The Zurich Classic was another
event that went down as one to
remember for her.
“The Zurich Classic was my first
PGA Tour event,” said Horton.
“It was extremely rainy, but it was
great to see PGA players out there
in Louisiana. We do not have a lot
of PGA events in Louisiana and
to be able to see, meet and talk to
players of that caliber in our home
state is incredible.”
This experience and interning
at LGA has inspired in Horton a
desire to continue on this trajectory.
“I am extremely thankful to
the LGA for affording me this
incredible
opportunity,”
said
Horton. “This experience has been
everything I imagined and more.
It is so rewarding and humbling to
work for such a great organization
and I have learned so much. I hope
to us the knowledge and skills I have
gained at the LGA and continue
my career in golf administration.”
Another like her who would be
thrilled to have a position in golf
administration after graduation is
Price, 20, of Metairie.
Though gentle and sweet, Price
does not shy away from the dirty
work for the Gulf States PGA.
“I am doing a lot of manual
labor where you are setting pins
and tees.” said Price. “The wellrounded, nose-to-the-ground, getyour-fingers-dirty kind of work.”
Even when she was in the
awkward stage of
leavingelementary-going-to-high-school,
she was doing work such as this to
pave a road for women in golf.
“I started a golf team at my
high school [Haynes Academy for
Advanced Studies in Metairie],
competed as a one-woman team
and went all the way to state
championship,” said Price.
She started watering the grass on
her side of the fence and the more
she watered, the greener it got.
32
“It is more about becoming a
golfer than just an athlete and
truly living out those honorable
attributes like sportsmanship,
integrity, honesty, and
responsibility in your daily life,”
said Price.
“Each year, more girls joined
and eventually, a boys team was
formed,” said Price. “We were able
to compete in events throughout
high school in New Orleans area. I
think it would be great to see more
women in the industry and that
women in golf get more recognition
professionally because they are just
as great as athletes as the men.”
Price is able to work alongside
of three men she has deep respect
for at the Gulf State Section:
Executive Director Robert Brown,
Patrick Murphy, tournament and
player director, and Tournament
and Operations Manager Derek
Plucienski who I had the unique
honor of speaking with earlier this
year and whose article is in the
April issue of Backspin.
“One-hundred percent of my
job is working with these three
people,” said Price. “We work as
a seamless team. All of us work to
make all of our events possible. We
plan everything out and organize
all our paperwork, set tees ... It
is a true blessing that we all work
together and get along so well.
They are so hardworking and know
so much about the golf industry, it
is an honor working for them.”
Though Price shared that
she is not as experienced as her
counterparts, she expressed how
humbled and excited she is to learn
under their direction.
“I like being the official
tournament starter,” said Price. “I
get to form relationships with them
whether they are junior golfers
or adults. I give them a chance to
feel special and let them have their
moment of glory.”
One thing Price is sure to do in
life is give all the glory to God.
“It is all credit, praise and glory
to the Lord for blessing my family
so richly through golf,” said Price.
“I would like to thank the Lord for
His incredible grace and mercy in
my life through Jesus Christ. The
Lord has blessed me with the most
wonderful, thoughtful, supportive,
caring, and kind parents a girl could
ever imagine, as well as an immense
support system of coaches.”
Her faith and virtue inspires
those who helped form her into the
young woman she is today.
“First and foremost, her
spirituality and love for the Lord,
tenacity, drive, upbeat attitude and
vitality, the way she has of drawing
people in and making them
feel comfortable no matter the
circumstances [inspires me],” said
her mom, Susan. “She uplifts and
encourages even her competitors
on the golf course. Everybody
smiles and is always happy to see
Taylor and she usually has a hug
for them all in return.”
Besides hugs, something else she
wishes to give is a certain lesson that
she hopes will remain with them.
“It is more about becoming a
golfer than just an athlete and truly
living out those honorable attributes
like
sportsmanship,
integrity,
honesty, and responsibility in your
daily life,” said Price.
Price
has
consistently
demonstrated these attributes as
she was nominated by the Kelly
Gibson Foundation to caddy for
Drew Brees and Sean Payton for
the Zurich Celebrity Pro-Am.
“I gave them club and flushing
tips, and that was an incredible
experience as you could imagine,”
said Price.
Based on what I heard about
Price, they were lucky to have her