Isabella Lohr was in for a big surprise earlier this year.
She met PGA TOUR player and First Tee alum Austin Smotherman during the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, where he told the 17-year-old from First Tee – Dallas that she was selected to play in the 2022 PURE Insurance Championship.
Isabella is one of 78 First Tee participants who will tee off at Pebble Beach during the tournament, which will take place Sept. 23-25, 2022 and airs on Golf Channel.
“It’s the greatest honor anyone could receive, playing at Pebble Beach,” she said.
The welcome news came after a tough time for Isabella. She lost her childhood friend Dylan Dorrell on August 13, 2020, at the age of 17. He collapsed at a cross country practice and died at the hospital from an undetected heart condition. She says it’s the hardest experience she’s had to overcome.
“Grief was an obstacle I was not ready to face in life. It was a tremendous loss for me personally as every fond memory I had as a child included him.”
Shortly after Dylan’s passing, his parents created a foundation, #runforDylan in his memory.
“We were all still grieving but watching his parents turn their grief into a positive helped me gain a different perspective on life’s purpose.”
Isabella decided she too would honor his memory. In addition to nine years with First Tee, Isabella has been involved with Girl Scouts for more than a decade and decided to focus her Gold Award Project on raising funds for the #runforDylan Foundation.
Her project focused on organizing an annual 5K fun run to build awareness and gain funds for the foundation. More than 800 people participated in the inaugural event on the morning of November 6, 2021, raising close to $25,000. The proceeds will help fund AEDs at local parks in the community.
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First Tee is celebrating its 25th anniversary of teaching life skills through the game of golf. Follow the PURE Insurance Championship at PGATOUR.com.
I settled into my round and made a handful of pars, chapped off by a Birdie on Hole 15 – saving our Pro-Junior Team two strokes as my pro had bogeyed the hole.
On Hole 17, a par three, I had pushed my tee shot almost onto 18 tee box, executed a great shot from a terrible place, still rolling over the green, and then, chipped in to save par.
It was an awesome feeling to hear the crowd cheer for me after the ball went in. At that very moment, I felt like I was a tour pro and gave them a little wave like I’ve seen the pros do.
Coming up the 18th fairway was surreal. Seeing all of the people int he bleachers cheering while I’m standing in the fairway on the greatest course I’ve ever played. Then, hearing my fellow participant, Drew Spurlock screaming after they announced my name… It was AWESOME!
As a team, Paul and I carded a final round 64. Placing us tied for 3rd overall in the Pro-Junior Division. A finish, and experience, I’m not sure I could have dreamed up!
Post round, I wrote some thank you cards to people who had a key role in making this event and experience possible. Then, joined the other juniors on 18 green to cheer on the final groups.
After the trophy ceremony, they lined us up so we could get our banner with our name and our pros caddie bib!
It was very bitter sweet for the week to be coming to a close.I have been dreaming, waiting and working towards this experience for so long, I had so much fun meeting and hanging out with fellow junior participants, and as it comes to a close, I’m a bit devastated.
But, I quickly reminded myself I have an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience to look back on and I will never forget a second of it!
Monday morning I woke up and it all felt like some big dream that I’ll never ever forget.
Thank you for following along in our experience, and your support of First Tee!
Saturday was my official tournament round on Pebble Beach Golf Links! Michael Bradley and I had an afternoon tee time of the 1st Hole so I was able to sleep in a bit. Whew!
After enjoying another great breakfast in player hospitality, I headed to the practice facility. While working int he short game area, I had the chance to meet Kirk Triplett and Scott McCarron.
Once I wrapped up warmups, I met up with Mr. Bradley and worked on marking the pin locations in my yardage book.
Saturday’s conditions on Pebble Beach Golf Links were going to be very different from our practice round on Wednesday with sustained winds between 25 – 30mph and gust up to 45mph!
What did I learn about playing in high winds on a golf course that sits on the ocean? Putting is extremely difficult! We had to take the wind into account as to how it would impact the speed and direction the putts would roll.
My golf highlight of the day? I made a birdie on Hole 6!
Throughout the round, I learned a lot from Mr. Bradley – how to deal with nerves, the difference between being in contention and not in contention for a final round. Overall it was a great experience playing with him, I felt like we gelled well together and had a really good time.
After my round, I was exhausted! But, was able to enjoy a nice dinner with my whole family as it was my grandparents last night in California. (Thanks for coming out, gma and gpa!)
