Twelve Years Later, a Foursome Reminisces Over a Honda Classic Pro-Am

Many memories abound at the final Honda Classic, including those of a group of high school golfers whose 2011 trip around PGA National remains fresh today.

I had warmed up on this driving range before, but I don’t think I’d ever been as nervous as this spring morning in 2011. PGA National was the backdrop to many big moments in my golf life, from junior golf tournaments where I first met my college coach to the Optimist International Tournament of Champions to this day: the Honda Classic Pro-Am.

It’s not every day a high school senior has a chance to play in a PGA Tour pro-am.

Thanks to the generosity of Ken Kennerly, then the executive director of the Honda Classic and now the president of PopStroke Productions, some of the top junior girl golfers in Palm Beach County, including myself, were paired with PGA Tour veteran Steve Flesch to enjoy a round at the PGA National Champion course in tournament condition. Kennerly has always been a staunch supporter of junior golf, and his invitation that day impacted all of our lives for the better.

Palm Beach County was a special place to play golf. With year-round fantastic weather, golf courses everywhere and consequently plenty of junior golf programs, it’s no surprise that there were enough girl golfers in the area to fill several high school teams. We were lucky to grow up playing with and against each other in such a competitive state; plus we had plenty of professional golfers in the area to look up to, especially when the Honda Classic and LPGA’s ADT Championship (held from 2006-08) rolled around.

When I recently stumbled upon the plaque we all received after the pro-am, the memories came rushing back. The timing felt like fate as we approached the last season this PGA Tour stop would be known as the Honda Classic, and I wanted to say goodbye the best way I knew how—through writing and with friends.

Kelly Okun's plaque from the 2011 Honda Classic pro-am; she's pictured with pro Steve Flesch at right / Courtesy Kelly Okun

My teammates that day included Saint Andrew’s School’s Kailey Walsh Ashton (then Kailey Walsh) and Jaye Marie Casello (then Jaye Marie Green) and Cardinal Newman High School’s Annie Dulman; I attended The Benjamin School nearby. Through our weekly high school matches and other junior tournaments, we got to know each other really well. I couldn’t imagine a better way to cap off my high school golf experience than with these friends at the Honda Classic Pro-Am.

This day meant a ton to us, and I recently caught up with Ashton, Casello and Dulman to reminisce on the experience and how it impacted their futures.

Casello turned pro in 2013 and her maiden name (which she played under) became known on the LPGA Tour; she was always a huge inspiration and the best kind of challenge during our high school matches. She went on to win the LPGA’s qualifying school twice in the last 10 years and is still chasing her first LPGA Tour win.

All these years later, she particularly remembers playing with Flesch.

“When we played with him, he was one of the ones who had been on tour the longest. I remember hearing that and hearing from him what it takes to be out there for so long, because people only ever really notice the people who are winning. There are still people that are out there for 15-20 years that they don’t really talk about, and I remember thinking that was very interesting,” Casello says. “Now being out on tour for almost 10 years without winning, the picture [of the plaque] had me thinking of that, like this is what it’s like to be on tour for a long time, I kind of understand what he was saying right now.

“When we were that age, you just thought if you can make it out on tour, you’re going to win. No one ever really says how keeping your card for so long is great, people only really care if you’re winning. I have just realized over the years that that’s not the case. I thought of it the other day, like ‘you know what, that is a big accomplishment, Jaye. Yeah you haven’t won, but you’ve been out on tour for a very long time without losing your card.’ 15-year-old me would think that’s awesome.”

LPGA player Jaye Marie Green is now on the other side of pro-ams :: Scott Taetsch/USA TODAY Sports

Dulman also had plenty to discuss with Flesch. “I was lucky enough to have my mom caddying for me that day as well, which is probably what made it the most special and memorable. We had a great time with Flesch, and he was especially kind to all of us. I don’t believe they knew each other previously, but both he and my mom are alumni of the same golf program at the University of Kentucky, but were a few years apart,” she says.

College golf is a small world, especially when you grew up in South Florida. While Casello and I were the only two in the foursome who gave professional golf a shot, I fell in with the other girls first and took the college golf route. Ashton played her first year at University of Georgia and then transferred to the University of Miami, Dulman attended Rollins College and I headed to William & Mary. Despite us never playing against each other then, we ran into plenty of other golf friends from our high school days.

