‘Can’t Thank…Enough’: Nelly Korda Gets Emotional as Her Dream Finally Becomes a Reality Amid LPGA Break
As a six-year-old, the current world no. 1 ranked Nelly Korda, first started playing golf and probably experienced the love at first sight moment. Imagine a young girl in her white skirt and baby pink polo tee, a matching pink watch, a pale blue visor to go with sky blue shoes and all her focus fixed on the target. That is one of the photos that Korda shared with her Instagram followers back in April, 2017 as she wished everyone on the National Golf Day from “baby Nelly!” Today, an Olympic gold medal, 15 career wins and eight years of professional golfing later, the 26-year-old Nelly Korda is still friends with her teammates as an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) amateur golfer including Alison Lee, Megan Khang, and Alison Corpuz, who now also play in the LPGA. And her fondest memory? The 2015 Junior Solheim Cup where she represented the USA in a 13-11 win. No doubt, she understands how starting the game of golf at a young age can stick with you.
Hence, the 8-time LPGA Tour winner brought back her AGJA Invitational, The Nelly Invitational, to continue giving spotlight to young female golfers from around the world to showcase and develop their skills. She summarizes it all by saying, “It’s a full-circle moment for me to be able to contribute to the organization that played a pivotal role in my development as a junior golfer.” But little does she know about her impact on the 66 amateur female golfers she rounds up in The Concession Golf Club and many more. Nevertheless, the participants are well aware. Back in May last year, Aphrodite Deng, 15, of Short Hills, New Jersey, would stand in the huge hallways of the white-walled reception of the venue to tell AGJA, “Nelly is inspiring all golfers right now with her five-streak win and it is really cool to be able to see someone dominate the game at her level.” All 66 of them were ready to take the challenge for the chance to hoist the trophy of the inaugural all-girls event. However, they were not ready for an experience to remember.
