Former area golfer now a contestant on Golf Channel show "Shotmakers"

It was Chelsea Pezzola’s 16th birthday, and she was staring at an indiscernible, mangled pile of metal that her family called her new car.

There had been a promise, according to Chelsea’s mother, Sharon Pezzola, that the family would buy Chelsea a new car for her Sweet 16 if she earned a college scholarship, which she did, to the University of Michigan.

In true Pezzola fashion, though, the family decided to prank Chelsea with the beat-up car before gifting her the real one, a Lexus IS 250.

Sharon said that through the prank, in front of her friends, Chelsea voiced her thanks for the “gift” even though her wide eyes said otherwise. When the ruse was revealed, Chelsea first felt relief, then was able to laugh alongside everyone else.

Now 25, Chelsea can afford her own car, though Sharon said her daughter still has the same humility and respect she had back then. Chelsea is the star of Golf Channel’s competition show “Shotmakers,” which premiered April 9 and runs through April 30. The show was filmed at Topgolf Las Vegas, and features nine pairs of golfers competing head-to-head in tests of “precision, distance and control.”

Chelsea was raised in Lakewood Ranch, first attending Saint Stephen’s Episcopal before a year at IMG Academy and a year at Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club’s Missing Link Golf Academy. She’s made a name for herself on social media after being photographed on the red carpet of the 2016 ESPY Awards walking behind Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.

At the time, Chelsea was competing on the Suncoast Ladies Pro Golf Tour (now known as the NWGA Eggland's Best Ladies Professional Golf Tour), trying to reach the LPGA. The next morning, Chelsea and Sharon recall, the internet exploded.

Chelsea now has more than 72,000 followers on Instagram and 9,700 on Twitter, and she said using her brand to promote the game of golf is her passion. Sharon helps Chelsea with scheduling her travel and other behind-the-scenes work, so much so that she’s earned the nickname “momager.” Chelsea’s travel is extensive. This month, she’ll sleep three nights in her own Scottsdale, Ariz., bed.

She’s also worked hard to get where she is, and never let a challenge stop her from accomplishing a goal. Sharon said Chelsea is dyslexic, and that doctors told the family Chelsea would never be able to learn a second language. She took Spanish at Saint Stephen’s anyway, and became conversationally fluent while getting straight A’s. She then took French at Michigan, and can hold conversations in it, too. She was twice named an NCAA Academic All-American, and works as a golf editor for Jetset Magazine reviewing courses around the country.

When Golf Channel reached out to gauge her interest in “Shotmakers,” Chelsea didn’t hesitate. Sharon said one of the things that appealed most to Chelsea about “Shotmakers” was the focus on personality.

“They told her, ‘We hope the world sees you for who you are inside,’” Sharon said. “She’s a smart businesswoman. She graduated from Michigan with honors. She prides herself on that.”

Sharon, who still lives in Lakewood Ranch, watched the premiere episode with Chelsea and 40 other people at Bounce Sporting Club in New York City. In the premier, Chelsea and her Team Hawks partner, former PGA Tour golfer Peter Campbell, win the competition and stay alive (they also advance beyond episode two, the last episode to air as of this writing). The episode demonstrates how much fun golfing with friends can be, and Chelsea said that camaraderie wasn’t just for the cameras.

“Going in, I knew a lot of the girls, but not many of the guys,” Chelsea said. “Once it started, I had never felt that much support from competitors. I felt like everyone was cheering for me the entire time, even though we were competing against each other. These people became like family to me. The love I felt and was able to give and exchange as well was something I wasn’t expecting.”

Sharon said it was a thrill to be able to watch her daughter, who she gets to see “not often enough” these days (about once a month, according to Chelsea), win the opening episode and celebrate with her. They were forced to spend Easter apart this year, something that was rough for a family that is “way close.” Sharon was able to watch Chelsea compete in the 2016 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, one of the perks of such a full travel schedule.

“Shotmakers” went exactly as Chelsea hoped. The Golf Channel said 1.2 million people watched the two-part premiere, with 50% of viewers in the 25-54 age range, making the show the youngest prime time audience for a premiere on the cable network since 2016. While careful not to reveal spoilers for the show, Chelsea said filming it “was one of the most rewarding experiences of (her) career,” and that she’s received messages from both men telling her how the shot got their wives into golf, and from young girls, who tell her how she inspired them to take on the game. It’s a position in which she never dreaming of landing, but she’s glad she did.

“It is incredible,” Chelsea said of the reaction she’s received from fans of the show. “It exceeded my expectations. Like at Michigan, there has been lots of support from everyone. I hope viewers continue to watch.”

Chelsea, who has also helped Fox Sports with golf coverage in the past on shows like “Swing Clinic,” doesn’t know what’s next in her career, but said she’d like to remain in the sports media world. Her biggest goal remains to grow the game of golf, particularly in young women.

She’ll tackle that goal, as always, with her mother by her side.

“She's a very special person, from her heart to just who she is and what she's about,” Sharon said. “I hope, in this world of social media and the way things get put out there, that always comes through as she continues to grow in the public eye. She's a determined person. She continues to not take challenges and let them stop her.”