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Big Break Atlantis Competitor
Age: 20
Current Residence: Atlanta, Ga.
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Home Course: Wolf Creek Golf Course
Profession: Professional Golfer
College: DeVry University
All professional golfers have their own stories about how they were first introduced to the game. However, not too many of them can claim they first picked up a golf club as the result of a bet.
For Zakiya Randall, that is exactly what happened at age 10.
“A friend of the family took me out on the golf course one day, and I was excited because all I wanted to do was drive the cart,” joked Randall. “I had no plans to actually swing a golf club.”
The group approached a par-4 over water at Charlie Yates Golf Club in Atlanta. One by one, all four players drove the ball into the water. Randall was laughing at the struggles the foursome was having. Soon, the bet surfaced. Randall’s family friend then challenged her to see if she can upstage the men by hitting the ball over the water and onto the fairway. Randall picked up a driver, teed it up and successfully hit her drive over the water, down the middle of the fairway.
It was the first time she ever picked up a golf club.
“The guys couldn’t believe it that a 10-year-old just hit a drive that they couldn’t,” said Randall. “That was my first introduction to golf. “I haven’t stopped playing since.”
That summer, she enrolled into a summer golf camp at John A. White Golf Course in Atlanta, home to The First Tee of Atlanta, where she fell in love with the game.
In her first summer of competitive play at age 11, she received “Player of the Year” award from the Atlanta Junior Golf Association after winning every tournament she entered.
During this time, Randall also was into competitive tennis, having played in the popular Atlanta junior tennis series ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association). When golf entered the picture, her mother asked her to decide which of the two sports she would rather play. She chose golf, due to the passion she had for the sport.
She also realized at age 12 that she wanted to be a professional golfer. She calls it the “office desk moment,” which took place when she visited her mother’s office. Her mother caught her writing the letters ‘LPGA’ on her notebook.
“My mom remembers that moment much better than I do, but that is where I realized I wanted to be a professional golfer and compete on the LPGA Tour.”
She competed in a number of junior events throughout high school, highlighted by earning low-medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Open Local Qualifier at Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell, Ga. at age 15 after turning in a 74. She also competed in a number of events on the Golf Channel Am Tour, where she won a local championship as a high school senior, defeating a field that was mostly men.
Currently, she is pursuing her collegiate studies online in computer science. She received multiple offers to play collegiate golf, but could not find a program that suited her.
Since graduating high school in 2009, she has been focusing and preparing herself mentally and physically for professional golf. She turned professional just prior to the filming of Big Break Atlantis, determined to take a first big step in her golf career.
Big Break Atlantis Competitors:
Allison Micheletti
Anya Alvarez
Aubrey McCormick
Christina Stockton
Gloriana Soto
Kelly Villarreal
Marcela Leon
Meghan Hardin
Natalia Ghilzon
Selanee Henderson
Shannon Fish
Related TV Shows:
Big Break Atlantis
