Our Girl Can Golf!

As Robbie was watching the Masters this past April, he saw an advertisement for 'Drive, Chip, and Putt.'  It's a tournament for younger kids sponsored by the PGA.  So, Robbie emailed Ellie's name to the PGA just to see what happened.  We were all surprised when a couple of weeks later we found out Ellie was chosen to participate!

For Christmas, Santa brought Ellie a set of golf clubs, and she was using them every couple of weeks.  When we found out she was chosen for this tournament, Robbie and his dad went into golf mode!  Not only did she start practicing at the driving range at least twice a week, but Robbie's sweet dad signed her up for private golf lessons, too.

Let me tell you, this girl was determined and she worked HARD!!  The tournament consists of three rounds: the first being regional, the second held in another regional locale, then the third being at Augusta National (where the Masters takes place).  Ellie placed second in her first regional (in Columbus, Georgia), advancing her to the next round.

Here's the fun part...the next round was where my dad works!!  He was so sweet to let Ellie come practice on the course there.

From the beginning, Ellie's goal was to make it to Atlanta Athletic Club, then just have fun.  But she did better than that!  Our girl played her heart out and got eighth out of twenty-one other girls in her age group!!

Robbie and I were bursting!!  Talk about proud parents!!  This tournament was serious business.  The kids got to practice for a little while beforehand,

then they all waited for their names to be called so the competition could begin.

They even signed their score cards at the end!

And of course, Ellie's biggest fans were there to (quietly!) cheer her on!  Grandmama and Granddaddy even drove from Birmingham to see their girl!

Sweet Nonna and Uncle Tyler strolled Robert around while we waited for Ellie to compete.  They get the award for Most Patient Spectators!!

Mary Claire was in her element.  She told anyone who would listen exactly how her sister scored in each portion of the tournament.  Love her!

I cannot finish this post without giving serious props to Robbie and his dad, Bob.  They worked with Ellie non-stop for months to prepare her for the tournament.  Instead of putting pressure on Ellie, they truly made the whole experience exciting.  And I can tell you first-hand that's tough to balance!

Ellie only had a short amount of time to prepare for this year's challenge, and she did so well.  So watch out, PGA...Ellie Latham is coming!!