'I t's pretty much all I do': How Joey Graziadei became a golf sicko amid reality TV stardom

Joey Graziadei will always remember June 26, 2023, as the day he was introduced to the world thanks to the Season 20 premiere of “The Bachelorette.” With a flick of millions of remote controls across the country, his life would never be the same. Little did anyone watching that night know that he had already experienced a different kind of life-changing moment the day before.

Just hours prior to Graziadei’s existence getting crazy as a reality TV star, he was going crazy on a golf course having made his first-ever hole-in-one—at a spectacular spot to boot, holing a pitching wedge from 150 yards at Princeville Makai’s signature par-3 seventh hole, a place so stunning that people book sunset golf cart tours that stop at the waterfront vista on the Kauai’s North Shore. On that fateful day, Graziadei and a friend teed off around sunrise as he tried to relax and distract himself from the fame frenzy he knew was coming.

“Not only did I make a hole-in-one on hole seven, but it was the first time in my life that I broke par,” Graziadei proudly recalls, “so, it was a very, very weird and nostalgic day.”

Those watching that season of “The Bachelorette” would understand why he was at the scenic Hawaiian location. They just might not understand why he was playing golf.

You can’t believe everything you see in the world of reality TV, but Graziadei’s story is legit. After graduating from West Chester University, where he played Division II tennis, the Pennsylvania native moved to Hawaii and became a tennis instructor, first at Princeville Makai, where he was able to get golf playing privileges added into his employee contract. Life was good coaching tennis and playing free golf in his spare time. ”I'm very loyal, and I have a strong affinity for that golf hole and that golf course,” Graziadei says.

After a few years working in the Aloha State as a tennis pro, Graziadei got a random message from a “Bachelorette” producer with whom he had a mutual friend on Instagram (Score one for the algorithm!), and that set off a whirlwind of opportunities. After getting some encouragement from his two sisters, Graziadei went through casting, got a spot on the show and wound up finishing runner-up. He was then cast as the leading man for Season 28 of “The Bachelor” the next year, which led to him getting engaged to Kelsey Anderson and earning him a spot on the 33rd season of “Dancing With the Stars” the following year.

“The wheel just kept turning and new opportunities kept coming, and it just led to where I am today,” said the 31-year-old Graziadei, who now lives in Los Angeles. “But I never thought this was going to be something that was going to happen.”

Despite no prior dancing experience, the athletic Graziadei won “Dancing With the Stars” alongside pro partner Jenna Johnson. He’s been a quick learner in golf as well. Just a few years after picking up the sport, he’s gotten his Handicap Index down to a bow-deserving 1.8.

“ I think the coolest part is it's just opened a lot of new doors,” said Graziadei, who is set to be in Season 6 of “The Traitors” and also recently made his acting debut by starring in Roku’s “The Holiday Spark,” about life as a reality TV star. “It’s let me try new things like this movie and really find my space in entertainment that I enjoy. On the golf side of things, I've been really grateful that it's put me in some awesome opportunities and situations.”

While shooting “The Holiday Spark” in Atlanta, Graziadei says he played golf every off day he got. “It's pretty much all I do when I do get free time,” Graziadei says. But he’s also become a huge fan of watching golf, as well as pro golf’s own reality show, Netflix's “Full Swing.”

“ We know how much golf is such a mental game, so there is a reality aspect to it, whether they can keep their heads cool, how they have the ability to do the best each week, but then also the drama of falling off sometimes, having hot streaks, all of this is entwined, and I think it's why something like ‘Full Swing’ did so well,” said Graziadei, who has become friends with the show’s executive producer, Chad Mumm, a fellow member at L.A.’s Lakeside Country Club. “The drama that can come along with something, especially when you get a peek behind the curtain, is really exciting.”

Graziadei has been put through the test of tournament golf himself by teeing it up in the past two years of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, an LPGA event that has also become a staple on the celebrity golf circuit.

“ I had so much confidence, but then I stand on that first tee, and I realize, ‘"You are not as good of a golfer as you are a dancer. This is going to go terribly,’” says Graziadei, who finished in the top half of the event won by Mardy Fish last year. “I just never have felt nerves like that.”

Graziadei’s golf journey has taken him around the world as well, highlighted by trips to St. Andrews—which he describes as a “spiritual” experience—with Travis Mathew the past two years.

“What I love most about golf, is not only the ability to connect with your friends, but also, on top of it, to be able to go and experience new places,” Graziadei. “I think it's so awesome that these golf courses are built on some of the most beautiful places in the world.”

As Graziadei knows, it’s even more awesome when you make a hole-in-one at one of those places. As he’s found out since that ace, reality TV fame can be a powerful force. With each new notch on his entertainment resume, Graziadei finds himself being recognized more—even on the golf course, although it’s not always his direct fans.

 ”Obviously, my primary audience is female . . . but the guys are slowly admitting that they love watching reality TV with their significant others,” Graziadei says. “They're awesome about it. They're like, ‘Yeah, my girlfriend or my wife made me watch. But, dude, I loved you.’ They almost always ask for a picture because they know that when they get back home to their wives, they're going to be like, 'Look who I saw today at the course! Wasn't it great that I golfed today?'"