1. Explain the PURE Insurance Championship, and how you became involved with it. What are you most excited about? The PURE Insurance Championship is a PGA Tour Champions Tournament. It is played at Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills Golf Course where 81 PGA Tour Champions players, 81 junior golfers from the First Tee, and 162 amateurs get together to play a tournament. There is actually three tournaments going on at the same time. One for the PGA Tour Championship players, one for the juniors, and one for the teams. They partner with The First Tee to bring awareness to The First Tee and their mission. I became involved with the PURE Insurance Championship from both my director at The First Tee and my friend, Elizabeth Nguyen, who has already attended the tournament. She came back and told me what a wonderful experience it was to play legendary courses with legendary players and to share how The First Tee has impacted our lives. Since The First Tee is very special to me, I’m excited to go there and share the impact The First Tee has had on me, especially since I am a military child. I’m probably most excited about playing the legendary course, Pebble Beach, since I have grown up watching the PGA Tour players compete on that course because of my dad’s love of the area. 2. Where are you from, and what school do you go to? I was born in Alabama but moved around quite a bit due to my dad being in the military. Due to that I really don’t have a place where I grew up. Home to me is wherever my dad is stationed and my mom makes it a point to make everywhere we live a home and special because I haven’t grown up anywhere. When we move we do whatever the community does whether it be golf or basketball for Upward. My mom tries to get us involved in whatever is going on. Community service is a big part of our schedule because when we had our big church back in Tennessee and they did Room at the Inn once a month, we would go and feed the homeless and sit down and eat with them. She always had us working with the USO making “back to school bags”. We just tried to be part of whatever community we were involved in and that’s what we called home. I now attend Pinecrest HS. I’m super proud of my school and I hope we don’t move before my senior year. My golf team just won states and we want to do it again. I love my school and I love going there. 3. How long have been playing golf? How long have you been a participant at The First Tee of the Sandhills? I started golf through The First Tee back in Tennessee 6 years ago. I continued through The First Tee of the Sandhills when I moved to North Carolina. Because of those experiences I fell in love with the game of golf. I love going out and playing golf with my dad and my brother, I got pretty good and started competing in golf and playing on the PKBGT and CGA Junior Tours. I play 2 to 3 tournaments a month and I love it. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing Division 1 golf in the future. My personal goals are to do things like graduating top 3 in my class and going to dentistry school to become an orthodontist. As a kid I had some pretty bad teeth and was in braces for about 4 years. Before I wore braces I wouldn’t smile with my teeth and didn’t like to look at my pictures. It gave me major confidence problems, but with the help of the orthodontist I love to smile and love my teeth. Confidence is really important to me and I know it also affects others so I would really like to help others the same way my orthodontist helped me. My freshman year we were state champions and a goal of mine is to help my team achieve that for the next 3 years of high school that I have left. I have also had a lot of female mentors that have helped me through my years of golf and another goal of mine is to also be a mentor for young girls who start playing golf in the Sandhills area. Golf has helped me learn how to deal with challenges in school and everyday life. 4. What are some of the activities you are involved in outside of golf? What do you like to do for fun? One of my favorite things to do outside of golf is to play with my little brother, Graham, who is 16 months old. Whether it be at the pool or in the morning before school. I like to hang out with my friends and family. One of my favorite things to do is to attend The First Tee. I don’t get to do it as often as I would like because of my tournament schedule, but I look forward to it every week.

1. Tell us more about the John Deere Drive Your Future Academy. When I heard the John Deere Drive Your Future Academy was an all-girls event I was excited to apply, because it was the first one in the nation available through TFT. I feel that not a lot of girls play golf, so I knew this was a good way to connect with other girls from around the nation and learn about their passion for the same sport. 2. Where are you from, and what school do you go to? I am from Seven Lakes, North Carolina, and I attend Pinecrest High School. 3. How long have been playing golf? How long have you been a participant at The First Tee of the Sandhills? I have been playing golf since I was 11, this is also when I became involved with The First Tee of the Sandhills. 4. What are some of your goals- both personally and with the game of golf? Some of my personal goals are to graduate high school this coming spring and continue my education in college. Some of my goals within the game of golf are to potentially play on a club team in college and to make sure I always have fun while playing. 5. What are some of the activities you are involved in outside of golf? What do you like to do for fun? Outside of golf I am involved in many clubs at my school, I am involved in my church and community. I enjoy boating and traveling in my free time. 6. What has been the most exciting moment of your experience so far? What has been was the hardest? The most exciting moment of my experience so far has been the amazing people I have met through TFT. Most of the local people I have met go to the same school as me, but being involved in TFT helped me to connect with them and get to know more about them. The hardest part has been within the game of golf itself. Golf is a game that you can never master, as I like to put it. Every day brings something, and every time you play you find out something new, whether it’s how to play a shot or what part of your game you need to work on. What I love most about golf is that it always keeps you on your feet, you can constantly set new goals to accomplish and you constantly get to meet new people and play new courses. 7. What tips and words of advice would you give other TFT participants who want to get involved in the John Deere Drive Your Future Academy? I would tell any girl that is involved with TFT, don’t be afraid to apply to the opportunities, because if you don’t apply you definitely won’t get in. Participants should take any chance they get to apply, because many others don’t have the chances that we do. Once you get accepted to your first opportunity it is so worth it, that’s the moment you know your hard work paid off. The friendships you build at these events will last a lifetime and you will always remember these experiences.

