Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 546 – From Golf Channel’s Big Break to Life’s Biggest Lessons – Valeria Brannen’s Remarkable Journey

What can a former Golf Channel Big Break contestant teach us about golf, resilience, and handling life’s toughest challenges? As it turns out, quite a lot!

This week, we’re joined by Valeria Brannen, an LPGA professional, mental performance coach, former contestant on Golf Channel’s Big Break III, and author of the memoir Still Swinging.

Valeria’s story begins in Colombia, where she fell in love with golf at just six years old, despite growing up in a culture where the game wasn’t particularly popular among young girls. With the encouragement of a coach who believed in her, she developed a passion that would eventually take her to the United States, onto national television, and into a career helping golfers improve both their games and their mindsets.

Along the way, Valeria moved to America at 18 with just $4,000, raised four children as a single mother, and discovered how the lessons learned on the golf course could help her navigate life’s most difficult moments.

In this entertaining and inspiring conversation, we explore:

• Behind the scenes of Golf Channel’s Big Break: What really happened during the competition, the personalities involved, and the challenges of competing on television while still learning English.

• Why women’s golf continues to grow: Valeria’s perspective on the changing culture of golf and the opportunities now available to female players.

• The mental side of golf: Why carrying frustration from one shot to the next can destroy your round, and how a simple physical routine can help reset your emotions.

• Coaching the next generation: What Valeria has learned working with high school golfers, including a hilarious and revealing exchange with a frustrated young player.

• The story behind Still Swinging: How golf helped shape Valeria’s character, career, family life, and ability to overcome adversity.

One of the most memorable moments comes when Valeria explains why golfers need to separate their personal worth from their performance. A bad round doesn’t make you a bad person, and learning to move beyond mistakes is a skill that serves us just as well away from the course.

Her advice is refreshingly practical, her enthusiasm is contagious, and her life story is a powerful reminder that golf is about much more than the numbers on a scorecard.

Valeria’s memoir, Still Swinging, is available in English and Spanish.

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