Phoebe Brinker's New Course
All-American golfer choosing her own adventure
Meredith Rieder, GoDuke The Magazine
Life, if you think about it, is really a choose-your-own-adventure story. As you turn a page in your life, what path are you going to pick?
For Duke All-American golfer Phoebe Brinker, there are many doors available for her to walk through as she embarks on the next chapter in her life. Undoubtedly possessing the ability and love for the game to pursue a professional golf career, Brinker also, through choices leading up to now, has numerous other options to consider.
One of 10 Blue Devils in the storied history of the women’s golf program to record multiple top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships while standing ninth all-time at Duke in scoring average, Brinker last month graduated ranked first in Blue Devil lore in eagles (10), tied for fifth in birdies (351), seventh in rounds in the 60s (16) and seventh with 53 rounds of even or under par.
Success on the golf course, however, is just the beginning when it comes to Brinker as a person. With palpable positive energy and a sense of awe about the people and the world surrounding her, the Wilmington, Del., native has always dived head-first into new experiences off the course. And with the “real world” awaiting, why would Brinker change course now?
With a vast array of experiences at Duke in her back pocket, Brinker is moving to Boston to begin a two-year paralegal job with Ropes & Gray — with her eyes on law school and a future career in the legal field.
“What sort of motivated me I guess is my parents and my upbringing,” said Brinker about her decision to pursue law. “I never really was only a golfer or only an athlete. I was always really motivated in school, and I always had things going on outside of my sport. Having a balanced upbringing was really formative for me.”
Prior to her arrival in Durham, Brinker leaned on the game of golf and the connections she had made through the sport to help others who loved the game as much as she did but might not have the same resources or had been adversely affected by covid-19. She joined forces with fellow golfer Taylor Roberts, and with the help of the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Leadership Links, they hosted the “2020 Senior Cup” – a Ryder Cup style match-play tournament as a final “send-off” for high school seniors after their final golf seasons were canceled by the pandemic. Roberts and Brinker raised over $40,000 for the Emergency Golf Relief Fund and the AJGA’s Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) grant.
“Throughout the process of hosting the Senior Cup, I realized the possibility of utilizing my fortunate position as a college golfer to impact lives,” said Brinker. “After seeing the state of the world around me, I knew I wanted to use golf to make a difference, especially for juniors with the potential to earn scholarships and golf industry professionals who struggled to make ends meet due to covid. I am so honored I was able to build on relationships that golf has given me to give back to the sport. Both the AJGA ACE grant and the Emergency Golf Relief Fund are two incredible charities grounded in making golf accessible for everyone, a mission which I am extremely passionate about.”
Brinker was awarded the Tom Cousins Award in the fall of 2021 in recognition of those fundraising efforts prior to joining Duke as well as her work her freshman year with the Birdies for Babies program the Blue Devils sponsor every year to raise money for the Duke Children’s Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units.
The covid-19 pandemic also reinforced to Brinker how much she loved being involved in activities off the course and meeting and learning about new people.
“Starting college during covid-19 when (group activities) weren’t really available I knew it was something that made me really happy,” Brinker said. “I found a lot of friends through outside activities, so I really did want to keep that up, especially after covid when it was hard to be involved in anything.”
Brinker was fortunate to be able to hit the links and spend time with teammates, but she felt something missing. She wanted to truly experience Duke and all it had to offer, so she decided to join a couple of clubs she thought would click. The one that stuck for Brinker was UNCUT Duke — a student-athlete driven forum where they tell their own stories in their own words in their own way. They have video features, written reflections and an Unfiltered podcast.
“I loved UNCUT,” Brinker said. “I think the main thing I took away was people would say ‘Oh I don’t have a story. I don’t have anything to share. My life is just normal.’ Then we would get to talking and five minutes in I would find out something incredible about them that’s different that they don’t even realize is super different and cool and worth sharing. It would become a great story. People don’t realize that they have their own unique value to share.”
The summer of her sophomore year as the world continued to open, Brinker pursued a service-learning opportunity on sustainability and the environment in Colorado through the Student-Athlete Civic Engagement (ACE) program. She didn’t have a special passion for sustainability — she was an English major — but the chance to meet new people and engross herself in a new experience was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.
