Hofstra University women’s golf team member Averee Dovsek is not the typical student athlete. She is taking what she learned on the golf course and combining it with her other passion: sports broadcasting.
“I feel like it’s such a male-dominated sport and having a golf background is very rare for a female,” Dovsek said. “Combining that passion with journalism is my little niche.”
Dovsek’s sports broadcasting journey started during her freshman year at the Bethpage State Park PGA Championship.
“A professor at Hofstra actually reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I know these people at CBS and they’re looking for help and I know you’re a golfer so I thought I would reach out,’” Dovsek said. “Are you kidding me? A major championship? I will be there.”
There was one problem with the championship. It was during her college finals week. Nevertheless, Dovsek postponed all her finals and took them at a different time so that she could attend.
“I developed some great relationships there,” Dovsek said, “which transformed into an actual job in operations at CBS Sports in New York City, doing a lot of NFL work for them and what would’ve been March Madness if it didn’t get canceled due to COVID-19.”
Before starting at CBS Sports, Dovsek applied to the Golf Channel at 19 years old.
“I didn’t tell anyone, not even my parents,” Dovsek said. “[I] didn’t think I would ever get it because I was only 19 years old at the time.”
However, the Golf Channel did hire Dovsek, starting a new chapter in her career.
“I went through several interviews and ended up getting the job and told my parents I was moving to Orlando, Florida,” Dovsek said. “I then moved in with a random family I didn’t even know in Orlando and started right away.”
Upon arrival, Dovsek was met by a host family she barely knew, who she was to stay with. However, she was not completely alone in this new town.
“I went into Golf Channel with a couple of relationships already built from the championship at Bethpage,” Dovsek said. “So it was cool to be able to work with some people I was already familiar with.”
Dovsek worked on Morning Drive on NBC Golf. This is similar to Good Morning America, except purely about golf. Since the show was in the morning, Dovsek’s day would start before sunrise in the sunshine state.
“My shift started at three in the morning, sometimes 2:30 a.m.,” Dovsek said. “It was an early wake-up call, to say the least. You don’t really get used to it.”
“It was a great opportunity to be honest because I got a hands-on experience with editing the show, making cuts and packages,” Dovsek said. “The producers were always open to ideas and everyone was super friendly and welcoming.”
About halfway through her time in Orlando, Dovsek had the opportunity to make a couple of highlight reels for herself on camera.
“Once I did a couple of highlight reels, that’s when things really started to take off for me,” Dovsek said.
Shortly after, Newsday reached out to write an article about Dovsek’s journalistic success off the golf course.
“I didn’t really know why they wanted to interview me,” Dovsek said. “I don’t think I had grasped the magnitude of what I was doing at this point.”
Frank Darby, host on Sirius XM 92 PGA Golf Tour’s show, “On the Course,” saw the article about the Hofstra junior and reached out to Dovsek.
“Frank Darby reached out to me and said, ‘Do you want to be a guest on our show?’ So pre- COVID-19, I went into the city and did a show at Sirius with Darby and loved the experience,” Dovsek said. “I felt really comfortable on-air and it felt effortless ... and natural for my first time on-air.”
Dovsek did what any college communications student would do and made sure to stay in touch with Darby. Dovsek saw the show did not have a large social media presence and reached out to Darby to see if they needed any help with their social media platforms.
“I really just wanted to stay working with them,” Dovsek said. “Darby got back to me and hired me as an intern and said I could run their social media and come on their weekly show.”
COVID-19 hit the U.S. hard when Dovsek started interning with Darby. Hofstra University shut down early in March of 2020, forcing students to move out and finish their spring semester virtually. However, Dovsek was not upset about having to connect with her coworkers at Sirius through Zoom.
“When coronavirus hit, I was back in California and we were doing all of our shows via Zoom, and surprisingly that was one of the best things that could’ve happened,” Dovsek said, talking about her opportunities to connect with professional golfers.
“I got to speak to some phenomenal guests, such as retired professional golfer Gary Player and European pro golfer Andrew Johnston,” Dovsek said. “Not only did I get to speak with them, but I got to video chat with them via Zoom which allowed me to develop a relationship with some of these people and even get some of them on my podcast, ‘Why You Suck at Golf.’”
While COVID-19 forced many athletes and students to put their careers on hold, Dovsek was making connections and thriving in the golf media industry. With Dovsek’s success, her teammates at Hofstra have been right in her corner through this whole process.
“They couldn’t be more supportive,” Dovsek said. “Any time I get a guest I really wanted on my podcast or something along those lines they’re always so happy for me.”
This has not been any ordinary sports journalism career, and Dovsek is just getting started.
“I couldn’t be more grateful, to be honest.”
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
