-As told to Jordan Perez

My dad always wanted someone to go to the golf course with him.

My sister was not interested, so I took him up on it. At first, I wasn’t a big fan. We lived in Norman, Oklahoma, and the summers got pretty hot. And golf wasn’t as exciting as the other sports I was playing at the time.

It ended up becoming one of the few sports I played as a kid (including soccer, volleyball and softball), but I found myself liking golf the best. I loved the individuality that came with it. If I accomplished something, the glory was all mine–if I failed, it was all on me, too. I played U.S. Kids events and started winning on the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour.  Once I landed my first recruiting letter in eighth grade, I realized golf was where I wanted to focus my energy.

It was always an activity my dad and I both shared, but I still noticed there weren’t many girls around me I could practice with. Once I got my car, he started blaming me for the decline of his golf game because I couldn’t wait for him to go to the golf course!

The University of Oklahoma ran deep in my family. We grew up going to football games and I was a superfan before I got to campus. My not-so-long journey there began in seventh grade, when I attended an overnight golf camp. I won an MVP award at the camp, even as one of the youngest attendees there. I always kept my options open, but it felt like Oklahoma was a natural fit.  

It made even more sense when my dad was diagnosed with epilepsy, and I decided I didn’t want to leave my family or Norman. I’m really lucky I had the option to play college golf and stay so close to home.

College made me grow so much as an athlete, but it’s truly the place where I found my voice. I grew up very shy and reserved, never wanting to speak out in front of anyone. My teammates at Oklahoma were so accepting and offered a space where we could all voice our opinions and ideas.  

I was also pretty nervous being on a team where everyone was so talented. But that environment eventually made me more confident in my golf and gave me the belief that I could win on a bigger stage. I even got my bachelors in psychology, which really helped bring my perspective together. I won once, in my sophomore year, which was the first time I really felt validated in my golf – and was one of the biggest turning points in my career.

COVID was weirdly a much-needed break for me, as I’d been dealing with a wrist injury for about a year. No one believed it because I had been playing so well, but the cancellation of our season allowed me to get the treatment I needed. At our home event, it hurt so badly I started crying. That never happened, and my dad, who was watching, instantly knew something was up. I couldn’t hit my driver, my ball was going everywhere, and all of it was so painful. When I sought treatment, the doctors thought I had tendonitis, but a cyst was found inside my bone and removed during my operation. It wasn’t until January of the following year, my senior spring, that I could actually start playing again.

I really underestimated how hard it’d be to play golf again. I thought it’d be as easy as riding a bike, but it took a month for me to feel comfortable on the golf course again. In that same semester, I was invited to play the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which was one of the most life-changing events I ever played. As time went on, I felt more comfortable with the idea of taking the next step.

Even though I had recovered from my injury, my expectations were pretty low for my first year as a professional. I had found a sponsor for my first try at Q-School, and my dad and I went to meet the bank that was sponsoring me. All of a sudden, my dad had a seizure right in front of me. At that moment, I couldn’t have cared less about golf or anything related to it. It was the biggest reality check I had ever had. After that, I played in my first Epson Tour event and had my dad on the bag for me that week. During all of my interviews, I stressed how all I was focused on was having fun. It was one of the last times he’d get to get caddie for me. I ended up finishing in third – and my dad hasn’t had another seizure since.

Q-School ended up going well. I earned partial Epson Tour status, and the following year I played WAPT as well. In my first Epson Tour event, I made the cut and filled out the rest of my schedule. The hardest part was being away from my family for so long. In college we’d be on the road for a few days at a time, pro golf can keep me away from home for three weeks. All the other adjustments – my own scheduling, practice, finances – were all new stressors.  

Luckily, I had my boyfriend on the bag all last year, and he definitely made being on the road feel so much more like home. He’s a golfer, too, and sacrificed so much just to be there with me. We did our best not to make it feel like work all the time, and it was something I dearly needed in my first full year of playing professional golf.

But finances were still an issue. I had seen what Maddie Luitwieler was doing with Carry in 2022, but still didn’t know too much about it. When I did some research and saw that the applications opened, I decided to put my name in the mix. The more I learned from Donnie, the more I embraced the idea. Golfers receive support and get to pay it back and it comes full circle for the next generation. To help open the future of golf is something I’m proud to be a part of.

I’ll be playing a full schedule on the Epson Tour this year and being a part of Carry is a huge gamechanger. Now I can enter tournaments and not focus on the wrong things. I got so consumed with making cuts and just so I could play every week, and now I can focus on just being my best self. In so many ways, this opportunity has become a saving grace.

With it, I want to grow the game of golf, especially for girls. I have always had a high swing speed and hit the ball pretty far, and it always rubbed me the wrong way how different girls are treated than boys on the golf course. I want to empower them to believe that there are no limits for us, and that we can do anything the boys can do on the golf course!