The Lake Oconee area is known for its impressive golf community, and one girl in particular could be rapidly making her way onto the scene.
Fourteen-year-old Lili Nelson, daughter of former golfer Randy Nelson, recently finished sixth in a GSGA Top 60 tournament hosted in Alpharetta earlier this month.
The event was open to all women golfers with a handicap of five or below, and the field was made up of multiple Division I college athletes with a former LPGA Tour player also in attendance.
Nelson, who can’t even legally drive a golf cart, shot a two-day total of 149, and her father was proud of the way she handled everything.
“What really surprised me was warming up, hitting balls on the range, she just went up there like she was one of them,” Nelson said. “She was the youngest player in the field by five years, and finished higher than maybe twenty D1 players.”
The love for the sport came to fruition a couple years ago when Lili wanted to play for the Morgan County Middle School team. When her family moved to Greensboro in June of 2021, she quickly developed her skills.
Nelson has worked her way down to a .1 or zero handicap and has developed her game from the men’s tees, which play anywhere from 5,800 to 6,000 yards. Lili’s game is highlighted by a big drive which helps her shoot well on longer courses.
Her father acknowledges that most of her game has come a long way in just two years.
“In the couple years she’s been playing golf, I’d bet there haven’t been more than 20 days that she hasn’t gone out and hit on the range or played,” Nelson said. “Talent only gets you so far, and it’s your internal clock that drives you to do things differently than others and makes you go to work.”
Lili has that drive and is coached by Blake Adams of The Kingdom at Lake Oconee. Nelson’s father believes Adams is another reason for her composure on and off the course.
“He’ll always ask her the question ‘why?’,” Nelson said. “Why did that ball respond that way off the club face or why did the ball come out of the bunker the way it did? I feel like that has enabled her to think on her own and shoot well.”
Over the summer, Lili will continue to utilize her talents to play in other tournaments across the southeast. Her father says Lili participates in Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, Georgia State Golf Association, and Peggy Kirk Bell tournaments among others, schedule permitting.
Events like these give Lili an opportunity to showcase her skills and impress those around the sport. Even the father of an ex-LPGA Tour player was impressed by Lili’s performance last month. “My daughter was already
“My daughter was already done and in the clubhouse, and we shared thoughts about how his daughter was playing,” Nelson said. “When he found out Lili was only 14 and had finished sixth, he was like, ‘Are you kidding me? Playing against this field out here? I want to write your name down and keep tabs on you.’”
Lili is currently waitlisted for Lake Oconee Academy and will attend the NCAA-accredited Georgia Cyber Academy online for her freshman year in hopes to continue her education and golf career at the next level.