Emmy Martin’s original path wasn’t the golf career she has today. At a young age, Emmy was an aspiring gymnast until she had a growth spurt at which point her dad started her in golf, since that’s a sport you can’t really ever grow out of. From that moment, she fell in love with golf and is now making it her mission to bring more young girls into the game.

After her incredible collegiate career at TCU and a professional run on the Symetra Tour (now the Epsilon Tour), she transitioned her focus solely to the non-profit organization she founded, “Played With Heart”.

“Played With Heart” is an organization that equips the next generation of young female golfers with the gear they need to play. As a college golfer, Emmy would receive a seemingly endless supply of free shirts,balls, hats and other items. As gear piled up in her closet, the unused items continued to collect dust. So she began creating care packages filled with items she’d never used and sending them all across the country for other golfers to benefit from. As a result, “Played with Heart” was founded. 

“I always thought a cute golf outfit makes golf a little bit more fun. So for young girls, it’s inspiring, a new outfit brings confidence.”

Outfits are just a part of “Played With Heart”, Emmy hopes to start equipping girls with not only gear – but the funds necessary to stay involved in the game. She also hopes to give these young women leadership skills by incorporating a leadership program into her organization. Having developed her own leadership skills and benefitting from mentorships during her golf career, Emmy has seen firsthand just how important these skills are to succeed – on and off the course.

“Moving forward, I want ‘Played With Heart’ to have a bigger impact in girls’ golf and exposing young girls to the game. I think playing golf is such a valuable skill for young girls to have, and women in general.” 

In addition to her work at “Played With Heart”, Emmy also worked as an instructor at The Golf Club of Georgia where she helped in developing the women and junior programs to get more female golfers involved in the game. And for any young female golfers looking to start playing golf, Emmy has one piece of advice –

“Golf is a lifelong journey and to just embrace it. Golf is hard, let’s be honest, but it’s so rewarding.”

Keep up with Emmy and “Played With Heart”, by following her on Instagram or visit the organization’s website to learn how to get involved.