Thursday, January 11, 2007 Older Editions

Big break for Briana

By Brian Messenger

Big money, big hair, and big attitude - those three traits are often associated with real estate tycoon Donald Trump, the latter thanks to his hit reality TV show The Apprentice on NBC.

This fall, 24-year-old professional golfer Briana Vega saw for herself just how real that characterization was when she competed on the Golf Channel's own reality series, Big Break VI: Trump National, which premiered on Sept. 26.

"I know him on a personal level. He was there every day of the filming, and he didn't have to be," said Vega, who golfed on the Andover High School boy's team as a freshman before moving to New Jersey. "He's a lot different than I think people perceive him to be."

The big money's indisputable. Vega and 17 other golfers played for two weeks at the Trump National Golf Club on the the Palos Verdes Peninsula, just south of Los Angeles, a picturesque oceanside setting dubbed the "most expensive golf course ever built."

The big hair was definitely there too.

"I did see it up close and personal, I guess," said Vega of the mogul's mop.

But big attitude? Vega didn't see it.

"He was really a nice guy. He's really easy to talk to. Nobody ever felt intimidated to talk to him," said Vega, who won the battle-of-the-sexes themed competition and was also selected to appear on the series' next season, Big Break VII, a reunion of sorts for previous contestants on the show, which will begin airing in late February.

Vega, who also attended West Middle School and was on the AHS cheerleading squad, has been golfing on the LPGA Futures Tour for two years, after graduating from North Carolina State University with a degree in sports psychology.

Vega was selected to participate in Big Break VI after some of her friends on the tour and from college made an appearance on Big Break V.

"It opened up a bunch of doors for me. It really was a big break in every sense of the word," said Vega. "Just a real confidence booster."

Vega outlasted all nine men and the eight other woman golfers on the show. Faced with a variety of challenges on the course, one male and one female competitor were eliminated each episode.

"It really made you focus on one shot at a time," said Vega. "They challenged every part of your game. Long game, short game. Mostly they challenged your mental game."

According to Vega, one notorious challenge on all the Big Break shows has been breaking a small piece of glass on the course with a shot from 30 feet away. But while the "goofy" challenges came in the early episodes, the real competition heated up as the show wore on.

"It was a true battle of the sexes, even down to the last challenge," said Vega.

"I kind of took a win for the girls," she said. "Overall, the women beat the men more. I couldn't remember a time they beat us."

Although she said the Trump National Golf Course was one of the nicest she's ever played on, Vega admitted the scheduling of the show was grueling.

"It's just mentally draining," she said, recalling waking up at quarter to 5 in the morning throughout the two weeks of filming.

The golfers would proceed to shoot the on-course segments of the show until nearly 8 at night before finally completing studio interviews just before midnight.

"They just wear you out. They're not really trying to better your game," said Vega. "They're just trying to make a TV show."

While she was confident throughout the competition, Vega said she didn't truly realize she might win it all until it got down to the final four contestants.

"It's an experience unlike anything I've ever done or probably ever will do," she said. "It's a unique competition."

Vega has recently decided to compete on the Futures tour for a third year. She then hopes to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour in 2008.

While her parents still live in the area, in North Andover, Vega's golfing roots in the Merrimack Valley had humble beginnings.

"Back then I was horrible. I didn't even know how I made the team," said Vega about her year with the Andover High boys. "Golf was not a focus in my life until probably half way through high school."

Vega now lives in Florida during the winter.

"During the other seasons I live out of my car, on tour," she said. "It's a long summer on the road, starting in March."

Vega's mother travels from tournament to tournament around the country with her, and her father typically will fly out to the site on Thursdays, where he'll caddy for his daughter over the weekend.

"There's not many jobs where you can take your parents with you when you're 24," said Vega "I love it. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"I've definitely learned that this takes a lot of patience," she said. "You've just got to stick it out and wait for your year to come."