Bret “Duffer” Baier

Golfweek’s Martin Kaufmann profiles FNC’s Bret Baier…

Baier grew up in Atlanta playing American Junior Golf Association tournaments. In high school, he’d often play 36 holes per day at Dunwoody Country Club in Atlanta, then chip and putt well into the night, the lights of his Ford Granada illuminating the practice green. Though he fought a nagging hook, he arrived at DePauw with a fearless, Seve-esque flair – the sort who “would do or try anything,” says former teammate Rob McCormick, now the general manager at Crawfordsville (Ind.) Country Club.

“My coach at DePauw (Ted Katula) used to (say), ‘Baiersy, I can’t go out with you unless I have a flask of vodka,’ ” Baier recalls.

“His game matched his personality. He had a way of making something out of nothing,” says former teammate, Jon Stutz, head professional at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind.

“He was a scrambler, a grinder. He never seemed to be too taken aback by a bad shot. He just focused on how to make something out of the next shot.”

A self-described “ham,” Baier chased his television dreams in various small- and mid-sized markets after graduating in 1992.

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