“I think just through those different activities I was able to make friends and do something impactful at Duke, which is what I really wanted to do during my time,” Brinker said.
Last summer, Brinker took part in the Duke Law Summer Institute on Law and Policy, a multi-week program where students interested in pursuing law school engage in coursework and discussions surrounding theories in law while reading some Supreme Court cases.
That experience, bolstered by outstanding professors, confirmed for Brinker that when she reached the metaphorical fork in the road after graduation, the turn she wanted most to take would be in the direction of law school.
As a reader, you may be wondering, “Did Phoebe Brinker have time to play golf at Duke?” She did, and just like she approached life off the course, Brinker went in with confidence and passion. Brinker had a solid first season, posting the 10th-lowest scoring average in Duke history by a freshman while helping the Blue Devils capture the ACC title and advance to the NCAA Championship semifinals.
Her sophomore year was a memorable one for Brinker as she won the ACC Individual title. The final hole at The Reserve Golf Course in Pawleys Island, S.C., is one of her favorites as she was able to enjoy the moment with a comfortable lead.
That weekend was a turning point for Brinker in head coach Dan Brooks’ eyes. She captured her first tournament win as a Blue Devil and did so in commanding fashion, winning by six strokes and setting a Duke record with her 54-hole score of 206.
“It’s a great win for Phoebe,” said Brooks after the tournament. “It’s been fun to watch her not only realize her talents, but also handle the limelight. She showed tremendous poise this week.”
As an English major, Brinker learned how much she loved to read and write, all skills that are useful in law school and the career. However, it’s the skills and traits she honed on the golf course that might serve her best. She knows the poise Brooks referred to will help her remain steady in the challenging times, of which there will be many.
“There’s a couple things (in golf that will help me in a law career),” Brinker said. “One, I think, is dealing with the expectations and the pressure. My parents always told me that if you can get up on the first tee and hit your shot and hit it in the fairway you can do anything, because representing Duke and being up on the first tee is a really vulnerable position. So, I guess the mentality of just getting up and going for it and trying your best will serve me well and I really did learn that through my whole life journey in the sport.”
The second for Brinker is the knowledge of how hard she had to work to find success in golf. The hours she spent working on her swing, her short game and in the weight room are sure to provide her with confidence she knows how to prepare to be successful.
“There are just so many hours of individual time and practice that go into it and of course it’s the same way in any career,” Brinker said. “Just knowing I have to continue to put those hours in, whether it’s in my sport or in my career. I know I can do it and I can succeed now after succeeding in golf.”
Golf is not going away for Brinker. She still plans to play in amateur events and is already signed up for the U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier. Brinker won’t have a car in Boston so she knows she’ll have to experiment some, but golf will always be a part of her life. She’s already made some connections with a couple of fellow golfers in Boston who do have cars, so you’ll be able to catch her at some point on one of the nearby public courses.
“I want to get involved in Massachusetts Golf Association stuff and I always want to keep using it to make an impact,” Brinker said. “I hosted a clinic for the (Duke) law school and that was awesome. So doing things like that and sharing the game too, I really want to keep up. I see myself doing more in a couple of years because I know I’ll always be able to come back.”
The immediate future for Brinker is driving from Durham up to Boston and settling down in her new home. She’s excited it’s a big sports city and is looking forward to doing exactly what she spent the past four years at Duke doing — leaning into the smorgasbord of opportunities that await.
Although the path ahead may look a little different and be a little less worn than the one she is veering from, one thing we know about Brinker is she’ll embrace the new views and challenges ahead.
“(I’m going in) totally eyes wide open,” said Brinker. “I’ll take anything they give me because (law) is such a big field. I don’t want to pigeon-hole myself from the beginning, so I’m open to anything. Obviously, I jumped into a huge change in college, and I ended up loving it, so I know I’m prepared for the next step. Duke prepared me really well, so I’m looking forward to jumping into something new.”
This story originally appeared in the 15.11 issue of GoDuke The Magazine . Dedicated to sharing the stories of Duke student-athletes, present and past, GoDuke The Magazine is published for Duke Athletics by LEARFIELD with editorial offices at 3100 Tower Blvd., Suite 404, Durham, NC 27707. To subscribe, join the Iron Dukes or call (336) 831-0767.