In the east Texas town of Tyler, they make their athletes tough. Football’s Earl Campbell and basketball’s Larry Johnson were two hard-nosed Tyler natives who made their way to stardom in the NFL and NBA.
Now, Tyler has produced a young golfer, Katelyn Sepmoree, who aspires to be just as great at her game. The 5-foot-7, 23-year old Epson Tour rookie eschewed symphony and other extracurricular activities in high school in favor of golf, a sport she took up at age 5.
“I was just blessed with natural talent,” Sepmoree said. “I was good at basketball and was pretty tall. But from the moment I started playing golf, I knew that it would be something fun. I could hit it a really long way; that came easy to me. So golf was a natural for me to pursue instead of other sports.”
The University of Texas graduate has gotten off to a good start in her first professional season. After three shaky finishes to begin the season (two missed cuts), Sepmoree charged during the IOA Golf Classic two weeks ago. She opened 69-66 to trail second-round leader Hannah Yun by one stroke. In the final pairing with Yun and Kendall Dye, she watched as Dye rolled to a final-round 65 and the win. Sepmoree shot a final-round 72 and finished third.
“To have a week like I did, it let me know I’m fully capable,” she said. “I know where I belong. I enjoyed seeing my name on the leaderboard and now I’ve got even more confidence and motivation for the rest of the season.”
Sepmoree’s strong suit is driving distance and accuracy. She is averaging 256.8 yards this year, ranking 14th. When she putts well, Sepmoree becomes a contender.
Beyond her golf game, Sepmoree has a profound interest in the military. Her academic focus was in that field, as she earned a degree in Government at Texas.
“I have a huge fascination with the military and military personnel,” Sepmoree said. “I’m kind of a nerd in that way. I know a lot of people who have served and I’ve done a lot of fundraising golf tournaments to support their cause. My grandfather was in the Navy and my stepdad was in the Army Reserves. I even thought about going to West Point if I didn’t play golf. When I was at school at Texas, I had a lot of interesting professors and really learned even more.”
She will take the good finish, her military focus and advice from others forward in an effort to gain a spot in the top 10 on the Epson Tour (she’s 14th on the money list currently) and a LPGA card for 2014.
“I’ve been told just to have fun,” Sepmoree said. “It can’t become a job. You’ve got to take some time off. Take Mondays off. Rest up. I look forward to putting that to practice.”
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