Sunday made for another super cool experience of a lifetime! While missing a cut is never something you want to have happen – the activities First Tee had planned for us on Sunday, made for an amazing experience that we won’t have again.
All participants not playing on Sunday met First Tee staff at the Pebble Beach Visitors Center. We paired up in small groups, joining friends I’d made over the course of the week, and did a Scavenger Hunt which took us all around the Pebble Beach property. From our favorite spots throughout the week, to places we made memories and iconic locations on the golf course – we went everywhere.
Once the hunt was completed, we all headed over to the 18th green to cheer on our fellow participants who made the cut and were finishing their round.
There ended up being a playoff for the Champions Tour title, between Kirk Triplett and Billy Andrade. Mr. Triplett made a birdie on the first playoff hole, 18, to win the title! The playoff was really fun to watch!
After the trophy presentation we were able to get our tournament banners and caddie bibs to bring home – such a cool memento! Then, it was time to say, ‘see you soon’ to our new friends and take one last look across the landscape of Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Truly, an experience of a lifetime! 
Friday morning I woke up feeling confident. I really liked the layout of Pebble Beach Golf Links and felt very comfortable on the golf course.
As my 1:19pm tee time slowly crept up, the dream started to become a reality. As I stood over the ball on the 10th Tee, our first hole of the day, I was so nervous I could feel myself shaking and I thought I was never going to be able to hit the ball.
Luckily, my tee shot ended up in the fairway and I made a par on my first hole! WHEW.
Holes 11 – 13 were a struggle but I bounced back with birdies on Hole 14 and 15 and then later on Holes 3 and 4.
Mr. Broadhurst and I’s combined score for the day was a 7 under par, 65.
Post round, my mom and I went straight to our evening event – the Jake Owen concert. My mom loves country music so I wanted to have her come as my chaperone tonight.
As the concert began, we all gathered around the stage cheering and enjoying all the songs. Everyone was having such a great time that Jake Owen ended up playing an extra hour than planned!
At the end of the night, Drew and I were able to grab a really cool souvenir – a guitar pick from Jake Owen!
So far, Friday has definitely been my favorite day of the week!
It was a quick turnaround to our second round on Saturday morning at Poppy Hills Golf Club. While the golf course is wonderful, it just didn’t set up to my eye as well as Pebble Beach Golf Links. I fought myself but hit some good shots. Sadly, my putter let me down and I didn’t contribute to our team score much today.
Our running joke was that we weren’t sure if Mr. Broadhurst would be able to play on Sunday because his back had to hurt from carrying me all day!
Thanks to his stellar play, at the end of the day we finished 11 under par and in contention to make the Pro/Junior cut to play Pebble Beach Golf Links again on Sunday!
Our Saturday evening was capped off by getting to have dinner with my cousin, Haley, and watching the sunset on Seventeen Mile Drive!
What a great ending to our first two days of golf! 
Friday night our special event was a Jake Owen concert behind the 18th Green of Pebble Beach GL. That was a TON of fun! The food was awesome and it was really fun to hang out with all the friends I had made this week. Towards the end of the night, I ended up getting a guitar pick that Jake had used in the concert. What a cool souvenir! 
Thursday was our second, and final, practice round before official competition kicked off! While the golf has truly been secondary to the experiences I have gained this week, it’s been quite fun preparing.
I did my best to approach today with the same mindset as the day before – to truly enjoy every moment of our walk.
Poppy Hills GC is an incredibly nice course. It reminded me a lot of Pinehurst No. 2 and 8. The layout, green shapes and various shots you must hit. A really cool course to have the opportunity to play.
After our practice round, I saw Bernard Langer in player dining and introduced myself. What a legend!
I was asked to sit down for a pre-recorded interview that may be used during the Golf Channel coverage. I had practiced for this possible moment and it was really cool to have it happen. During the interview they touched on many of the questions we were asked as part of our application process, so that helped me feel comfortable and confident in the conversation.
I can’t wait to see if it ends up on TV this week!
Our Thursday evening ended with a special dinner at Spanish Bag and watching the Bag Piper’s perform as the sun set over they bay!
It was a great day to unwind before things restart tomorrow. Paul Broadhurst and I tee off Hole 10 in the afternoon on Pebble Beach Golf Links.
I can’t wait! Thanks for following along!