Courtney's Road to the LPGA

Since I was ten years old, I have dreamed of winning an LPGA tour event. My dad, Kurt, told me when I was nine years old that I could have anything I wanted if I played golf and got a scholarship to college. And he held up his end of the bargain.

I played several sports leading up to golf. With my hearing impairment and cochlear implant, I was limited in my ability to play softball, hockey, soccer, and basketball, but once I picked up a golf club in 2008, I fell in love with the game.

For those of you who do not know much about me, I lost my hearing at a young age. I wore hearing aids in both ears until I received a cochlear implant in 2004 in Scottsdale at Mayo Clinic. I spent most of my childhood growing up in Greenville, South Carolina. In 2014, my family and I moved to Sacramento, California. I attended Woodland Christian HS for my junior year, then moved to Pebble Beach, California for my senior year.

I attended Long Beach State University for one semester in 2016 and then transferred to Grand Canyon University in January 2017. My parents moved from California to Fountain Hills, Arizona, to be closer to my grandparents. I played golf collegiately for GCU from 2017-2020. I got my undergraduate degree in Sociology with a minor in Business Management.

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n January 2020, my dad accepted a position returning to the Carolinas and set out for his journey. We had always wanted to move back as a family to the Carolinas. The plan was for my mom and me to remain here in Fountain Hills until I graduated, then we would join my Dad in May. Unfortunately, COVID hit in March, my classes were canceled, and everything went online. On top of that, the club that my Dad went to work for was put up for sale.

August 2020 came around, and we joined my dad in Greenville, South Carolina. I had received an additional year of eligibility to play college golf due to COVID. I decided to spend my final year at Troy University in Alabama.

On December 11th, 2020, my dad, now current Director of Golf here at Rio Verde, was involved in a near-fatal car accident that left him with injuries that he is still currently recovering from. I was home in Greenville for winter break from my first semester at Troy University. My dad was driving home from work on a beautiful 60-degree day in Anderson, South Carolina, when a minivan spun out of control and hit him head-on. Our entire family's lives changed forever in the blink of an eye.

After a few weeks, I ultimately decided not to return for my final semester of college golf due to the trauma my family had endured. My family lost everything due to the accident, and we are still picking up the pieces to this day.

In March 2021, my dad was offered the job at Crestview CC in Wichita, Kansas. Being on a knee scooter, he accepted and off we went to Kansas. In April, I finally had the motivation to pick up a golf club again after the trauma of my father's accident. Unfortunately, being back out on the golf course simply did not feel the same. I decided then to follow in my dad's footsteps and start my career in the golf industry.

In July of 2021, the Assistant Golf Pro position at Rio Verde appeared, and I applied, knowing that my parents were in a better place than before. I felt that I could finally branch out and gain some independence. It felt selfish, but before I knew it, I was offered the job.

Moving back to Arizona was probably the best decision I have ever made. I am surrounded by people who want to see me succeed in the workplace, in life, and on the golf course. I originally moved back here with no aspirations to play professionally. That changed when someone close to me told me that I shouldn't waste my talent; I didn't want to have feelings of "what if" 20 years down the road.

The road to the LPGA requires going through qualifying school, otherwise known as Q-School. There are three stages to Q-School, and the overall entry fee to get into it is rather substantial. There are also travel-related expenses for all three stages. Q-School is in three different states, and each stage lasts 7-14 days, thus there are substantial travel and lodging expenses. My funding request is essentially seed money to pay for my entry fees into Q-School, help me pay for my travel expenses, and then ultimately start down the path to playing on the LPGA tour.

In closing, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my story, and I very much appreciate all of you. I am looking forward to having you along on my journey to the LPGA. I cannot wait to share this experience with those who support me as I follow my dreams.