GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Fore!!
Poultry Times, in an exclusive interview, recently spoke with professional golfer Jenny Bae to talk not only about her sports career, but also about growing up on a family poultry farm.
Bae, 24, is in her rookie season on the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) Tour, and her parents, Peter and Hannah Bae, of Suwanee, Ga., have been poultry growers for Wayne-Sanderson Farms for more than a decade. She has had 21 LPGA starts with three career top 10’s, and five career top 25 finishes. On the Epson Tour, Bae finished seventh on the “Race for the Card” which earned her a LPGA tour membership for 2025.
Bae was also a collegiate athlete while attending the University of Georgia graduating in 2023 with a degree in sports management. While at UGA she was the fifth ranked collegiate player, a three-time All-American, earned a collection of awards including having the lowest golf stroke average in the school’s history, and was runner up in the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. After graduation she began her professional golf career.
“I feel like my (rookie) season has been going pretty well,” Bae said. “It’s coming to an end. I have two more tournaments left to go down in Florida, and after that, it’s off season. I feel like, especially as a rookie, that I was a little more nervous trying to play in the LPGA, but I’m really happy that I was able to settle down a bit and get more comfortable out there; and I’m really excited for what’s to come next.”
Regarding her recent collegiate career at UGA, she added that, “It was a really good experience. I don’t think I could have gone up to this level without … having my coaches help guide me to here. Being able to participate in one of the biggest stages for women’s amateur golf, I just felt really comfortable out there … and with the help of my peers and my family and being able to immediately go into a professional career; I was just able to take all the confidence that I felt there and transfer it.”
Growing up on a poultry farm
Bae grew up on her parent’s poultry farm in northeast Georgia, where they are growers for Wayne-Sanderson Farms.
“I have felt really humbled and really grateful to both Wayne-Sanderson Farms and my family all my life,” she said. “Just growing up there and watching my parents work so hard every day and every night and still having the time to take me to golf courses and allowing me to achieve my dream. It has really meant the world to me.”
“It can be a stressful job and there’s a lot of effort and a lot of work that goes in, and it’s sometimes really unpredictable,” Bae added. “I tried my best to help out any way that I could, and I’m just very grateful to be able to do what I love.”
It’s been noted that, when able, she would take a few practice swings on the family’s farm.
“That is true,” Bae said. “We have this backyard with some space between our house and the actual chicken farm. I want to say we have about 180 yards to the furthest point out there, and so, when I was younger — I can’t hit that far — but I would try to hit as far as I could and hopefully not hit one of those buildings. It was my goal to try to hit to that distance, because that meant I would be able to hit it further than my parents. It was so fun … to drag my dad out there, no matter how tired he was, and be like, ‘Hey, can you help me?’ It was just amazing.”
A little over a year ago, it was also announced that Wayne-Sanderson Farms would provide an official sponsorship of Bae and her professional golf career.
“Getting the sponsorship from Wayne-Sanderson has been amazing,” she added. “But I think it’s even more special that my parents have been partnering with them, and they’ve been working very hard for this, and it still feels like without my parents, I never could have gotten this sponsorship, this amazing sponsorship with amazing people and great connections, and I’m really grateful for all of that.”
The future
Looking ahead, Bae noted that, “golf can be really unpredictive. And, again, I’m really happy and really excited to partner with Wayne-Sanderson Farms again next year, and hopefully I make more connections with them and have an even deeper relationship with my sponsor.”
“I’m really excited to start my second year off next year, and hopefully I do a little better, and hopefully I improve both as a person and a golfer on and off the golf course,” Bae said.
It was a pleasure to speak with Jenny Bae from the Poultry Times offices, and we wish her much continued success. To see and listen to our interview, and to see Jenny in action, visit www.poultrytimes.com.
