CONNECTICUT STATE GOLF ASSOCIATRION
