19 Mar 2024 | Women and girls | Participation | Industry News |
Jenna Hunter receives first Karrie Webb Coaching Scholarship
by Paul Munnings
Jenna Hunter, the head golf coach at Mt Derrimut Golf Club in Melbourne’s north-west, has been selected as the inaugural winner of the Karrie Webb Coaching Scholarship.
Adding to the two player scholarships that the seven-time major winner has offered each year since 2008, the coaching scholarship aims to acknowledge, support and further develop young female golf coaches who have aspirations to excel in their coaching careers,
Twenty nominations from across Australia were received in the coaching scholarship’s inaugural year.
A PGA Professional since 2012, Jenna’s submission received the highest marks from the selection panel of Karrie Webb, PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman, Golf Australia Women and Girls Pathway Manager Stacey Peters and PGA of Australia Senior Manager - Coaching Programs Nick Bielawski.
Jenna has worked as a teaching pro in NZ and Australia, and has a love for coaching with players of all levels and abilities. She has also competed on the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
As the first scholarship recipient, Jenna will receive $7500 to help enhance her high performance coaching skills.
“I am so grateful, honoured and humbled to be the first ever recipient of the Karrie Webb Coaching Scholarship,” Jenna said.
“I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Karrie, the selection committee, and everyone who made this possible.
“I’m keen to continually develop my coaching career and the resources from this scholarship are going to give me the opportunity to learn from some world class coaches and mentors.”
Karrie Webb said she was impressed by the number of applicants who submitted applications in the first year of the scholarship.
“It was encouraging to see how many great female coaches we have in Australia who also want to continue to up-skill and grow their business,” she said.
“It was a really tough decision to make but I’m excited for Jenna to be our first ever recipient and look forward to watching her career continue to grow.”
PGA of Australia Senior Manager - Coaching Programs Nick Bielawski said: "We're really happy with both the number and quality of applications received. The decision was challenging as there were so many worthy recipients.
“It's fantastic to see so applicants running great programs in both their local communities and in a high performance environment."
Meanwhile, the race to win this year’s Karrie Webb Scholarships, awarded annually to two of Australia’s best women golfers based on their performances in the KW Series and place on the Women’s Amateur Golf Ranking, is close to the finish line.
The 2023/24 KW Series presented by Nippon Shaft wraps up at the South Australian Amateur Classic this week with last week’s Riversdale Cup winner Caitlin Peirce currently heading the series rankings. Maddison Hinson Tolchard, who is in her senior year at Oklahoma State University, is the No.1 Australian in the world rankings.
The playing scholarship winners will get the chance to spend a week with Karrie Webb, as well as receiving $15,000.
“This year’s KW Series presented by Nippon Shaft has witnessed some superb golf across the 11 events so far with Caitlin the standout so far with two event wins and a high finish at the Women’s Australian Open,” Stacey Peters said.
“Maddison continues to put together an outstanding amateur record, including playing in the US Open for the first time last year and winning the Big 12 Championship.
“We’re very grateful for the increased support that our partners Nippon Shaft have provided to our player scholarship winners, who will enjoy a fantastic week with Karrie.”
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