The Sunshine Coast’s golfing ‘power couple’ will soon tee off in two major campaigns set to drive their industry profiles higher on the world stage.
Peregian Golf Club pro and coach Katelyn Must has secured a place in the Australian team for the Women’s PGA Cup in New Mexico in the United States next month.
And cheering on from the sidelines will be her Zimbabwean-born partner and professional photographer Candice High, who has just been commissioned by leading US golf equipment company Titleist to produce marketing content for a new product line.
The second Women’s PGA Cup – a team competition for female Professional Golfers’ Association professionals from around the globe – hits off at Twin Warriors Golf Club, Santa Ana Pueblo, from October 26-29.
Anne-Marie Knight, a Dual Vocational Award winner, will captain the Australian team that also includes Paige Stubbs (Castle Hill Country Club), Nicole Martino (Western Australia Golf Club) and Angela Tatt (Ballarat Golf Club) against Canada, Great Britain and Ireland, South Africa, Sweden and the United States.
The 54-hole, stroke-play tournament aims to raise the profile of women in golf. To be eligible to represent their country, each player must be engaged in a full-time position in the industry.
Speaking to Sunshine Coast News on a lay day from The Tweed Coast Open – a pre-qualifier for the NSW Open, Katelyn was excitedly looking forward to the Women’s Cup following her ‘surprise” selection.
“It’s nice to play as a team,” said Katelyn, who got into the swing of golf from the age of 12, after previous schoolgirl success in tennis, swimming and karate.
“It was never really on the radar or on the goal list.
“It’s amazing. I was just talking to someone the other day and they were like ‘Is that one of your biggest achievements?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, it is’.
“We got all our uniforms just last week and met all the other teammates.”
Katelyn is quietly confident of success, with all members having played the game at a high level.
She is the sure and dependable tortoise of the team.
“I am a very steady player,” she said.
“I will be able to shoot the odd low score but no matter what, I’d probably be like a good safety that will then give the other teammates the chance to be more aggressive at the hole. That way, we can throw some lower numbers in there.”
To prepare for the fierce competition ahead, Katelyn will play a two-day PGA Championships event on October 9-10 at Victoria’s historic Yarra Yarra Golf Course.
Candice also will be heading south to complete the Titleist job and the Signature Golf Tours’ Sandbelt Trophy Event before the pair fly out to America on October 15 for a month.
Titleist’s Melbourne office contacted her in August after seeing her photography work online.
Candice flew to Tasmania this week to capture footage for a global Titliest campaign and will be joined by two PGA Associates and two elite amateurs affiliated with Titliest from Tasmania.
The project will showcase the global leadership of Titliest and the No.1 ball in golf.
Candice will capture the players playing 18 holes with the new Prov 1 and Prov 1x golf balls.
“I’m very excited to work with Titliest as it’s one of the biggest brands in the golf industry and I love their products,” she said.
While in the US, the dynamic duo will join other golfers, photographers and creatives they’ve met through social media to play “some epic courses” and grow Candice’s portfolio of work.
From photos on www.candicehigh.com and candicehighphotography.com, it’s obvious she shares Katelyn’s enthusiasm for golf, the great outdoors and surfing.
Candice said work for both of them never felt like a chore: “It’s more like a passion and love.”
The two met through a mutual friend in early 2012 at Horton Park Golf Course, whose former fairways and greens now are home to the emerging Maroochydore City Centre.
Candice took up an offer of a practice session with Katelyn – on a day when the rain was bucketing down.
Katelyn was impressed at her new acquaintance’s “mildly crazy” determination to go through with the commitment.
“We instantly became friends and began dating later that year,” Candice said.
“With a shared passion and love of golf, nothing could keep us apart.
“It will be 10 years this October. It’s pretty cool.”
KATELYN’S STORY
Golf, as a sport, suited Katelyn to a T.
“I was always a bigger girl so running and things like that probably wasn’t something we saw that I would be great at long term. I just loved golf,” she said.
“I used to put a bucket out in the back yard. We lived on acreage out at Glenview.
“I had a neighbour who gave me a bag of golf balls and I used to just chip around the yard for hours in my own little world.
“I always loved the fact that, no matter how hard you practised, it was always down to you.
“When you’re playing on the golf course, it’s you and the golf course. Your goal is to shoot the lowest score you can.
“If someone plays a better score, well they played better against the course than you did. It’s not them beating you.”
Katelyn has competed on multiple tours since 2010. Among her proudest moments are:
- winning the 2016 Steel Scene Peel Pro-Am in Western Australia, against a tough male contingent, and the Yamba Pro-Am soon after
- being presented with the Masters jacket and trophy by Greg Norman’s mum Toini after victory in The Invincibles 2007 IGA Sunshine Coast Junior Masters Championship
- playing in the 2017 European Masters in Germany.
A grandfather was a huge influence on her choosing golf as a career and remains a staunch supporter.
“I was very lucky that my Pop used to go on the computer and he’d be like ‘Katie, you can play this’ and ‘Katie, you can play that’.
“I probably wasn’t at the level where I could win a gross (off the stick), but he took me to the Australian Junior in South Australia and we flew over there together in 2014.
“It was that whole experience of playing different golf courses, jumping on a plane, staying with my Pop in a hotel getting lost by the taxi driver going to the wrong golf course.
“He’s 88 and he still loves watching me play. Golf is on TV now, so he’s always watching and telling me about different players.
“There’s a bit of that addiction when you start winning and you get to play these incredible golf courses. There’s just something about it.”
CANDICE’S STORY
Candice moved to Australia from Zimbabwe in 2008 with her family, who started farming on the border of Queensland and NSW on a sponsorship visa.
While still studying at Griffith University on the Gold Coast, she took up a photojournalist role in advertising with Quest Newspapers in Brisbane and stayed just under two years.
But photography then took a back seat as golf consumed her heart.
“I played hockey at a high level, and I was actually over here on a scholarship for hockey,” Candice said.
“Then I got injured and I started playing golf and that’s how I met Katie.”
They drove to Perth together as partners for an elite 10-week program with two golf professionals to train and learn more about their game. But the universe had different ideas.
“Five days a week, you’re training eight hours and playing golf, so it was pretty hectic. We did that for three years together in amongst playing competitively.
“I played amateur golf and she played professional golf and then we kind of stayed, I guess, because we made some friends and we liked Perth. We both worked at Wembley Golf Course and then Royal Fremantle Golf Course.
“I got back into my photography at my last job in 2017, ’18 and ’19 at Royal Fremantle Golf Club. I was doing drone footage and photography work for them.”
They returned to the Sunshine Coast together: both missing family and Katelyn needing to be more accessible to opportunities arising in the United States.
Candice decided to combine two loves and put her photography skills to use through golf.
“I specialise in golf tournaments, golf events, golf course photography. I also do coastal photography – that’s what I did during Covid.
“Covid gave me space to explore and create without any pressure or any other things getting in the way, which was awesome. I did so much surf photography.
“Katie is more the surfer. I just like the little baby waves at Noosa. I’m happy to photograph and video when she’s surfing but golf is basically our shared love, that’s for sure.”
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