NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chris Brady’s LPGA biography chronicles her ascent to the highest level of women’s golf, noting that her mother was her greatest golfing influence. In carving out her own distinct legacy of athletic and academic excellence, a daughter honored that influence and gifted her mother one more distinction that would have been impossible alone.
Already the first mother and daughter to each earn All-America accolades while competing for Vanderbilt, Chris Brady (Wolfe) and Peggy Harmon (Brady) are now the first enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Harmon was a member of the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 2008.
Brady seized the opportunities made possible by pioneers like her mother, who was an All-American in the days before Title IX. Three decades later, in addition to numerous individual honors, Brady was a cornerstone of Commodore teams that won multiple tournament titles and SEC and NCAA regional championships.
Wasting no time making a name for herself, Brady became the program’s first freshman medalist when she took top honors in the Wildcat Fall Invitational—less than two months after attending her first college class. She won individual honors again that spring in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational and capped a strong debut season by finishing fourth in the SEC Championships and earning Second Team All-SEC honors.
With the newcomer, Vanderbilt won the SEC Championships and NCAA Central Regional, the first conference and regional titles in program history. Those Commodores finished fifth in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships, still the best finish in team history.
Brady went on to win individual honors twice more the following season en route to First Team All-SEC accolades. She was the program’s first four-time individual medalist, a mark since equaled only by fellow Hall of Famer Jacqui Concolino—who Brady helped bring to Vanderbilt while active in recruiting during three years as a team captain.
She was an All-SEC selection in each of her first three seasons, marking another first in program history, and a third-team All-American as a junior. Off the course, she earned recognition on the All-SEC Academic Honor Roll and SEC Good Works Team.
After she graduated, she went on to play on the LPGA and Future’s Tours (2008-09).
Returning to the competitive arena one more time after beginning work as a design engineer for CB&I’s nuclear division, she was a contestant on the Golf Channel “Big Break” at Sandal’s Resort in the Bahamas in 2010. She is currently Principal and CEO of RWC, an energy and leadership consulting firm.
Her mom helped open the door, once telling USGA.org, “Finally, women could actually pursue avenues other than homemaking and secretarial work. I thought it was super that women could work at something like golf and actually get rewarded by getting scholarships.”
Brady showed just how much someone could do with the opportunity, creating a Vanderbilt legacy all her own.
