TAMPA, Fla. – When Kim Benedict was learning to play golf in Michigan at eight years old, she never foresaw that the game she was growing to love would lead to the opportunity to impact the younger generation of golfers and competing for championships 33 years later.
Benedict is a member of the Florida State Golf Association Executive Committee and an English teacher and coach of the boys’ golf team at Gulf Coast High School in Naples. A University of Michigan graduate, she moved to Florida after college and has been a mainstay in FSGA and USGA competitions for the last 10 years.
Born in Michigan, Benedict was introduced to the game at a young age by her father. He was teaching her mom how to play, with Benedict and her younger brother, Jason, tagging along to the range. They would be hitting a cut-down 7-iron of her dad’s and it was not long before the Benedict kids started to pick up the game.
“As a family of four, we were a natural foursome,” Benedict, now 41 years old, said. “It was never super competitive – it was always just fun with the family.”
A multiple-sport athlete, Benedict played basketball, tennis and soccer growing up, along with golf. She didn’t play any golf tournaments growing up and it wasn’t until eighth grade that Benedict even realized that she was good at golf.
“I looked in the newspaper, and they had the All-Area team listed,” Benedict said. “I said ‘Hey mom and dad, look at what these girls shoot – I’m shooting that now.’”
It was the first time she understood where she stood in comparison to other girls. When Benedict made the move to high school, it was her first time competing in a golf tournament and it proved to be a pivotal time for her golf game.
She remembers as a young high school freshman she measured herself off bogey golf. She was okay with a three-putt or not getting up and down. This mindset quickly changed for Benedict, as she wanted to start being in contention and get better and better.
This mindset change paid off for Benedict as she was a four-year varsity letter winner and named All-State First Team three times in high school before heading to the University of Michigan.
Benedict was a member of the Michigan women’s golf team while she pursed a degree in secondary education. While representing the Wolverines for four years, Benedict was a team captain, captured three individual wins and 14 top-five finishes, along with leading the team to the 2002 NCAA Championship in her senior season.
“College just pushed me in a different way,” Benedict said. “I had to figure out different ways to get better and to challenge myself. I loved that. I even love talking about it now because it was such a cool time in my development.”
When it came to academics at Michigan, Benedict started as a biology major with hopes to do something in sports medicine. She soon realized that may not be the best track for her and pivoted to education.
Education and teaching wasn’t something that she always realized she had an interest in, but she does remember her great teachers in high school and thinking about why they were asking certain questions or why they were doing things a certain way in class.
“I was thinking about teaching when I was sitting in the chair being taught.”
After graduating and finishing her college career, Benedict made the decision to turn professional and moved down to Florida where she took a teaching job while she prepared for LPGA Q-School. When it came time for qualifying though, Benedict felt that her game wasn’t ready for it and she pushed it off.
Eventually, she realized that playing professionally just wasn’t in the cards for her. Benedict decided to focus on her career and went back to school at the University of Florida, where she graduated with two graduate degrees in business.
After a seven-year stint working in the home building industry, she decided she needed a quality of life change and made her way back to the classroom.
“I realized that teaching was really my passion,” Benedict said.
The Michigan native took a job teaching English at Gulf Coast High School in Naples. However, the school was looking to fill an additional role at the time Benedict was hired: the boy’s golf coach. Although Benedict had never thought much about coaching, she figured she could help out. Now more than 11 years later, she remains at the helm of the Sharks boy’s golf team.
“It’s not necessarily about hitting the golf ball all the time,” she said of coaching. “I can help the kids with respect and acting properly. I can have a big impact on the kids on my team.”
When it comes to Benedict’s own golf game, she took a step back from playing competitively after she decided to not pursue professional golf. It turned out the person to get her to revisit competitive golf was a fellow Michigan native: Mary Jane Hiestand.
Benedict was 14 years old when she faced off against Hiestand in a 36-hole club championship match at their home course, Indianwood Golf & Country Club, in Lake Orion. Hiestand won the match that day, 8 and 7.
“She was the best player in the state and here I was competing against her as a 14-year-old. It was really intimidating. I think I spent the first 10 years that I knew her being terrified,” Benedict recalled with a laugh.
The two would continue to face off all the way through Benedict’s college career at Michigan. This included the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship, where Hiestand won in 2002 and Benedict was victorious in 1999, 2001 and 2003.
Unbeknownst to each other, both women made their way down to Naples, Florida. Hiestand moved in 2002 after meeting her husband, Jeff, and Benedict took her first teaching job, shortly after graduating college the same year.
After bumping into each other in Naples, it was Hiestand who suggested that Benedict get back into golf on the competitive amateur scene. Benedict got her amateur status back and made her way back into the competitive golf scene at the 2015 Florida Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
“I’m an athlete, I love the feeling of getting ready for a tournament or feeling nervous coming down the stretch. If it wasn’t for MJ, I wouldn’t have gotten that back.”
The competitive spirit and the want to get better came back in full force for Benedict. She began playing in FSGA championships and soon began qualifying for USGA national championships, finding success in both.
She captured her first FSGA victory in 2021 at the Florida Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. Benedict birdied the final hole to win by one over FSGA Hall of Famer, Meghan Stasi, at Laurel Oak Country Club in Sarasota.
“It was really fun to be in contention, to see my name at the top of the leaderboard and to win a tournament at 39 when most people would think you’re past your prime.”
Even though this isn’t the journey Benedict imagined for herself in golf, she has found a community in the amateur game, especially among the mid-amateurs and it is a community that she loves.
“There is a passion for the game amongst the players. It’s been such a great outlet for me. Golf has held such a special place in my heart and it’s been a wild ride to look back on.”
