Nicole Felce, a 20-year-old LPGA Class A Professional from Clearwater, Florida, is on the cusp of a dream come true this week – making her LPGA Tour debut at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas.

For Felce, a newly certified Class A LPGA Professionals member who pours her heart into helping others discover golf, this milestone is more than a personal victory. It is a chance to inspire her students while fueling her own competitive fire.

Most golf fans are familiar with the videos of Rory McIlroy hitting a mini golf club around his childhood living room, not knowing that this would become his life and his passion years from now. Flashback to nearly 20 years ago, and a young girl is replaying that same scene in her family living room. Coming from a family of athletes, Felce was destined to journey down that path as well. They just didn’t know it yet.

Her love for golf sparked at three when her father, a former Minor League outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, gifted her a set of plastic golf clubs. Swinging them in her family’s living room, she was already an athlete in the making, born into a family where competition ran deep.

By age six, Felce pushed back her birthday party celebration to compete in her first-ever golf tournament, which she won. That first win got her hooked on the game for life. By age 12, she made history at the 2016 Future Champions Golf Callaway Junior World Championship in Palm Springs, Calif., carding rounds of 68, 69 and 67 to set a record for the lowest 54-hole score in the Girls 11-12 division. “I live for the heat of competition,” she said. “Being an athlete is at my core.”

Through junior and amateur events, Felce’s passion for the game grew deeper. By 18, she found herself competing in the LPGA Qualifying Series for an LPGA card. “Graduating high school and going pro was always my plan,” Felce said. “I want to compete at the highest level for as long as I can.”

But alongside her drive to compete, she unlocked an even deeper goal: teaching. Guided by her swing coach, Donna Serino, also an LPGA Professionals Class A member, Felce pursued LPGA Professional Class A certification to grow as both a player and instructor.

“Being a part of the LPGA Professionals was also a childhood dream,” Felce shared. “Golf is tough. I know that firsthand. There’s nothing like helping someone find joy in the game, and when my students light up because they have nailed a new skill, it’s everything.”

Balancing her teaching career with competitive goals demands serious discipline. Felce’s days start with the early morning shift at the pro shop, followed by lessons on the range, junior clinics and then personal training and practice. She also carves out time for gym workouts to strengthen her game, always refining her skills with her coach. “Time management is my secret weapon,” she says. “I give my all to teaching and to my own practice.”

Her hard work certainly paid off during the 2024 LPGA Professionals Championship at Innisbrook Golf Resort last year, where Felce earned her spot on the Corebridge Financial Team, who would compete at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“I grew up idolizing Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer, and Lexi Thompson,” Felce said. “Lexi shaped me as a kid, so competing alongside some of my role models is a dream come true.”

Her goal for her LPGA debut is not only to focus on her game to secure her spot over the weekend but also to soak in the experience and maybe learn a few things from her fellow competitors.

Now, at 20, as she prepares for her first LPGA Tour event, the moment feels surreal. “I feel blessed,” Felce said. “Playing in a major as my debut is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”

With her father on her bag, the experience will come full circle, from those plastic clubs in her home to the fairways of PGA Frisco in Texas. And as she steps into the spotlight, Felce will carry her dual passions – teaching and competing – with her, hoping to show her students that dreams, no matter how big, are always within reach.

Nicole Felce: From Golfing Firsts to Dreams Within Reach

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