Palmer teen wins women's state amateur championship, ready for chance to play golf at the college level

In July, Keira DeLand earned the Alaska State Amateur match play women’s golf tournament. But DeLand, a Palmer teen competing against a cast of older talent, had her sights set on another trophy.

The Alaska State Amateur women’s stroke play championship.

Thanks to a very strong first day and solid second day, DeLand enjoyed the victory. DeLand shot a 76 and an 82 at Moose Run Golf Course Aug. 3-4 en route to her title.

“It was definitely a goal of mine,” DeLand said as she took a break from practicing at Palmer Golf Course on a recent afternoon.

DeLand finished third in 2023.

“I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to last year. This year I really wanted to win,” she said.

DeLand shot the 76 on the Moose Run hill course, and followed with the 82 on the creek course.

“I knew I had to hang in there. I had a seven-shot lead going into the second day,” DeLand said. “I had to go out there, play my game and stay with it.”

The 2024 summer golf season of titles is an unquestioned career highlight for DeLand, who followed her family’s love for the sport and started swinging the clubs about a decade ago.

“Golf is pretty much my thing,” she said.

And DeLand has secured an opportunity to make sure golf continues to be her thing. DeLand, who graduated from Mat-Su Career and Technical High School in May, has earned the chance to play the sport at the next level. DeLand has committed to Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and will be a part of the Flames women’s Division II golf squad for the 2024-25 season.

“I’m so excited for the team part of it, just to play golf all year-round,” she said. “I’m so excited to be playing all year, playing with girls my age. I have a friend in Anchorage. She’s also a Division II golfer. We’re the only girls our age (playing) in the state.”

DeLand said she’s looking forward to the team environment. She’s never been on a golf team before.

DeLand started swinging a club about 10 years ago and participated in junior clinics in middle school. She said she started to become more serious about the sport and her future on the course in high school.

“When I heard there are so many opportunities to play in college, that really interested me and that was something I wanted to pursue,” she said.

DeLand said she began to explore some of those opportunities as a sophomore in high school.

“I knew I wanted to go to school somewhere in the south,” DeLand said, with the hope to play year-round.

She went through the entire recruiting process, had an online athletic profile and competed in a tournament in Las Vegas with the hope of getting recruited. But it was an Instagram message that connected DeLand with the Lee coaching staff.

“I decided to go out on a limb,” she said. “I connected with the coach and it worked out.”

As a teen playing in Alaska, DeLand’s season is about five months long.

“I’ve played all of the way in October in the snow before,” she said. “In the winters you find somewhere like a simulator. Just keep swinging during the winter.”

During the summer months, DeLand said she plays basically every day.

“I always either go play nine (holes) or 18,” she said. “My uncle, we play a lot together, My friends play too. Tournament season I feel like I have a tournament every weekend.”

DeLand said she’s looking forward to have the chance to be on the course more and continue to work on her game,

“I would like to be longer, more distance. Short game is something that always needs work. I feel like my short game will get better once I get down there,” she said.

DeLand said she’s not quite sure where life will take her after her four years in college.

“It will always be a part of my life I think. I always want it to be a part of my life,” DeLand said of golf. “I don’t have any goals to go play pro or anything, but I’m excited to go down and play in college, and have those four years.”

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.