Hadley Kester is only 12 years old, but her golf game is definitely grown up.
The soon-to-be seventh grader is already posting professional level scores on the course.
At the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation’s Phoenix Tour Championship in May, she was crowned the champion in her division after recording a score of 70 (-2), her personal best yet.
Kester has numerous top-two finishes this year, too, including at the Tucson City Junior Championship, with a first-place score of 79, and a second-place finish at the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation’s Encanto 18 event in Phoenix with a final score of 74.
With scores like that, it’s no surprise the PGA Jr. Leaguer is going places.
Kester is set to represent Tucson at the in San Diego. It kicks off Tuesday.
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Over three days of competition, Kester will face other youth golfers from around the world.

Hadley Kester, 12, is part of the PGA Jr. League program and qualified for the Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego this week. Kester hits some balls at the driving range at Skyline Country Club on July 3.
The event is estimated to bring around 1,250 golfers from 56 countries and 42 states to San Diego, according to the championships’ .
While facing such vast competition may be daunting to some kids, it doesn’t intimidate Kester, who is doing what she loves — playing golf and making friends.
“I just love the challenge of getting a small ball into a small cup from very far away,†Kester said of her love for the sport. “And, I just love meeting new people and trying my best to succeed.â€
Kester has always been athletic, and she’s never shied away from a challenge.
She’s been on a swim team, played volleyball and basketball and competed in track and field. But there was something about golf that stuck with her.
“I picked up a club and knew it was the right sport for me,†she said.

Hadley Kester, 12, is part of the PGA Jr. League program and qualified for the Junior World Golf Championship in San Diego this week. Although she has only been golfing for a little over three years, she's already logged some impressive scores, like 70 (-2) to win the U.S. Kids Tournament in Phoenix. Kester poses for a portrait on the driving range at Skyline Country Club on July 3.
Kester went all in on golf around three and a half years ago, thanks to her father, Anderson, who has golfed his whole life.
Now, golf is a family affair for the Kesters, with Hadley, her father and her younger brother all picking up clubs.
“We’ve been very supportive of her,†said Kester’s mom, Amanda. “She’s a very competitive, ambitious young lady and driven with everything, even school. She works so hard . . . so now it’s just trying to manage her school work with her passion for golf and try to keep her balanced so that she can do good in both things.â€
“It’s been a lot of fun, though, for us as a family to get to do a lot of these (golf) trips together, even if they’re short, overnight trips to go and watch her. It’s been pretty amazing.â€
PGA Jr. League and the coaches at their home course at Skyline Country Club, located in northeast Tucson, have been instrumental in her daughter’s life, she said. The program’s focus on children has helped kids, like Kester, refine their skills on a technical level and develop good sportsmanship.
“She has some sort of natural ability and with all of her practice, she keeps getting better and better. It’s been really neat to see her scores keep getting lower and lower, closer to par on some of these tournaments. She’s been under par two or three times and I’m just so proud of her. I’m so impressed that she’s been able to do this because it is a really hard sport.,†Amanda Kester said.
As much as golf is a physical sport, the mental aspect of the game plays a huge role in being successful on the course, and Kester has first-hand experience with that.
When attempting to qualify for the Junior World Championships, Kester hit +11 during the first round. Instead of letting the score of the initial round bring her down, she remained mentally strong to shoot +1 the next round to tie for first place and snag one of two qualifying spots.
“I’ve been wanting to make it to Worlds since I found out there’s qualifiers and I could make it there,†Kester said of making the championship. “I was just so proud of myself that I’ve come so far and I was able to qualify to get there.â€

Hadley Kester, 12, hits some balls at the driving range at Skyline Country Club.
After the Junior World Championships this week, Kester will join Skyline Country Club’s Junior All-Star Team at the state finals in Prescott this August.
Golf is something that Kester could see herself doing long-term, including in high school and college and she dreams of making the LPGA Tour one day. She also has aspirations to become a doctor.
Whatever dream she follows in the future, she’s bound to take a full swing at it.
“It’s just like everybody says, ‘practice makes perfect,’†Kester said. “And I feel like after I started, I grew even more passionate (for golf). I just want to be the best I can be.â€
Contact Elvia Verdugo, the Star’s community sports editor, at everdugo@tucson.com. A journalism and history graduate from the University of Arizona, she shares stories highlighting what makes Tucson and its community special.