Katelyn is 14 years old and lives with her family in Kings Point. She attends Home Run Ministries and spends most of time outside of school playing golf. She has been playing for 9 years now and practices on average around 10 hours a week at the Kingwood Country Club. She tells us, “I have 4 great coaches, which include Aurora Kirchner-McClain at KCC, Joey Wuertemberger at Crown Golf, EJ Kim at Axis Golf Academy, and Dr. Matthew Wright at Kingwood Rehab & Strength.”

 

Katelyn usually competes individually; however, she’s played on teams as well. She qualified to play on the North Texas Jr. PGA team and they competed against South Texas in the Texas Junior Cup. She was also selected to play on the Texas team against Mexico in the Tx/Mx Cup. This year, she’ll be teaming up with a partner to play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four Ball.

 

Katelyn has participated in a number of tournaments with STPGA Jr Golf (South Texas), TJGT (Texas Jr Golf Tour), AJGA (American Junior Golf Association), and Under Armour Jr Tour. In October 2022 she won 1st place at the regional level, which qualified her as a finalist in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition as part of the Master’s week at Augusta National! She then traveled to Augusta, Ga to play at Augusta National in April 2023 where she won 1st place in her age group for the chip portion! In July 2023 Katelyn won 1st place at the Regional for Notah Begay Championship, earning her a spot at the National Finals that November. In November 2023 she won 1st place in the North Houston division of the Under Armour tour earning a spot and a scholarship to play in the Winter National Championship in Sandestin, Florida!

Katelyn truly enjoys playing golf because she loves being outside around nature, meeting new people, and facing new challenges. She also appreciates what golf has taught her. “I have learned how to persevere through challenging situations, how to deal with disappointment when I don’t win, and how to have to still have fun and still be competitive.”

 

Katelyn shares, “I have two favorite moments. The first was when I made a 25 ft putt to win my individual match at the Texas Jr Cup. The other was when I won the chipping competition at the National Drive Chip and Putt and got to meet Jordan Spieth. He was really nice and autographed a Master’s flag for me and took a picture with me.” She also met Notah Begay when she played in the Notah Begay III Jr Golf Championship. Her other idols include Cheyenne Knight and Nelly Korda.

 

After graduating from high school Katelyn plans to go to college and play on the golf team. Her advice for anyone looking to get into golf is “just have fun and don’t give up!”