A League of Her Own

story by Jacqueline Saguin photos by Jane Pham

She rocks into her stance, preparing to swing. She feels calm. In fact, she’s never felt nervous about anything in her 13 years of life. It’s natural to her — she grew up on a golf course. Katelyn glances ahead, raising the club high and powering back down to send the ball soaring. She rests on her back leg, hands over her shoulder, eyeing the ball as it lands on the stretches of green. Katelyn has her dad who caddied for her, which earned him the endearing title “caddy daddy.” Golf bonded the trio close together. Her mom played golf in high school, but it wasn’t her forte. Still, she jokes that she gave Katelyn her golf talent.

Jackie hops back onto their jet blue golf cart while Katelyn starts their red one, driving toward another hole on the green. Her mom steers away from the paved path and across the grass, taking a shortcut. Katelyn stays on the road that curves back to where her mom just was.

“I don’t break the rules like she does,” she says.

“Beat ‘ya,” her mom jokes.

Her parents don’t have to say how proud they are for it to leak through the conversation. They know she made her personal best at the Florida Junior Tour Championship at Lemon Bay Golf Course last summer. They know she shot a 65 when par was 72. They know she had five straight birdies, which is one under par for a hole. And they can tell you a similarly impressive background for any trophy or medal protected by the glass case in the corner of their cream-colored living room.

Jackie touches blue P.K. Yonge high school varsity letters on the top shelf, saying Katelyn received them in sixth grade.

It’s been a long weekend for the Huber family. Jackie and Tim Huber’s soft, southern twang chimes from the phone speaker as they talk about the last few days. Their daughter, Katelyn, woke up around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, feeling sick. The teenager had hit 18 rounds of golf the day before and needed to hit 18 more in the following hours at the Class 1A Girls Florida High School Athletic Association State Championship for golf. Her mother said Katelyn felt weak but finished strong, winning her 8th place out of 95. In order to be successful in golf, people must learn to move on from a bad shot. Golf is about moving forward. Since she started playing golf at 6 years old, Katelyn’s learned the importance of adversity. It’s what landed her a spot on P.K. Yonge’s high school boy’s golf team as a middle school student. She’s in seventh grade at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School. There’s no girl’s golf team, so she tried out for the high school boy’s team. Her parents hoped she’d make the team even if only at a practice capacity. But she joined and became the No. 4 player, advancing out of districts and regionals to make it to states last year. According to the Junior Golf Scoreboard, she’s ranked the No. 1 girls golfer in Florida for the class of 2025 — and she’s ranked the 11th girls golfer in the country for her class.

“We now have parents who talk to us at events, telling us their daughters watch Katelyn play at events and are inspired by her performance”

Katelyn never participated in organized sports before her first tournament at the Gainesville Junior Golf Tour. And even now, she’s only had a handful of golf lessons. Katelyn spends time with a coach when it’s during the high school boy’s golf team season. Other than that, she’s self-taught.

“Most girls, younger and older, who are competing at her level, have a golf coach,” Jackie said. “In addition to one overall coach, they’ll have a swing coach, a physical trainer — a whole bevy of people behind them.” “These are some good tournaments, too,” Tim said, pointing to a gator statue Katelyn won at the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation invitational in 2017. She was 10 years old playing in the 13-year-old to 18-year-old division. He knocks over a few medals in the process.

“Good job, dad,” Katelyn laughs, tidying her awards into place.

The golf community also serves as a tight-knit group of people. Jackie said Katelyn’s been blessed with great mentors in her life. She mentions the name Taylor Tomlinson, a local golfer who also lived on the golf course. Taylor, a high school student at the time, played golf with Katelyn when she first picked up the sport. Similar to Katelyn, Taylor played on the high school boy’s team and then went on to play at the University of Florida. It made a big impression on Katelyn, Jackie said. It’s become a dream for her to play at UF.

Katelyn plays about five times a week. Step off of the footpath leading away from their garage, and you’re on the golf course. Sometimes, she joins the adults at the Gainesville Country Club. She’s as comfortable with a group of 13-year-olds as she is with 70-year-olds, her mother said.

“She handles herself well with them,” her dad, Tim, said. “And they all invite her to play. She’s been around adults a lot, and her maturity level is off the charts.”

Jackie said she felt nervous as a mother to have her 11-year-old girl playing with 18-year-old high school boys. But both the boys and their parents eased her worries by offering support and acceptance.

“It’s very much like a brother-and-sister relationship where they trash-talk her and give her a hard time, and she gives it right back,” Jackie said. “But if there’s the smallest amount of disrespect from another team, [the high school boys] come right to her defense.”

Her parents emphasize Katelyn’s “even keel” attitude that makes her both a well-rounded athlete and person. Even when she was younger, her father noticed it didn’t matter whether or not she was making a great shot or making a royal mistake. Her emotions never changed. Tim compared it to the final minutes of a football game when it’s time to drive down the field, score a touchdown and win the game. Katelyn may find out she’s down a couple shots from a competitor, and she musters something together.

“I’ve watched her do it in multiple tournaments: pull things out,” he said. “She keeps her emotions in check and has this willpower to push forward and go for the win.”

Her focus and discipline are what have her sitting outside doing her homework on a Sunday afternoon as her parents chat inside.

“It’s not atypical for her to be doing homework on a Friday night for an assignment that isn’t due for a few days,” Jackie said. “Her work ethic and self discipline are among her greatest traits.”

It seems like others have taken notice of her talent. A picture of Katelyn in a pink fluorescent long-sleeve with her golf club swung over her shoulder greets people to the “Katelyn Huber — Amateur Golfer” Facebook page. What started as a way to update family and friends has become a small-scale fan page.

“We now have parents who talk to us at events, telling us their daughters watch Katelyn play at events and are inspired by her performance,” Jackie said. “It’s wonderful to hear.”

Katelyn hopes to pay it forward and be someone young female golfers can look up to — and it looks like she’s well on her way. O&B