By Nia Gooden
I’ve learned many lessons from my work experience the past two summers at the Quaker Ridge Golf Shop, and I’ve met many great people. Two of them are Chelsea Bursby, golf shop attendant, and Chris Gabriele, lead teaching assistant.
Both have a strong affinity for and long history with the game. These are the most valuable takeaways from our conversations.
Chelsea
Nia: What were your first impressions of golf before you decided to major in golf management?
Chelsea: Golf felt like something that I knew I wanted to do. No one in my family golfs. I was the only one, so it felt like I was just born to golf.
Nia: What part of the golf industry do you most like?
Chelsea: Tournament operations. Being around all of those different people at all of the different events, and being able to have these organizations benefit from our tournaments.
Nia: What has working in a golf club taught you?
Chelsea: Patience. Lots and lots of patience. You deal with different people everyday.
Nia: Would you recommend golf to parents as an activity for their children?
Chelsea: Absolutely. It really teaches kids valuable lessons. Just because you swing the club and make contact doesn’t mean the ball is going to go where you want. And that’s kind of like life. You just have to roll with the shots you get. No matter the outcome, just take a deep breath and move on because that’s not the final outcome, that’s not the end result.
Nia: Who’s your favorite golfer?
Chelsea: Ricky Fowler and Tiger Woods are my all-time favorites.
Chris Gabriele
Nia: What’s your favorite part of playing golf?
Chris: Spending time with the people that you care about and meeting new people in general. It’s something that my father and I have connected with my entire life. To this day, when I’m playing in tournaments, he caddies for me, so we get to spend a lot of quality time together because of the game.
Nia: How do you think you got to be as skilled as you are?
Chris: I think I started with some natural ability, but it’s also just the drive and love for the game that led me to want to practice, to want to get better. I was fortunate that my parents had the means to give me the ability to learn. It’s very expensive to play and get lessons, but I worked really hard to get good, which is what I try to emulate to my students now.
Nia: What’s the biggest challenge when playing golf?
Chris: Trying to keep your cool. It’s very hard to be good all the time, and it’s something I preach to my students. You know you’re going to have bad shots out there, so trying to keep it together and trying to forget about that last shot, that’s what really makes this game difficult.
Nia: Who’s your favorite golfer?
Chris: Growing up, it was definitely Tiger Woods.