Meet Sara Hansen | Professional Golfer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Hansen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk has been a massive part of my career! I have chosen to pursue a career as a professional golfer but it has been extremely challenging. My whole life I’ve been involved in athletics and golf has definitely become my biggest passion. With passion comes a lot of heartbreak which I have had my fair share when it comes to the sport, but something has always kept me coming back! I played golf through junior high, high school, and college but when I graduated in 2019 the country shut down and being recently married I couldn’t afford to golf anymore. I started working a start up job in San Clemente before being forced to be unemployed. I eventually got hired as an outreach coordinator for a substance use disorder treatment facility. This could’ve been a solid career choice for me but it was extremely difficult. It caused me so much stress and anxiety that I felt like I was losing track of time. There were days where I felt so overwhelmed that I would pretty much just zone out. 8 months into that career and after countless changes in management and just an overall lack of functional stability from the company, I started to look for another career path. This is where my big leap of faith came into play. I quit my stable salary job to chase after my life long dream of becoming a professional golfer. This was extremely risky and it has been more challenging as well. My husband Andrew Hansen is enlisted in the marine corps and is stationed in Camp Pendleton. Marines don’t make a lot of money and when I was working my salary job I was making far more money then he was, not taking into account that our house on base is completely covered. Quitting my salary job was a risk I took for both of us. I’m extremely blessed to have such a supportive husband who pushes me to chase after my golf career and I couldn’t be more thankful for that, but I still feel a pressure to not only let myself down but to also not let my husband down. Chasing after a professional career as a competitive golfer means you have to practice all the time! 24/7. This means I would have to work less (practice is the job). Resulting in me not bringing home as much money as I previously was. In august 2021 I got in contact with a company called Backswing Golf Events which is a company ran by two girls who were faced with the situation, a guaranteed money-making job, or professional golf. They quickly realized how difficult financially it would be to continue chasing after the LPGA Tour and decided to create a company where aspiring professional female golfers could help charity tournaments raise money for different organizations all over the country. Backswing Golf Events now has a team of over 120 professional female golfers all over the country raising money for different charities everyday pretty much! In 2021 Backswing Golf Events raised 1.5Million dollars for various charities nationwide. I am fortunate enough to get to that just that in Southern California! Backswing Golf Events helps to makes it possible for women like me to take some of the financial pressure off our backs as we’re grinding for a spot at the top. They do everything they can as a company to help us as golfers because they were in our shoes once. Along with working with Backswing Golf Events, I give lessons part time in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego at an indoor golf facility called 4s Golf Performance Center, attached to Redline Athletics 4s Ranch. I’m still not making as much money as my salary job but my mental health is so much better now then it was. It’s a different kind of pressure now and it’s motivating. As long as I’m pursuing the LPGA Tour I will be continuing to take risks. Risk is one of the biggest parts of my life now. Every golf swing I take is a risk but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Hopefully along the way I will start to pick up some sponsorships that will help immensely financially. Either way I know this is my path now and being a professional athlete comes with an expiration date so now is my time to chase that dream!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a professional athlete, we have to live a different lifestyle. We have to pay more attention to what we eat, our daily activity level, sleep, etc. we’re always preparing ourselves for our next test. If we are working the hardest to be the best someone else is and they’ll probably be better then you. You can’t let up if you want to be successful. Being a professional athlete is one of the hardest careers there is. The pressure you feel to preform is unlike anything else. It’s your name, your reputation and for majority it’s the next meal they’re going to eat. If you don’t preform you won’t see a paycheck and you still have to take into account the cost of that competition. Entry fees, travel fees, practice round green fees, caddy fees, etc. you can win a check and still walk away out money. That’s what makes this such a risky career. There’s zero guarantee. The will to keep pushing past all the set backs and loses is what puts professional athletes apart from others. This life throws so many small wins your way even with all the hard stuff. I feel so proud and happy with the smallest success in golf and that has allowed me to love the sport fully. I would say I’m most proud of the resilience that golf has instilled in me. The successes completely overpower all failures and that’s going to keep me coming back every time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I take all my friends to the beach. I don’t have a lot of golf friends so when I get visitors we don’t tend to get on the course. I love downtown Oceanside for food in general but I always try to get everyone to try the crack shack when they’re here. Some of my favorite beaches to take my friends to would be Carlsbad cliffs, Torrey pines state beach, Coronado beach, and wind and sea. I’m always open to seeing a new beach though and am always looking for my new favorite spot for a relaxing day with friends and family.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My support system for life an golf are incredible. My parents have been more then I could’ve asked for as supporters. They always made sure I had everything I needed to grow in the game. It’s a very expensive sport to get into but they loved watching me compete and they never complained about the cost or time that our family had to put into golf. My Grandpa on my moms side was my biggest motivation. I was really close to my grandpa and I really looked up to him as my hero in so many different ways. He was a WW11 infantry army vet turned NFL football player. He and my grandma had 5 kids 4 of which received athletic scholarship offers to play sports in college. My mom being one of the youngest with her twin brother. My mom went on to play softball for the USA Olympic team in the early 90’s. There was definitely some pressure to be successful in whatever sport I did decide to dedicate myself to. When I picked golf my grandpa was so excited! We played golf together every week and played in our clubs parent child tournament and won our flight almost every year. My grandpa passed way at the age of 94 my last year of my college career. He always made sure I knew I could be capable of taking my game to the highest level and he never wanted to see me waste my “God given talent” (his overly repeated words). The other person who is 100% responsible for getting me to were I am now is my coach Jon Dechambeau. Jon is more then a coach to me, he is my best friend, another father figure, mentor, and honestly that list could go on and on. Jon is one of if not the most honest person I know. He has been hard on me and we have definitely had some tiffs on the course but it’s because he knows exactly how to navigate me as a golfer. He would test me mentally when I wasn’t expecting it. His knowledge of the sport is insane and I am so fortunate to have been able just to learn about golf from him, but it goes so much farther than just fundamentals. Jon didn’t have to spend the time he spent with me on the course or the range, etc. He believed in me so much that not only volunteered but dedicated his time to my game. The coaching I got from Jon is equivalent to what anyone else would pay $20,000< A year for, for one maybe two sessions a week. Jon spent 5/7 days out of the week with me. He went to every college competition he could get to and he was my caddy in all other tournaments I did. I know I wouldn’t have played division 1 college golf if it wasn’t for him, and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now in life if it wasn’t for Jon.

Website: https://msha.ke/sarahansengolf#biography

Instagram: @sarahansen_golf

Linkedin: Sara Hansen

Twitter: @sarahansen_25

Facebook: Sara Hansen

Other: https://msha.ke/sarahansengolf#links

Image Credits
My very close friend Kelsey Fox takes almost all of my pictures her Instagram is @kelsfoxphotography