Both Gabby Hultstrand and Abby Vernier have been taking golf classes at First Tee for as long as they can remember.
Now the pair of golfers have turned into high school superstars, with Hultstrand going into her senior year at Pensacola High and Vernier entering her junior season at West Florida. They met when they were 4 or 5 years old and have been hitting the links together “ever since.”
Now, as members of First Tee Gulf Coast, Hultstrand and Vernier get to check off a “bucket-list item” and have been selected as two of 80 golfers from First Tee chapters around the country to participate in the PGA Tour Champions event, the PURE Insurance Championship, at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course in California in September.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity. This is just awesome. … It’s really cool that we get to go to this super awesome course that’s always been so greatly talked about,” Hultstrand said. “I’m just glad it’s Abby and me. I’ve known Abby basically my entire life.”
“It’s crazy, because you see all those pictures up here (at First Tee) and you see pros playing tournaments out there, and now we get to play it for a whole week. It’s a crazy, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Vernier said. “Going with someone you know is nice. But for it to be one of your best friends is even cooler.”
Hultstrand and Vernier join a handful of area golfers to be selected to compete at the PURE Insurance Championship, most recently back in 2018 when Pace alum Elise Schultz, the 2016 PNJ Golfer of the Year, headed to northern California.
The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 17-22. First Tee players are selected based on their playing ability, personal growth and life skills learned through First Tee’s programs. The tournament, which is a best-ball format, will be televised nationally on the Golf Channel. The junior golfers will be paired up with a PGA tour pro during the tournament.
Both golfers will have to miss a week of school, but both players’ teams will still be in the regular season. And their families will get to join them for the week to experience the tournament together.
“I’m excited for them to get to go,” Hultstrand said of her family going with her. “My grandpa, who hasn’t missed a single golf tournament, gets to continue that, which is cool since this is such a big tournament.”
“My brother is going, too, and he’s really excited about the surfing,” Vernier said with a laugh. “He’s like, ‘Abby, if you go, I’m going with you and I’m going to surf.’ … He goes to the beach and surfs so much. We were in Destin the other week and he was surfing the whole time.”
It’s possible the golfers could be paired up with Pensacola native Joe Durant, a four-time PGA Tour event-winner and a five-time PGA Tour Championships event-winner – most recently this past March at the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona – but that’ll all be determined throughout the week.
“You might know beforehand who you’ll play with in practice rounds, but not the actual tournament,” Vernier said.
“Honestly, I would love to play with anyone,” Hultstrand added.
A busy summer for both
Hultstrand and Vernier said they have both had “chaotic” summers, playing in as many golf tournaments as possible. Vernier played in a few Greater Pensacola Junior Golf Association Summer Tour events, and won the 67th Annual Divot Derby this past week.
With Hultstrand entering her senior year, she’s been focused on talking to colleges at the same time, “trying to keep her options open.”
“You want to compete and win, and you feel like you have to do something. But now you have the other stresser of wanting to play well to get a scholarship, where I can play and get better at golf,” Hultstrand said. “It adds to the pressure of a tournament, but it’s just another obstacle to overcome. And when you do, it’s awesome.”
Vernier is entering the same boat. As a rising junior, colleges were able to contact her for the first time in mid-June.
“It’s definitely more pressure. But I just try to play my own game and do the best I can. Everything will fall into place afterwards,” Vernier said. “It’s kind of tough. But once you get over the fact that it’s a game – and it’s the same sport you’ve been playing the whole time – it’s just another added thing.”
Having the busy summers allow both Vernier and Hultstrand to extend right into the fall for the high school season. Compared to some states where the girls golf season starts in the spring, Vernier mentioned there’s “no buffer” and the players are in mid-season form by the time the season begins.
Both golfers competed at the Class 2A state tournament last season. Vernier finished in a tie for 15th, shooting a two-round total of 153 (74, 79), while Hultstrand shot a 156 (83, 73) to take sole possession of 21st. The players competed at the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Howey-in-the-Hills.
Continuing the area’s history
Outside of Pace’s Schultz, five other golfers from First Tee Gulf Coast have gone and competed at the PURE Insurance Championship. In 2017, Pensacola Catholic alum Nicholas Dimitroff – who went on to play at UWF – and West Florida alum Ty Aulger – now the First Tee Gulf Coast tournament director – both went…