1. Explain what you’ve been doing do during your internship at The Golf Channel. How did you get involved with this opportunity? My internship was with the instruction department. So that means working for The Golf Fix and School of Golf, but I also got to do a lot with another show they’re working on that I can’t talk about. For those shows I did teleprompter and I would clip off video that they used during the show to describe someone or introduce someone. And how I got the internship is a funny story! So, when I was a participant The Golf Channel actually came to Pinehurst and did a feature on the old executive director Lisa Chandler The First Tee of the Sandhills prior to US Open Week; and I got to be a part of that feature because I was a participant at the time. I spoke with the producer who was there (I was about 16) and asked how I could get an internship at The Golf Channel. She told me to contact her when it became time for my internship and now I’m here! 2. Where are you from, and what school do you go to? I am from Seven Lakes and I go to UNC Pembroke and I’m on the golf team there. 3. How long have you been playing golf? How long have you been a participant at The First Tee of the Sandhills? I started playing golf when I was 10 and I became a participant when I was 11. 4. What are some of your goals- both professionally and with the game of golf? I would love to go back after I graduate and work for The Golf Channel, that is my number one goal. And since this is my senior year at college I would love to make the most out of my golf career that I have left. Hopefully win a few tournaments and just enjoy the moment 5. What are some of the activities you are involved in outside of golf? What do you like to do for fun? Outside of golf, I am the sports producer for my school's on campus tv station which airs in Robeson and Scotland county. I love TV production it’s so fun. I also enjoy traveling and enjoying time with friends and family. 6. What has been the most exciting moment of your internship? What has been the hardest? The most exciting parts about my internship have been show days because I get to work with the host and talent and really be a part of the show that airs that night. It’s so cool watching everything come together! The hardest challenge will be leaving. I have enjoyed every moment and my job never felt like a job because I was having so much fun learning about what I love to do. 7. What tips would you give other TFT participants looking to search for and apply for internships? Once you decide what to do, talk to people in that field and just say you would love to do an internship there. Companies need interns almost as much as the intern needs the internship. Don’t be afraid to ask because the worst someone can say is no and then you just move on! And never give up on your dreams. Because if you try hard enough you will achieve that goal!

1. Explain a little bit about what you did at USGA Learning Science Through Golf Academy. The first day, we toured the USGA Museum, where I saw the U.S Women’s Open Trophy. The second day, we returned to the USGA Headquarters, toured the lab and were assigned groups to build our own stimp meters. The third day, we completed our stimp meters and competed against the other teams to see which team had the most accurate ball roll. After the stimp meter competition, we went to Rutgers to learn about management and breeding Turf Grass. The last day, we spent the day at the U.S Women’s Open and were able to watch the golfers play practice rounds. That afternoon we went to TOPGOLF, which was really fun. I applied through my chapter of The First Tee and was selected to represent my chapter at TFT STEM Academy. 2. Where are you from, and what school do you go to? I am from Fayetteville, North Carolina and attend Pine Forest Senior High School. 3. How long have been playing golf? How long have you been a participant at The First Tee of the Sandhills? I have been playing golf for 10 years now. I have been a participant of The First Tee for 8 years. 4. What are some of your goals- both after graduation, and with the game of golf? My goals are to earn a golf scholarship to Clemson University and major in Biology for my undergraduate degree. After that I would like to attend Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine where I will earn my doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. 5. What are some of the activities you are involved in outside of golf? What do you like to do for fun? At Pine Forest Senior High School, I’m in the Key Club, Future Farmers of America, and a cadet in their AFJROTC program. Outside of school, I am a member of the Cultured Pearls and ASCEND, Talent Search, 4-H Club, and president of the 4-H’s STEM Club, the Pi Club . I enjoy volunteering at the elementary school near my school; I also tutor other students in math and reading. Also I volunteer at the local Veterinary Hospital. 6. What was the most exciting moment of at the USGA Learning Science Through Golf Academy this far? What has been was the hardest? The most exciting moment was when we were designing, building, and testing the stimp meters that we built. Everyone brought different ideas to the table and it was fun working together to build a successful stimp meter. The most challenging was learning about the different types of grass and the different locations specific grasses are needed on the golf course.