7-year-old Arizona girl is a world champion for golf

At 7 years old, Beau Ellington of Paradise Valley has a long list of things she likes to do for fun.

“I like to play with my stuffed animals, play with slime, go swimming, go fishing, read, and watch movies,” she said.

But at the top of her list is playing golf, and she demonstrated her skills earlier this month when she became a world champion for golf.

Ellington finished first place in this year’s U.S. Kids World Golf Championship in Pinehurst, North Carolina. But winning was far from easy.

“The first day I didn’t think I was going to win,” she said.

She started out in 17th place and then moved up to 5th place. On the last day of the competition, she placed first.

“I really wanted to win,” she said when asked what kept her motivated. “I wanted to be the world champion.”

Only two other girls from Arizona have won the world championship title. Gracie McGovern, who’s Ellington’s best friend, and Cheyenne Woods, who’s the niece of professional golfer Tiger Woods.

Ellington’s mother, Lauren Ellington, described the experience as surreal.

“She just started playing tournaments a year ago,” she said. “So to think in one year we went from just her first kind of local tournament to the world championship was pretty fun.”

She added Ellington, who has been golfing since she was 2 years old, has put in the work to get where she is.

Ellington practices almost every day at McCormick Ranch and Camelback Country Club. She practices alongside her best friend, Gracie.

Ellington’s final scores after three rounds were 42-32-34 finishing even par. She concluded her acceptance speech with a shout out to fellow golfers like herself: “This one is for all the ‘lefties’ out there!”

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