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Kai Trump made her LPGA debut Thursday at Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., taking a giant step toward what has been her life’s goal.
But first, she’ll play college golf for the Miami Hurricanes, officially joining the next recruiting class earlier this week to compete next fall.
“It was a big day for our program, a big day for our university, and Kai is a big part of it. It’s something we’ve been working on for a long time,” Miami women’s golf head coach Jim Garren of The Annika said in an interview with PK Press Club Digital.
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Kai Trump made her LPGA debut Thursday, days after officially committing to the University of Miami. (Jim Garren)
The 18-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump will undoubtedly draw attention to the Hurricanes next year — her shootaround Thursday morning was packed with media and fans of her grandfather and herself via her YouTube channel. But for Garren, recruiting Trump was strictly a golf decision.
“We recruited Kai as a golf prospect. We saw the potential of what she could do. This whole thing with us has been strictly golf,” Garren said. “And look, at the end of the day, we all knew when her popularity exploded, but if you look back and when that date happened, it was a month after the first time we were able to reach the Class of 2026. So we’ve been following her for a long time, we knew her potential as a golfer, and we had been doing our due diligence long before she became famous. So the perspective side has always been there for us. She knows we’re coming into this from the side of golf.”
The extra eyeballs won’t hurt either, as Garren said he feels a responsibility to grow the game and expand the Miami brand.
Kai Trump competes in the Annika Pro-Am golf tournament at Pelican Golf Club. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
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“I think any time you can bring awareness, not just to the University of Miami, to our program, to our athletic department, it’s a good thing,” Garren added. “I had a chance to see Caitlin Clark here yesterday and what she brought not only to women’s basketball, but to women’s athletics as a whole. I was very fortunate to work at Oklahoma when Patty Gasso was starting this incredible run in softball. So, not only do I think that attention brings a lot to our program, it helps us grow and helps us continue to recruit world-class players and do what we need to do as a program. I consider attention as a good thing for women’s athletics as a whole, and particularly for women’s collegiate athletics.
“If we can bring someone into our program that’s going to help us, we’re completely comfortable with that. Our job is to continue to grow the games. Yes, we have to compete for championships, and that’s part of coaching. But as administrators of the game, we have to continue to grow it. And I think any form of exposure that we can have in Miami, not only for our program, but for our brand in general, which I think is one of the most recognizable and logos in the world, absolutely, we are happy with this exhibition.
And as Trump competes for titles at The U, Garren predicted she’ll be ready for the moment.
Kai Trump competes in the Annika Pro-Am golf tournament at Pelican Golf Club. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)
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“I’m sitting here at The Annika right now, seeing how many people are going to watch her play golf – you can’t imitate that in practice. You can’t imitate the pressure it takes to play in front of that many people at her age. She’s been on the world stage for a year now,” Garren said.
“The pressure for her when it comes to golf, playing in a Division I golf tournament, it’s going to be easier for her. And you look at it right there, who can handle the pressure? Kai takes advantage of every time she hits the golf ball, she’s in the spotlight. So for us, she’s going to get better and play golf, and it’s our job to develop her as a player, but because of the pressure, there’s nothing we can put in front of her that she haven’t seen before.”
It wasn’t a good start for Trump, as she was at the bottom of the rankings as of Friday. But by far the youngest player in the industry, she can now play with her house money and without stress.