When Ashton thinks back to the role the Honda Classic Pro-Am played in her life, she remembers how it showed her what she could expect if she decided to turn pro after college, and more. Ashton perhaps found the most profound takeaway of us all: she realized she didn’t have to give up golf entirely, she could still incorporate it into her career and her life as an amateur.

“It was an opportunity to say 'here’s a group of people that are amateur golfers that love the game, that know how to play, they play at a pretty high level and they’re still around this action,'” Ashton says. “I had made the decision I am going to go to law school, but I’m going to be an attorney that’s going to play and still try to be involved in these events to the extent that I get, you know, an invitation or can get into the right groups where this is something that’s going to be a part of my life forever.”

Now an attorney, Ashton has followed in Kennerly’s footsteps and gives back to her different sports communities, recently as a committee member of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame, helping to select future members. “Being a student-athlete somewhere really kind of ties you for life and it’s a special relationship,” she says.

I also enjoyed giving back to my alma mater and frequently returned to Williamsburg, Va., to support William & Mary in pro-ams and panels. After graduating, I spent a year training as an amateur and then turned pro in the summer of 2016. It was crazy thinking about how just five years later, I was back where golf—and the dream to turn pro—all started for me: Palm Beach County. Having exposure to such a high-end event like the Honda Classic in high school gave me a clear goal to visualize, and I’ll always be thankful for the experience and support of our golf community.

Dulman went on to have a fantastic college golf career at Rollins College, winning the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship with her team as a senior. While she dabbled in the golf industry afterwards, she headed to Los Angeles to pursue her other dream of becoming a movie producer. She now works at Universal Studios, loving every minute.

Annie Dulman (left) and Kailey Ashton (right) met then-22-year-old Rickie Fowler in 2011 / Courtesy Kelly Okun

“The Honda Classic Pro-Am certainly gave me a front-row seat to the quality of venue and how the tour pros go about preparing for a tour event,” Dulman says. “I found it very educational and it certainly impacted my thought process in how I prepared myself for events as I progressed in my playing career.”

While the rest of us were playing in college, Casello saw pro-ams becoming a routine part of her life. She has always enjoyed playing in them each week on the LPGA Tour and meeting new people, realizing that whenever she’s ready to step away from the game, they have provided her with an unbelievable network.

She also laughed at the realization that she’s playing the same role as Flesch did during the Honda Classic Pro-Am. “On the amateur side, I remember wanting to learn and trying to understand what it’s like to be a pro as an amateur. And now on the pro side, you’re telling people what it’s like being a pro. It’s pretty cool how the roles have changed; I was the person asking the questions and now I’m the person being asked the questions,” Casello says

Like her, I had my fair share of pro-ams from the other side as well, and learning people’s stories and sharing them became a big passion of mine. Once I retired from professional golf at the ripe old age of 26, I joined a golf marketing agency; with so many opportunities to write and lead content marketing in this setting, I loved the feeling that I could help grow the game—especially women’s golf—from outside the ropes.

While our paths diverged after the pro-am, we know how fortunate we were to grow up in such a golf-obsessed place; learning how to play in South Florida, where the sport is a way of life, heavily influenced our present career paths and relationships with the game to this day.

“It’s really cool thinking about the four of us playing then not knowing where golf was going to take us,” Casello says. “You’re still in the golf business doing something outside of playing, I’m on the playing side and Ashton and Dulman are doing something completely different. It’s just so awesome how golf leads you to so many different things in such a great way.”

Our experience in the pro-am also always leads us back to being the Honda Classic’s biggest fans. It doesn’t hurt that we ran into the likes of Rickie Fowler, Jack Nicklaus and JJ Redick throughout the day.

The author tees off in 2011 / Courtesy Kelly Okun

“The Honda Classic always from that moment held a special place in my heart as the tournament that I’m always watching,” says Ashton. “I’m tuned in, I’m following the scores more so than any other event because I think when a tournament takes the extra initiative to reach out to junior golfers in the area, that’s how you capture fans for life. Those are the people that are going to be following your event, cheering for you, coming out to watch and telling their friends about it.”

In fact, we owe the Honda Classic another thank you. Writing this article reconnected four friends spread out across the country, some in completely different industries now, and inspired a long-past-due golf reunion trip. We’ll be raising our glasses to Kennerly, Flesch and the Honda Classic for giving us an incredible experience then and bringing us together again now.