IVINS, Utah — It wouldn't be uncommon this week for those on the 18th tee of the Black Desert Resort in Ivins to wonder what they were doing when they were just 19 years old.
That's what happens after watching teen Ali Mulhall prepare and play in the Black Desert Championship.
Mulhall grew up in Wyoming, then Nevada and now calls St. George home. After becoming the amateur champion in all three states, Mulhall is entered in her first-ever pro golf event on home turf.
"I kind of was always hooked because my dad was a pro at a golf course in Wyoming, and we got to go see him, and that was our time," she said of how she started. "But when I made my hole-in-one at six, it was... that was like the moment!"
It’s the moment her dad, Chris, also knew.
"It was a big deal," he said.
Despite Ali being a third-generation PGA-caliber golfer like her dad and grandfather, this isn't a tale of a kid being pushed into sports.
"Actually, we sometimes have to slow her down, her mother and I," shared Chris.
"Because she sometimes trains too much and we need some rest time in there. She sacrifices a lot."
Ali’s two younger sisters also play. Sixteen-year-old Molli missed out after attempting earlier in the week to qualify for this weekend's tournament, and there’s a 12-year-old waiting in the wings.
"It's pretty cutthroat," Ali said. "My middle sister is always keeping me on my toes, and then our youngest sister, she's trying to beat us both down all the time."
Someone who could relate to Ali starting young is longtime LPGA player Charley Hull. Now 29, Hull picked up a golf club for the first time at age 2 in her native United Kingdom. The 2013 LPGA Rookie of the Year had dinner with Mulhall on Tuesday and shared advice to just have fun and not to think too hard about the limelight.
"When I was younger, I never was really, didn't really think much," Hull added.
That’s just what Ali says she’s going to do in the first LPGA tournament in Utah in more than 60 years.
"It's definitely nerve-wracking until we get on the golf course, and I feel like it's golf doesn't care how old you are," she said. "So once you get going, you just gotta stay in the process and get real game."
