UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA |
that was with what I was eating or just being overweight . But I started getting to the gym . I was paying more attention to what I was eating . I think everyone hits that age in golf , when you start realizing recovery is a big thing .”
Once Lee got to Charlottesville , however , he had a different problem — he was too skinny and lacked the core strength to keep up with his teammates . He also battled back problems . But Lee quickly established a workout routine , and being part of a college strength program alongside older teammates only fueled his motivation .
“ I got here , and I was almost a stick — I didn ’ t have any meat on my bones ,” Lee said . “ The first day , we were going to lift , and I ’ m seeing these guys , the fourth years especially , lifting so much weight . I ’ m like , ‘ Wow , these guys are so strong .’ When you start playing these college events , you see these guys , they ’ re so strong and ripped . I felt like I had to catch up . You can ’ t have one without the other . You don ’ t see guys on tour who are super unathletic playing consistently good golf .”
No one will confuse Lee ’ s body with Bryson DeChambeau ’ s , for instance , but he ’ s packed on enough muscle in strategic places to ensure that he ’ s added significant length off the tee — enough so that instead of hitting 7- or 8-irons into greens , he has a wedge in his hand on more approaches than not .
“ He hits his wedges really good , and he putts really good ,” Sargent said . “ For him , that ’ s all it was , just bridging that gap , you know , picking up another 20 yards off the tee . And he did it .”
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That was just the immature me . The next year , I was paying more attention to what I was eating . I was getting tired toward the ends of rounds , whether that was with what I was eating or just being overweight , I ’ m not sure . But I started getting to the gym . And I think everyone hits that age in golf , when you start realizing recovery is a big thing .”
GROWING PAINS Lee and James occupy similar spots in the WAGR , but they got there in different ways . James won five times during his first season in Charlottesville , including a victory in his debut , capturing the Streamsong Invitational in 2022 at 20-under par .
Lee ’ s first semester ? It didn ’ t go quite as well .
“ When he first got here , he was playing awful ,” Sargent recalled . “ He didn ’ t qualify for our first two or maybe three events . I kept telling Dustin ( Groves , UVA ’ s assistant coach ) that Bryan was world-class , but he thought I was crazy .”
As Sargent explains it , every player must earn their spot on the travel roster through team qualifying . It ’ s not common to simply pick someone for a tournament . But that ’ s exactly what he did when he chose to take Lee to an event , even though he had not qualified .
“ So , I took him to the next tournament , and he played awesome ,” Sargent recounted
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. “ Dustin couldn ’ t believe it . Once Bryan got in the lineup , he just took off .”
Lee was UVA ’ s top finisher ( and second overall ) at the Wake Forest Invitational during the spring semester of his first year and has been a lineup mainstay ever since . He closed with a 63 to win his lone individual title last spring at the Puerto Rico Classic , beating out players like James and Iowa ’ s Noah Kent in the process .
Lee and James ( and Kent ) were among the 16 players invited to last December ’ s Walker Cup practice session in Florida — another validation for Lee ’ s career arc . When U . S . Walker Cup captain Nathan Smith called Lee to inform him of roommate assignments for the three-day session , he told Lee that he ’ d be rooming with another Virginia guy , which Lee assumed was James .
Instead , it was defending U . S . Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck , Virginia Beach native and Princess Anne member . Lee and
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Beck were paired in two practice sessions , which are set up to mimic what players will see at the Walker Cup . Whether Lee did enough to garner an invite to September ’ s main event is up to Smith , but Lee said the experience of playing with someone of Beck ’ s caliber was invaluable .
ENDLESS POTENTIAL Bryan Lee has a promising future ahead , with his final year at UVA coming up in 2025-26 . Like all players of his caliber , he has PGA Tour aspirations , but that will come in time . For now , Lee is especially excited about the opportunity to play alongside his younger brother Michael , who has committed to UVA and is set to join the team next season . Sargent is no stranger to brother pairings on the Wahoo roster , having recently coached George and Josh Duangmanee together .
“ To play on the same team and in the same starting lineup would be really cool ,” Bryan said . “ Not just for me and him , but for our parents as well . I ’ m not going to take that lightly and will hopefully take advantage of being able to do something super special with my brother and to be able to show our parents that we made it here .”
Lee certainly has already “ made it ,” and he appreciates his journey from 15-yearold Junior Match Play champion to top- 20 amateur in the world and PGA Tour hopeful . However , he remains mindful that there ’ s still plenty of work ahead to reach his ultimate goals .
“ If someone told me that chubby kid in 2019 was going to be 16th in the world six years later , there was no chance that I would have believed that ,” Lee said . “ There are always bigger fish out there . I ’ m striving to take it one step at a time and live in the present . I ’ m very blessed , and I know that there are so many people who would love to be in the position that I ’ m in .”
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