Emily Tubert taking advantage of ‘Big Break’ opportunity
Emily Tubert has had a chance to showcase her talents on various stages during her career as a golfer.
Whether it was taking part and winning a CIF Southern Section championship while at Burroughs High, going against a competitive field and capturing the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship, representing the United States on the Curtis Cup team or earning All-American honors playing for the University of Arkansas, Tubert has been able to thrive in just about every endeavor she has attempted.
However, for her latest competition, Tubert is performing on a stage she is unfamiliar with. Tubert, 22, is among 12 contestants featured on the Golf Channel’s “Big Break Myrtle Beach,” a reality television golf competition. The pre-taped series premieres Tuesday at 6 p.m. PST on the Golf Channel.
“I haven’t seen any of the show, just the previews and a few snippets,” said Tubert of the production that wrapped in June. “It was a really incredible experience for me to be a part of it, but it was also hard. They shoot the show with 12 cameras and I don’t think many people realize all that goes into a production like that during filming and what it takes to make a TV show.
“I just have a lot of respect for anyone who has done the show before. You put in a lot of hours and there is a lot of pressure, that’s really constant pressure. You want to execute well and you don’t want to embarrass yourself on national TV.”
The series debuted in 2003 and the winner of each season is rewarded with an exemption to a selected professional tournament or tour. Each week, the contestants take part in various skills challenges and one golfer is eliminated each episode. When just two contestants remain, they compete in an elimination challenge to determine the winner.
“I just hope America likes me,” Tubert said.
Some of the challenges on past “Big Break” shows have included breaking a pain of glass with a shot, shooting balls into a bucket, large boxes or a moving pickup truck or playing a game similar to horse in basketball called “B-R-E-A-K.”
“On a show like this, you never know what footage they are going to use and how you are going to look or be portrayed,” Tubert said. “But for the challenges you have to really get creative and you have to trust your ability. It is really neat because you get to do some challenges and deal with things on the golf course that you never have to deal with regularly.
“The whole thing was really an incredible experience for me and I loved it. I learned how I perform under pressure and how to execute under pressure. For me, it was really great preparation.”
Tubert said she was chosen to take part in the current season after filling out an application on the Golf Channel’s website. After an audition in Orlando for producers, she was told she was a semifinalist and was eventually picked to be a member of the Myrtle Beach cast.
“It was an exciting process,” Tubert said.
The cast also includes Anthony Quezada, Carolin Pinegger, Charlie Harrison, Christian Heavens, Dave Markle, Jimmy Brandt, Katie Detlefsen, Katy Harris, Krista Puisite, Tessa Teachman and Toph Peterson. Tubert is the second-youngest contestant.
Tubert has been busy the past few months. Along with taking part in the “Big Break” filming, she also competed in her first tournament as a professional, the LPGA 2014 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in June, and is in the midst of taking part in LPGA Qualifying Tournaments to become a professional.
In the first stage of the qualifying school competition, Tubert finished first, shooting two-under par with a three-day total of 276 in an event in August at the Mission Hills Country Club-Palmer and Dinah Shore Course in Rancho Mirage. She won the event by five strokes.
She is currently taking part in the second qualifying tournament that began Tuesday and ends Thursday at the Plantation Golf and Country Club-Panther & Bobcat Courses in Venice, Fla.
“With the show behind me, my main focus now is playing well in the qualifying tournaments,” Tubert said. “I just want to play well and do the best that I can and hopefully qualify.”
Along with being a three-time All-American at Arkansas, Tubert is a former All-Area Girls’ Golfer of the Year and Leader Female Athlete of the Year.
To coincide with the first episode of “Big Break Myrtle Beach,” Tubert will be in attendance for a kickoff event and screening Tuesday at 5 p.m. at De Bell Golf Club.