Meet the All-Girls PGA Jr. League All-Star Team That Are Friends For Life

This weekend at the 17u National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship, one things for sure: Team Ohio will be standing out.

It could be their mustard-colored uniforms, or it could be the fact that each and every member of the six-player team, and their Coach, is a female.

Jenn Creech, a PGA of America Member for over 20 years, leads the team with Assistant Coach Chris Reed, Director of the U.S. Kids Cleveland Tour. Reed’s daughters, 14-year-old Calli and 17-year-old Cammy, join teammates Elizabeth Coleman, 16; Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble, 15; Gracyn Vidovic, 17; and Kate Sowers, 17, rounding out the squad.

The Cleveland-based team leaned heavily into their uniforms, as an ode to the Cleveland Guardians’ Hot Dog Derby featuring a race among ketchup, mustard and onion hot dog mascots. The girls will be accessorizing their mustard-colored team uniforms with, you guessed it, hot dog-themed gear.

Creech and her husband, fellow 20-plus-year PGA of America Member Matt Creech, own The Golf Dome, an indoor, dome-shaped range that allows for year-round golf in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. After purchasing and renovating the facility in 2022, the duo has prioritized player engagement from the start with their five PGA of America Professionals and three PGA of America Associates on staff. The result? A booming business that regularly sells out its adult and junior programs.

This year, their PGA Jr. League programs saw approximately 130-140 kids participate across both the 13u and 17u divisions held in the summer and fall. They run their PGA Jr. League program with nearby Tanglewood Golf Club, where the Creeches recently began overseeing golf and grounds operations. The Creeches and Reeds are friends both in and out of the golf business, and they teamed up to create a thriving junior golf program at Tanglewood.

“These kids play tournament golf throughout the week, and many go to different schools,” said Reed. “On Wednesday evenings,  we’d put them in carts [for PGA Jr. League], and it was such a game changer. Now in these carts, they’re always with each other and talking. It ended up being the most perfect thing to do to keep the kids engaged. They’d ride together, then sit around and drink slushies afterward. They wouldn’t be rushing home.”

When it came time to form their All-Star teams, Creech and Reed prioritized friendships, as well as games and playing styles that complemented each other. 

“It just so happened that the whole team is all females,” said Creech. “We weren’t being exclusive; we determined, first and foremost, who likes to play together. I think you’re going to play your best golf if you’re playing together and having fun.”

That’s not to say these girls aren’t fierce competitors. At Regionals, they earned the No. 3 seed behind the No. 2 seed Creech/Reed-coached All-Star team and ultimately defeated them 6.5-2.5 in the semifinals to advance to the final round. The Tanglewood girls then defeated another Cleveland-based team 5.5-3.5 to punch their ticket to the 17u Championship in New Mexico.

True to the strong friendships that span across both Tanglewood and The Dome All-Star teams, once the girls found out two of the boys were missing their homecoming for the Regional in Louisville, they insisted on making up for it. They had their own mini-homecoming, complete with signs and formal attire.

“That’s the thing about PGA Jr. League, especially at the 17u level,” said Creech. “It creates friendships. It brings them together.”

Whether she’s teaching a group of women simply looking to learn the game together or her standout junior girls, her message about the game is the same.

“Golf has opened so many doors for me,” said Creech. “You have to be pretty strong to be in this male-dominated business. I tell people all of the time, if you’re a female who knows how to play golf, you’re going to get ahead no matter your industry. I try to teach the girls to be confident and have fun. At the end of the day, no one cares how you play. They just want to be on the course with someone fun and enjoyable.”