By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
PGA of America Associate Professional Taylor Lambertsen currently enjoys a unique dual role. She is a Teaching Professional at Briarwood Country Club in Deerfield, Illinois, and also serves as the Events Coordinator at DePaul College Prep High School in Chicago, where she coaches the girls’ golf team.
“I’m lucky to combine my passions for teaching, coaching and event planning every day,” Lambertsen said.
A graduate of Tusculum University with a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Development, Taylor is a three-time Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional, a U.S. Kids Top 50 Master Kids Coach and a 2025-2026 Golf Digest Best Young Teacher in America. That’s quite a resume!
That desire for excellence stems from her youth when she was introduced to the game of golf by her dad when she was just four or five years old. She’d tag along with him to the driving range, club in hand, mimicking the swings of other players. She played now and again during her youth, but it wasn’t until high school that her true passion for golf took hold. She tried out for the golf team and made the JV squad as a freshman. That same year, she earned the opportunity to compete in the conference tournament, a turning point that made her realize that she wanted to seriously pursue the sport.
“To help me grow, my dad found a female coach in the northern suburbs, Jamie Fischer at Conway Farms, to work on my full swing. He also connected me with Chris Spalla from the Leadbetter Academy, who focused on improving my short game. With their guidance, my skills developed quickly,” Lambertsen boasts.
By her junior year, she was set on playing collegiate golf. She hit the road with her dad, visiting and speaking with coaches at over 20 schools. Ultimately, she found her home at Tusculum in Greeneville, Tennessee. She recalls Coach Bob Dibble welcoming her like family, guiding her through four years of collegiate golf and supporting her long after graduation. “I’m endlessly grateful to him—and to my family—for believing in me and giving me the chance to pursue the game I love,” she shares.
In addition to playing four years of collegiate golf, Lambertsen earned an undergraduate degree in Sports Management, following that up with the aforementioned Master’s Degree.
“Throughout my time in school, I was fortunate to have incredibly supportive academic advisors who encouraged me to pursue real-world experiences in the sports industry,” Lambertsen adds. “Their guidance led me to amazing opportunities with organizations like MLB, PGA, LPGA, the Illinois Junior Golf Association, the International Junior Golf Tour and local youth sports programs. These experiences deepened my love for teaching and organizing golf events.”
After graduation, Taylor accepted a role as Tournament Director with the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. This position allowed her to travel across the country, running youth golf tournaments for hundreds of junior players. Watching the kids fall in love with the game, create lasting memories and learn the valuable life lessons that golf teaches only strengthened her passion for the sport.
That led her to a position at Kemper Lakes in the northern suburbs of Chicago. There, she worked closely with club members, facilitated events and directed the junior golf program. That experience opened the door to the Head Golf Professional position at Lake Barrington Shores. While she enjoyed managing the facility, her heart kept pulling her back to junior golf.
Soon after, she became the Junior Golf Director and Women’s Program Director at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” she says. Her junior golf programs quickly grew to become some of the largest on the North Shore and thrived during the pandemic, as families sought safe outdoor activities for their kids. Lambertsen had over 150 junior golfers enrolled in weekly instruction and on-course play.
After three impactful years at Exmoor, a new opportunity arose – Director of Instruction for First Tee – Greater Chicago. In this role, Taylor managed 12 sites across the city and suburbs, leading a team of coaches and junior coaches.
“One of the highlights of my time at First Tee was developing the Waveland Youth Facility, a 60,000-square-foot short game and putting area designed to introduce kids to golf while teaching essential life skills,” she recalls fondly. “It became one of the most successful programs in Chicago for introducing young players to the game. I had the privilege of guiding junior golfers—from picking up a club for the first time to playing in tournaments—and this past year, two of my students signed letters of intent to play collegiate golf, a milestone I’ve always dreamed of helping others achieve.”
Today, at Briarwood Country Club, Taylor uses Trackman technology and V1 for most of her lessons, and extends her engagement with students indoors during the cold Chicago winters. In fact, she’s working on creating a new junior program to be implemented this fall and winter. She wants to keep the growth of the game at the forefront of what she does, and is already doing so via her junior coaching, private lessons, ladies clinics and existing winter programming.
Looking ahead, Lambertsen sees social media continuing to play a significant role in the growth of the game, with many individuals sharing their learning journeys, offering tips and tricks and showcasing their enjoyment of the sport. Advancements in technology, such as video analysis, shot tracers and AI-driven lesson apps, are allowing players to better understand and improve their game. Together, these tools are helping to grow interest in golf and deepen players’ passion for it.
“As a golf professional, it’s important to remind new players that not everything shared on social media will necessarily benefit their game,” she adds. “Golf professionals, directors of instruction and coaches each have unique teaching styles and methods, and not every approach will be the right fit for every golfer. Finding a coach whose style resonates with you and whose methodology you understand is key to making meaningful progress in your game.”
Finally, when asked for a final comment about the state of the game and her exciting future in the industry, Lambertsen says, “This fall, I’ll be back on the course with my girls’ golf team, chasing a state title, something I’m incredibly excited about!”
Go Rams!
