Emma Carpenter is building an impressive résumé in sports media, with experience at Golf Channel, PGA Tour Live, Big Ten Network and the Five Clubs Podcast. A former All-American at the University of Minnesota, Carpenter recently joined Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on SubPar to share the story of how she found her way into broadcasting—and whether a career as a professional golfer was ever in the cards.

Carpenter said she knew she wanted to pursue broadcasting around the time she was heading to college. At the time, she was balancing several interests. A competitive golfer, Carpenter was also a classically trained singer who had considered studying vocal performance and acting.

But she learned she couldn’t pursue vocal performance while also playing collegiate golf, forcing her to reconsider her plans. It was her father who ultimately helped point her in a new direction.

“He always said, ‘You’ve always been into writing. You always love people and you love sports. Why don’t we combine all of that with some of the performance experience you have on stage and instead do sports broadcasts?’” Carpenter recalled.

She took the suggestion and ran with it.

Once she arrived at Minnesota, Carpenter began pursuing broadcasting opportunities alongside golf, working on the Five Clubs Podcast and calling play-by-play and providing color commentary for basketball and volleyball. Those experiences eventually led to opportunities across golf and other sports.

But professional golf wasn’t completely off the table.

During her sophomore year of college, Carpenter said she went through stretches where she played well enough to seriously consider pursuing the sport professionally. She loved competing and especially enjoyed the pressure of tournament golf.

“I loved to compete,” she said. “Competing was honestly my favorite thing about the game.”

Ultimately, though, her growing involvement in broadcasting helped her realize that the professional golf lifestyle wasn’t for her.

“I was like, you know what, the pro golf lifestyle isn’t for me because that’s just all golf, playing all the time,” she said, “I still want to be involved in it, but I’m passionate about some other stuff.”

That decision allowed Carpenter to combine her love of golf with her interests in storytelling, performance and other sports. Today, she’s continuing to build a career in broadcasting, including upcoming work as a sideline reporter for Big Ten Network football games.

For Carpenter, she didn’t have to choose between golf and the rest of her passions. She found a way to make both part of her career.

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