A huge number of junior golf success stories have roots in Pinehurst, North Carolina. That’s thanks in large part to the U.S. Kids’ Golf World Championship, a long-running junior event played at various courses around the golf mecca with age divisions for 6-year-olds all the way up to 12-year-olds.
Nicole Adam’s story starts there. The Adam family would travel from their Mansfield, Ohio home to Pinehurst each year for the tournament. By the time Adam was 13, her family had relocated to Pinehurst. It has forever become a part of her golf journey.
Pinehurst No. 2 hosted the U.S. Amateur in August. It’s a three-time U.S. Open venue, and it shows. The first time Adam, now 17, played the course, she pulled out a sand wedge on the first hole, chipped up on the green and watched it roll right back to her feet.
“I think that just helped me so much, just learn different shots and try different things,” she said.
It’s hard to pick a favorite course among the nine that bear the Pinehurst name. Adam says she plays them all an equal amount. No. 2, which she might play three or four times a month, is certainly a treat.
Even as Adam’s shot-making has improved with so much world-class golf right at her doorstep, her instructor thinks it’s the competition that has moved Adam forward in golf, to the point that she’s found success on the national stage.
Adam has worked with Donna Andrews, a former LPGA player who teaches out of nearby Pine Needles, ever since she moved to Pinehurst. Andrews describes a gradual progression of building confidence and finding consistency, but it’s the tournament play that reinforces that growth.
“It’s easy to stand on the tee box and learn how to hit balls,” said Andrews. “But I told her she would know when she was there when her bad days were even par.”
A blow-up hole rarely derails her rounds these days. Andrews has watched her student’s course-management skills get sharper.
When the North & South Women’s Amateur rolled around in July, another flagship event that draws players from all over the world, Adam entered. It was among her first real amateur starts after playing mostly in junior-golf events. Adam had played the junior version of the event a handful of times but didn’t want to jump into the fray with college players (and handle a yardage bump) until she was ready.
“I got my game up to a good enough place to where I’d be able to hang,” Adam said.
Playing on familiar turf, Adam fired rounds of 70-75 on Pinehurst No. 2 to take the No. 12 seed into match play. For better or worse, she drew USC junior Gabriela Ruffels in the first round, the eventual champion.
Adam called it one of the most fun matches she’s ever played. Despite being 3 down on the 10th tee, Adam clawed her way back into the match.
“I’m pretty competitive, I always think I have a chance and I always think I can come back, especially in match play,” Adam said. “When I was playing Gabi, I was 3 down and I still thought I had a chance and I always do.”
The par-3 15th at Pinehurst No. 2 features a tiny green that slopes down on all sides. Adam stuck it within 5 feet of a pin on the back-right part of the green and made a touchy downhill putt for a birdie that brought the match to all square. Ruffels won the next two holes to close Adam out on No. 17.
In addition to winning the North & South, Ruffels also went on to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the end of the summer.
“I think it was a huge day because she played so well. I think she proved to herself that she could compete,” Andrews said of Adam. “That’s what I’ve seen really change over the past year or so. I’ve seen how her confidence has grown.
“…It’s a match play event, you really have to manage your own game and not get caught up in what everybody else is doing and I think she did a great job of that.”
Andrews sees this as Adam’s future, knowing that many of her junior-golf goals have been accomplished. The days of major swing changes are behind Adam as the high-school senior prepares to make the jump to college golf next fall. She’ll play for the University of North Carolina, the same as Andrews did in the 1980s.
Adam is now ranked No. 26 by Golfweek. Most recently, she finished T-6 at the Annika Invitational USA, which is a best-of-the-best junior golf field. Adam hopes the U.S. Women’s Amateur is on the horizon for this year. It’s an event for which she’d have to qualify.
With all the competitive fire that burns in Adam, there is still a bit of shyness. Andrews sees her student blossoming in the limelight with each passing experience, whether it’s the North & South or having to accept an award and say a few words.
“That’s part of her growing process is learning to give speeches and things like that and have to stand up in front of people and talk,” she said. “Every bit is making her a much more well-rounded athlete because she is getting the public speaking.”
For now, her game can do plenty of talking.
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