Inspiring Girls at Pechanga Resort KORE Pro-Am

By: Brian Robin - Jun 13, 2019

As many of these wonderful things happen, this started by pure happenstance.

Three years ago, right out of the blue, Great Oak High School girls’ golf coach Rachel Reif received a call that the KORE Pro-Am at Journey at Pechanga GC-- located right across the street from her campus -- needed scorers. It didn’t take Reif 30 seconds to not only say yes, but see the possibilities such an opportunity presented.

Happening every April, right after the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, the KORE Pro-Am is an annual invitation-only pro-am for guests of Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif. Each foursome is paired up with a LPGA player, who relishes the relaxed, fun atmosphere set amid the picturesque Journey at Pechanga course.

And going along for the ride is a Great Oak High golfer, who gets to spend a day picking the brain of one of the best players in the world. In turn, the program serves as a fundraiser for the high school’s program that helps send the team to more tournaments around Southern California.

“This affords us the ability to add to our schedule and play those people we’re going to see at the end of the season,” Reif said. “We’ve gone the deepest we’ve ever gone as far as individuals and as far as team play, I know this works.”

It works for the teens as well in terms of relationships. Senior Kaila Higgins attended the LPGA event at Wilshire Country Club as a guest of one of the players. Her boyfriend caddies for Ryann O’Toole and Higgins spent the practice round inside the ropes, walking, talking and learning.

“It’s crazy. You learn so much from this opportunity and from that opportunity,” Higgins said.

At this past April’s KORE tournament at Journey, Higgins’ mouth dropped to the floorboard of the golf cart as Cheyenne Woods hopped in next to her.

“The pros are wonderful about that. They exchange phone numbers, they text back and forth and when we were at Palm Desert for a tournament, they’re texting the girls,” Reif said. “They’ve really taken them under their wing because they know, hey, that was them five, six, seven, eight years ago. They know how much of an important role they play in the mentoring of them.

“So I take my hat off to the ladies out here. They’ve really done a great job about taking my high school girls and all the high school girls that come out here under their wing and having that relationship. Creating one, basically. You can’t get this experience anywhere else.”

The KORE Pro-Am is an annual event hosted at Journey at Pechanga with the next event slated for April 2020.



It works for the teens as well in terms of relationships. Senior Kaila Higgins attended the LPGA event at Wilshire Country Club as a guest of one of the players. Her boyfriend caddies for Ryann O’Toole and Higgins spent the practice round inside the ropes, walking, talking and learning.

“It’s crazy. You learn so much from this opportunity and from that opportunity,” Higgins said.

At this past April’s KORE tournament at Journey, Higgins’ mouth dropped to the floorboard of the golf cart as Cheyenne Woods hopped in next to her.

“The pros are wonderful about that. They exchange phone numbers, they text back and forth and when we were at Palm Desert for a tournament, they’re texting the girls,” Reif said. “They’ve really taken them under their wing because they know, hey, that was them five, six, seven, eight years ago. They know how much of an important role they play in the mentoring of them.

“So I take my hat off to the ladies out here. They’ve really done a great job about taking my high school girls and all the high school girls that come out here under their wing and having that relationship. Creating one, basically. You can’t get this experience anywhere else.”

The KORE Pro-Am is an annual event hosted at Journey at Pechanga with the next event slated for April 2020.

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