D3 Week Wildcat Spotlight: Douglas Bailey

Last spring, Douglas Bailey competed in the 2025 Northwest Conference Men’s Golf Championship Tournament, solidifying an unforgettable and unquestionably suspenseful competition for the Linfield University junior. 

The following day, Bailey began setting goals for himself. “One of my favorite things to do, especially in golf, is breaking it down. Taking away the actual score aspect of it and making individual goals.” 

Later that day, as he realized that he had accomplished his list of goals, Bailey glanced at the leaderboard. “I saw that there was a ‘1’ next to my name, it was unreal.” 

As the sudden-death playoff for first place began, the nerves settled in. 

Looking back, Bailey admits that monitoring his score throughout the tournament may have affected his performance. 

“With technology being at the forefront of our society these days, everything that happens in the golf world is on our phones. Especially with live stats, someone is always looking at the leaderboard.” 

Bailey has learned to appreciate putting his phone aside and simply enjoying the game, saying “With golf being such a slow sport, you’ve got to let the game come to you.”

He emphasizes the perks his strategy has by encouraging others to “play with freedom and play your game, as opposed to trying to play someone else’s game.”

Golf has pushed Bailey into an unforgettable leadership experience. 

“I was thrust into the role of captain as a freshman…and that was really hard for me because I respected the leadership and the chain of command.” 

Despite the large senior class at the time, Bailey quickly rose to the challenge. This was a time when Bailey learned more about himself, the program, and the sport as a whole from a leadership perspective. 

Now as a junior, Bailey continues to serve a leadership position as the co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Similar to becoming the golf team captain, Bailey recalls being thrust into the organization as a freshman. After participating as an underclassman, Bailey planned to take the program in a new direction as the co-president. 

“We wanted it to be more cohesive within different athletic teams.” 

One of the steps he has taken towards this goal is a point system throughout social media that influences attendance at sporting events among all student athletes.

As co-president of SAAC, Bailey has been finding growth in both the organization and in his leadership capabilities. 

For Bailey, golf is not just a competitive sport, but a way to spend quality time with the people closest to him. Ironically, Bailey says, “I’ll take a break from golf by going to play golf with my family,” who started his golf journey in the first place. “I got into golf because of my dad and my grandpa. Golf was just a way to spend time with them. That was all I ever really wanted out of it, and that’s all I still want out of it. I think golf is a great way to spend time with people that you love.”

Douglas Bailey’s value in family can be seen in his relationship with his father, Stu, who became the head coach of his son’s golf team at Tigard High School. 

A 1996 Linfield alumnus, Stu says, “I shared my love of golf with Douglas from the start.” 

In turn, Douglas views Stu as his greatest inspiration, saying his father “not only sees the people around him but makes other people around him better. I’ve always admired that. There’s always something that he’s got to say that is worth listening to. I’ll always be appreciative of that.” 

Not only did his family inspire Bailey to pursue golf, but also accounting. “My grandpa and my aunt are both accountants.” so Bailey recalls growing up around the profession. “It’s the language of business,” and a career that Bailey aspires to pursue. With his goal-oriented values and capable leadership experience, there is very little doubt Douglas Bailey is primed to achieve anything he sets his mind to.