Two factors made University of Washington men’s assistant golf coach Chris Babcock dedicate his life to the game. 

One of them, as was common with many observers from his generation, was as an 11-year-old starting to watch Tiger Woods blaze his historically dominant trail.  

The other, perhaps less conventionally, was deciding to forgo a cherished July family vacation weekend at Idaho’s Priest Lake in favor of the chance to play in the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championship. 

Since those days, there haven’t been many perspectives from which Babcock, now 31, has not seen the game. Hailing from Shoreline just north of the UW campus, he grew up idolizing Husky golf, and the idea in high school of playing on then-Head Coach Matt Thurmond’s squad seemed almost too good to be true. 

“I just figured I wasn’t good enough,” he said, recalling how the team’s roster boasted players like C.T. Pan and Chris Williams, both former world No. 1-ranked amateurs. 

But he was to Thurmond, who called Babcock specifically to ask him why he hadn’t previously contacted his team, and to offer him a non-scholarship spot. 

Babcock jumped at the opportunity, and his golf path then consisted of four seasons at UW, before about three dotted seasons in PGA Tour Canada (now called PGA Tour Americas) events. He later reconnected with Pan and was the 2021 Olympic Bronze medalist’s caddie through some of the COVID-19-fractured 2020 season, including at that year’s PGA Championship in San Francisco. 

His pro career having been “a grind,” he’s happy to be where he is today. Finding his way back to UW in 2023 after just one year coaching at Colorado State, also as an assistant, his formerly modest playing disposition now factors into how he coaches. 

“I certainly didn’t achieve greatness in comparison to the guys we’ve had come through our program because we’ve had a lot of great players, but I certainly got a lot better,” Babcock said. “So that perspective of understanding our players’ disappointments and aspirations, I think that perspective really helps me communicate.” 

Babcock initially began to pursue coaching at a time when an assistant role was open in Montlake. He lacked experience but was eventually hired into the same role at Colorado State, by another former UW staffer, Michael Wilson.  

He almost declined the offer, having just secured an unrelated role. 

“I called Michael back after he offered me the job to say no, actually,” Babcock said. “And ended up saying yes on the phone.” 

He was off and running in his new career, one that incorporates the other experiences from his past. 

Having caddied for Pan in 2019 and eventually during events like the 2020 PGA Championship, he’s familiar with the act of providing on-course advice, as well as the inherent rigor of professional practice and play. 

“Caddying helped me understand what it takes to succeed at the highest level,” he said. “What separates tour players is an ability to manage their games, the golf course, and their emotions. The best have a deep belief in themselves, and they don’t panic.”  

With such knowledge, passing along to the current wave of Huskies the high-end collegiate experience he had over a decade ago is most certainly an incentive of his today. 

“Just trying to help the next generation the way I was helped has been a really cool thing that’s happened for me,” he says.  

In addition to his current employment with the university, Babcock has maintained contact with his Montlake pals. During that 2020 PGA Championship in San Francisco, his four-year roommate Jonathan Sanders made an appearance, providing a sense of gratification even in the absence of fans due to COVID-era restrictions.  

“We were sort of doing what we always dreamed of, which was being out at a major championship,” Babcock said of all three Huskies roaming the grounds of TPC Harding Park. “To have us all together again was really cool.” 

Amidst the time-consuming career he has now, Babcock admitted he hasn’t fully shut the door on his own playing endeavors, such as attempting to qualify for another U.S. Open like he did in 2018. In any case, he values the time he spends with those who look to him for guidance and described returning to the Purple and Gold as “a dream come true.” 

“If I can get kind of a fun, competitive game with guys on the team once in a while, that’s enough for me,” he said. “That’s my U.S. Open.”