When Arianna Beverly was six or seven years old, her dad signed her up for First Tee. She liked the little games well enough, but she wasn’t exactly serious about it. Then the world stopped, and golf became everything.
“COVID hit, and all we could do was play golf,” Arianna said. What started as a casual activity gradually became a lifelong passion.
Now a rising senior and member of the First Tee – Triangle community, Arianna just competed at the 2026 First Tee National Championship at Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill — the same course where she recently attended a skills session as part of the PGA TOUR’s Pathway to Progression program. This week, she also stepped into a different kind of spotlight, moderating a conversation with player and golf personality Will Lowery at the championship’s welcome dinner.
A pathway opens
Arianna was invited to join Pathway to Progression at last year’s First Tee National Championship at the University of Notre Dame, where she played a practice round with Kenyatta Ramsey, vice president of player development at the PGA TOUR.
She won a qualifying tournament at Bally’s Golf Links in New York, “a very nice golf course, a different kind of experience,” she said. From there, the program brought her back to familiar ground: Finley Golf Club for sessions with coaches who helped with her swing, offered drills and talked through course management and the more technical aspects of the game. Through the program, she played her first AJGA tournament, a senior showcase in Las Vegas, and competed in a second AJGA event as well.
PURE Insurance Championship and Stewart Cink
If you ask Arianna about her favorite golf memory, there’s no hesitation.
“Playing at Pebble Beach. It was just the best experience of my life,” she said. “When I’m old and gray, I’ll still be reminding myself that I went to Pebble Beach and played with Stewart Cink.”
She competed at the 2025 PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links, where she was paired with the PGA TOUR veteran. The experience left a lasting impression. “He still gives me little bits of advice,” she said. “I learned so much from him about course management. I was just pampered by everyone at that tournament.”
More than a golfer
Off the course, Arianna is vice president of her school’s Black Student Association, a National Honor Society member and a jewelry entrepreneur. She started making earrings during COVID as a creative outlet, inspired by a find on Pinterest and encouraged by her crafty family. As her skills improved, her dad convinced her to turn her hobby into a small business. Her Christmas gingerbread men and cupcake designs have been particularly popular.
Before she heads off to Japan on an upcoming school trip, Arianna is also looking ahead to the next chapter: college golf, ideally at an HBCU, and a degree in marketing.
The impact of First Tee
Through new environments and everything that comes with growing up, one thing has remained constant.
“First Tee has been the steadiest thing in my life,” Arianna said. “That’s something you need when you’re changing schools and meeting new people. I always know I have my friends at First Tee.”
She also credits the organization with something she didn’t expect when she first teed it up as a kid: social confidence.
As she prepares to graduate in 2027, Arianna sees golf not just as a sport but as the throughline of her life — past, present and future. “Through First Tee, I’ve fostered my love for the game. Everything I’ve done in the golf world has been because I found that love through First Tee. It’s going to get me into college, into the next chapter of my life, and I’m going to keep it throughout my adulthood because of what happened when I was six.”
