It has been a long time since I heard from Zakiya and was so glad to see her name pop up in my email the other day. I have been wondering how she is doing and glad to hear she is still winning tournaments. This notice was her qualifying for the Georgia Golf Channel Championship and then winning the final tournament of the season against adult men. Now that is an awesome accomplishment for a 17 year old teenager.

Zakiya also known as “Z” to her fans has made history by being the only and youngest female golfer to win the Georgia Golf Amateur tournament on September 7, 2008 at Arbor Springs Golf & Resort Club in Newman, Georgia know known as Coweta Club. In an interview Zakiya said she was excited to win on the most challenging golf courses in Georgia. She said she has been working on improving her swing so winning the final tournament was really special.

The players in this tournament were some of the best amateur golfers in Georgia and this now qualifies Zakiya to play at the National level on the Golf Channel Tour. I am so glad to read about her many accomplishments and that she is still dedicated to improving her game and still winning. This win was against men players so it proves she has a great game.

Zakiya has been featured in several magazines with interviews on the golf channel and other sports events. As she started playing golf at age 10 after winning at tennis decided golf was her thing. She was a winner almost immediately in all the junior tournaments and even qualified and tried out for the LPGA Open tournament. She has big dreams of playing on the Women’s professional Golf Circuit one day and hope she will get her wish.

Golf is a fun outlet for Zakiya as a typical teenager she thrives on the competition and wants to win. She is managed by her mother Tanya and she is running this as a business with the logo for Zakiya of a “Z” for her name and logo on her clothing. Tanya manages all the travel, even as a personal secretary, run the web page and coordinates her appearances and tournament schedule. Tanya also home schools Zakiya so the two of them are teacher and student as well as mother and daughter.

I admire both of them and will keep close check on Zakiya’s progress and appreciate hearing from her again. In this crazy business of golf one has to keep yourself out there and participate in events that get you the most attention. I will keep close touch with the Golf Channel and hope to spot Zakiya as she enters the National Golf Channel events.

Check out a previous article I had written about her listed below:

http://www.bellaonone.com/articles/art51176.asp

Below a picture of Zakiya at her recent win.