DEDHAM, Massachusetts – Last year, Skyler McInerney walked along as a fan to watch LPGA Tour star Amy Yang play in the FM Championship at TPC Boston.
On Wednesday, she’ll play with Yang in the FM Championship pro-am. That would be quite a thrill for anyone, but it will be especially exciting for Skyler, who is only 12 years old.
Yang, 37, is South Korean and so is Skyler’s mother, Min Young. That’s one of the reasons Skyler followed Yang at TPC Boston last year. Another reason is that Yang is one of the top players, having won six LPGA Tour events, including one major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2024 when she was ranked No. 3 in the world, and the season-ending 2023 CME Group Tour Championship.
“I just think she’s a really good role model,” Skyler said, “and she’s really kind.”
Skyler’s parents, Min Young and Eric, own McGolf, a state of the art driving range, practice facility and miniature golf course in Dedham, and they purchased an FM Championship sponsorship that enabled her to play in the pro-am. The family also received tickets and the family business of McGolf will be advertised on a digital scoreboard.
The McInerneys were provided a list of golfers to choose from and they chose to have Skyler play with Yang.
“Skyler really likes watching her,” Eric said. “She was so friendly. After the round, when she finished and walked off the green, she was so kind to have Skyler stand next to her for a photo and she was really, genuinely kind.”
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the young girl playing in the pro-am,” said Patrick Healy, senior director of LPGA Tour properties and FM Championship tournament director.
Healy said he wasn’t sure if Skyler would be the youngest golfer to ever play in the FM Championship pro-am, but she has to be one of the youngest.
“I think what would be cool is if she ends up continuing to enjoy the game,” Healy said, “and engages in the game and becomes successful in the game. How cool that she could look back at the FM Championship as maybe a guiding moment for her.”
“Ultimately, her dream is to play on the LPGA Tour,” Eric said. “So she gets to see up close and personal how they play and their routines and just learning from them and playing with better players, obviously it will motivate her.”
Skyler said playing in the pro-am will be a day she’ll always remember. Will she be nervous playing with Yang?
“A little bit,” Skyler said, “because she’s really good and I might hit a couple of bad shots, but I’m really excited.”
Although she’s only 12, Skyler has already enjoyed a lot of success in golf. Her father began taking her with him on the golf course when she was 2 and she’s developed into quite a golfer. She’s won 10 of the 15 New England PGA Junior events in which she’s played this year even though she competes in the 14-18 age division. Her age division plays only nine-hole events so she competes in the older division to play in 18-hole events.
Skyler also won the Drive, Chip & Putt competition at the local level at Cohasset CC last month and in the sub-regional at TPC Boston on Aug. 11. She’s scheduled to take part in the regional final at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., on Oct. 11. A victory then would send her to the national finals at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday before the 2027 Masters.
Skyler is about to enter the seventh grade at Dedham Country Day School. Although she’s only 5-foot-1 and 95 pounds, Skyler can drive the ball 200 yards.
Skyler grew up at McGolf and so did Eric when his father, Bill, owned it. Bill sold McGolf and a year later Eric and Min Young bought it back 10 years ago. Bill urged Skyler to set a goal of competing in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition and she did.
Eric, a PGA professional who has been a golf instructor for about 30 years, taught Skyler how to play and she works on her game at McGolf and Blue Hill CC in their hometown of Canton.
“As much as golf has always been around her,” Eric said, “I’ve tried to let Skyler develop her own love for the game. She began competing regularly in U.S. Kids Golf events when she was 8, and it became pretty clear early on that she had both ability and a real competitive side.’
At 10 years old, Skyler shot even par for nine holes in a U.S. Kids event and later that year she broke 80 for the first time by shooting 79 at Fall River CC in an 18-hole U.S. Kids tournament.
Skyler’s father will caddie for her in the pro-am. Her mother and sister, Chloe, 7, will follow along.
Eric said Skyler is scheduled to play the first nine holes with Yang and the back nine with another LPGA Tour golfer who hasn’t been announced yet.
For one round during the actual FM tournament, Skyler is scheduled to serve as a standard bearer. So she’ll carry a small portable scoreboard, which is called a standard, for a foursome.
Maybe one day, her name will be on one of those standards.
On the web: FMChampionship.com/
