Zimbali golf star Kayla sets sights on US challenge
Since finishing school, she has taken a gap year to focus on her game before committing to one of multiple college golf offers in the USA next year.
Kayla Saunders is one of Ballito’s brightest golfing talents, with her eyes set firmly on going professional.
The 19-year-old Zimbali resident has only been playing golf for five years but her rise within the sport has been meteoric.
“My dad took me out with him one day when I was 14 and I was just instantly hooked. Pretty much overnight it became the sport we played together and I began practicing whenever I could,” said Saunders.
Such was her love for the game and drive to take it on as a career, that Saunders spent her last two years of high school at the Educational Studio so that she could be more flexible with practice times.
Photo: Ernest Blignault/GolfRSA.
At her level, practice is an everyday occurrence and she tries to play a full 18 holes at least three times a week.
Since finishing school, she has taken a gap year to focus on her game before committing to one of multiple college golf offers in the USA next year.
“I just want get my golf to the best place possible, competing in local tournaments and taking my opportunity to play some Sunshine Tour women’s events as an amateur. At this point in time, I am thinking about playing at the universities of Virginia or Tennessee, both of which are great golf schools,” she said.
She has won a number of tournaments locally this year, including the Midlands Championships and Durban Regional, but admits the Sunshine Tour is another level up.
“The girls on there are incredible. I have played a few tournaments and just made the one cut. That’s the level I need to reach.”
Modelling her skills on golfing hero Nelly Korda – a former world number one – Saunders says her strength lies in her short game.
This was certainly favourable when it came to big moments in her career so far, and hopefully many bigger ones to come.
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