Good thing Blakesly Brock decided to give golf a second chance.
It landed her a U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship and a berth in this week’s U.S. Women’s Open.
The former Baylor School and University of Tennessee standout will be among 156 players and the 31 amateurs at the biggest stage in women’s golf, which is being held in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Brock has a Thursday tee time at 12:45 p.m., and she has no problem embracing the underdog role in a field that includes Jin Young Ko, Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie West.
“It’s just an honor to be here as an amateur, because I know how hard it is to be here as a professional,” Brock said this week. “I’m going to enjoy every second this week and soak it all in regardless of how the golf goes.”
If the U.S. Women’s Open winner was determined by unique backstories, Brock would certainly be among the favorites.
The former Blakesly Warren grew up in north Chattanooga and selected Baylor, the golfing pipeline that has sent Harris English, Luke List, Keith Mitchell and Stephan Jaeger to the PGA Tour, where they have combined for six victories and 78 top-10 finishes. Baylor’s girls also have thrived through the years, with the likes of May Wood and Brooke Pancake not only dominating on the TSSAA front but at the Southeastern Conference level as well.
“They were always people I looked up to when I was growing up,” Brock said. “I wanted to follow in their footsteps, not as far as being as great as they were but more as a motivating factor. They took the same road at Baylor, and I figured that I could do this, too. It’s cool to have my name in the same conversation as May Wood and Brooke Pancake.
“Baylor is such a good golf school with so much history, and once I got there, I fell in love with golf and didn’t want anything to do with any other sports. It was a big turning point in my life, and there is no doubt that Baylor shaped me into the golfer that I am today.”
Brock signed with Tennessee and tasted her own share of SEC success, tying for 16th at the league championships as a sophomore and tying for 17th at the NCAA Athens Regional as a junior. Known for sleeping with her putter the night before a tournament, Brock graduated in 2018 as a marketing major but without clutching any clubs at all.
“Growing up, my dream was always to be on the LPGA Tour,” she said, “but things happened in college. I was battling a couple of injuries, and, to be honest, I just got a little burned out my senior year. When I graduated, I decided that I wasn’t going to play professionally.
“I took two-and-a-half years off and didn’t touch a club.”
Two-and-a-half years off.
At the dawn of 2021, Brock started to miss golf and decided to play in some amateur events. Playing in events turned into winning events, as she claimed the Tennessee Mid-Amateur and then drove the next day for a practice round at the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Bluffton, South Carolina, where she was seeded 27th in the 64-player field.
After winning her round of 16 and quarterfinal matches in extra holes, Brock stunned No. 2 seed Shannon Johnson on the 19th hole. That earned a title pairing against No. 64 seed Aliea Clark, whose even bigger Cinderella run abruptly ended with Brock’s 5-and-4 triumph.
While holding up that trophy was an experience Brock will never forget, the three consecutive match-play wins that went into extra holes are what could serve her best this week.
“I think that was huge,” Brock said. “I just handled that by being mentally tough and hanging in there and just never giving up. I got up early in some of those matches and started to slide back behind, so I had to fight to get those wins, and I think that will help me this week.
“I know this course will play tough, but I think my mental strength can help me.”
Should Brock falter this week, she won’t have far to turn for support. There will be friends and family at Southern Pines, including a grandfather who has watched all of her tournaments through the years, and her husband, Mitch, will be on her bag like he was for last September’s successes.
“That definitely takes work,” she said with a laugh when asked about that player-caddie dynamic, “and you’ve got to figure out the mojo of husband-wife when you’re playing in a big tournament with lots of pressure. We just had a lot of laughs and kept things light last year. We didn’t talk a lot of golf between shots and just kind of joked around, and I think we’ll take that same mindset going into this week.
“When it’s time to hit a shot, we’ll talk about it and then hit the shot and move on. He loves to tell me that pressure is a privilege, so I’m just kind of going into this with that mindset. I am just so happy to be here.”
Brock said her plans after this week are to continue competing as an amateur, adding, “I just want to go with the flow and see what happens.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.
QUICK Q&A WITH BLAKESLY BROCK
Q: Who was your favorite golfer growing up?A: “Tiger Woods.”Q: Where is your favorite place to eat in Chattanooga?A: “Right now, it’s Taqueria Jalisco Ania, but SideTrack and STIR are up there, too.”Q: What’s the favorite club in your bag?A: “I’ve got to go with the pitching wedge.”Q: What SEC school did you want to beat most while at Tennessee?A: “Georgia.”Q: What movie can you and your husband watch over and over together?A: “Oh, it’s ‘Focus’ will Will Smith.”