Jennifer Bermingham (Long Beach, Calif.) graduated from UC Riverside in 2009 after a successful playing career and was thinking like every soon-to-be college graduate: “I need a job and I need to make money.” She wanted to stay close to golf so she decided to start her own business as a teaching professional. For the last seven years, that is what she has done.

While teaching is what she has been drawn to, reaching the LPGA has always been the dream.

Last year, Bermingham finished fourth at the LPGA T&CP National Championship and qualified for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship where she made the cut and earned a paycheck north of $7,000. She’s always wanted to give LPGA Q-School a shot and she now had the expendable money to take her best crack. She was pleasantly surprised to get through Stage I and reached Stage II to earn good enough Epson Tour status.

“I played three events on Epson out of college and life happened and I had to make money,” explained Bermingham, who helped run a junior clinic at the Four Winds Invitational. “I had never done LPGA Q-School because I never had the means to do it and I’ve always wanted to so I took the $7,000 (that I made at KPMG) and I paid for Q-School.”

Bermingham entered the year with low status on the Epson Tour, but she made the cut at the POC Med Golf Classic and will make her third start of the year at the Four Winds Invitational.

“I decided to take the summer off (from her teaching business) and play professionally,” said Bermingham, who has a LPGA USGA Girls Golf site in Long Beach with 52 kids. “I was a teaching pro at Skylinks at Long Beach Golf Course and had my own business separate from the course.”

Bermingham used to give 30-40 lessons a week that lasted an hour each. She also ran junior clinics weekly (with 150-200 juniors) and LPGA USGA Girls Golf once a month. She also ran summer camps and winter camps.

“I developed quite a following at home and had this very prominent and growing business,” explained Bermingham, who often wears the LPGA USGA Girls Golf logo on her polos. “I’ll still have it if I go back. I feel like I can always go back to teaching. Since it has always been my dream (LPGA), I decided to give it a whirl.”

Bermingham is an incredible teacher. She brings an energy to the sport that young people can relate to. During the Four Winds Invitational junior clinic, she had the kids pose for pictures to work on their finish, compete in a putting contest where the winning team got to the do the “happy dance” and made sure that each kid had a fun nickname for his or her driver.

“Teaching is my passion, I really enjoy it. Teaching also makes me a better player because it reminds me as a player what I have to do.”

In fact, she’s such a well-respected teacher that she was given the first Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award from the LPGA in 2015.

“Whether it is an adult or a kid, the thing that makes me most excited is when somebody does something that they didn’t think they could do. Then, you see this look of I can’t believe I just did that and just to know that I had a small part in it always gives me the most satisfaction.”

Bermingham is 29-years-old, but she doesn’t feel a sense of urgency as she makes professional golf her priority.

“If this (pro golf) is a masters program, I feel like I’m the player that left to get some work experience and now is coming back,” said Bermingham. “I feel like the life experience has given me a very different perspective from them (other players), which I think is an advantage.”

The best part about returning to play for Bermingham is there is little pressure because she can always jump back to teaching.

“I have a career and my fall back is way better than this (financially),” explained Bermingham. “My business will suffer in the beginning because I’m gone right now, but it will grow back really fast if I decide to go back. There is no pressure on me. My plan B is just as good as my plan A right now.”

Class A LPGA Teaching Pro Now Pursuing LPGA as a Player

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