Emersen Motl Named Charlie Burkart Scholarship Recipient-
The Iowa PGA Foundation Charlie Burkart Scholarship committee has selected Emersen Motl of Ames, Iowa as the 2025 Charlie Burkart Scholarship recipient.
This fall, Motl will be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to major in Professional Golf Management (PGM). PGM will allow her to utilize the skills that she has learned in her own career in golf alongside her love of golf and create a career that will allow her to positively impact others in golf.
When asked on what this means to win, Motl responded with, “I am extremely honored to receive the Charlie Burkart Scholarship. Golf is my passion and I am very grateful for the opportunity to make a career in the industry by attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study PGA Golf Management. This financial aid will help support my dream of contributing to the game of golf and advancing it in any way that I can! I am so grateful to the Iowa PGA for their amazing work and dedication to the game of golf.”
Following Motl’s education, she plans to follow her dreams of building a career in the golf industry and become a role model for girls who golf everywhere. When Motl was younger she went into the pro shop and wondered why she only saw best make stars were featured, but no females. Golf means the world to her and is thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the PGM program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
While she’s at PGM program she will be pursuing PGA membership, which is an opportunity I am so thankful for. Golf is her passion, and she wants to contribute to its growth in any way that she can. At the time, she didn’t know that moment was a turning point for her. It was when she began to dream of having a future in the golf industry. Now, years later, she has the opportunity to do so through the PGA Golf Management Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
When she was in middle school, she was a member of a PGA Jr. League team that went on to regionals
after becoming champions of our Iowa Section. She was the only girl on her team. Motl remembers being nervous before our first match. She was worried that her teammates wouldn’t think that she wasn’t good enough or strong enough to play with them. Shortly after that, she became a volunteer youth coach at her home course. In the years since, she has continued to spend her summers teaching the game she’s passionate about to young kids.
She wants to be a role model for girls everywhere, to show them that they can do anything they put their mind to, even if it hasn’t been done before.
Motl began her golf career at the age of nine years old, she didn’t know anything about it. Her parents weren’t golfers, and she didn’t have any close relatives that were avid players. She sort of fell into the game by accident when she accompanied a neighbor to golf camp. She had a great time that first summer, and she didn’t want to stop.
When Motl began to play competitively, she faced many of the challenges that all golfers do. And from each challenge, she learned something new. Golf has taught her what it means to persevere. Accepting bad days and moving on is hard. Really hard. And it doesn’t just happen in golf, it happens in life. Golf has helped to teach her how to bounce back. When the Iowa Junior Amateur, her first tournament of last summer, arrived, she was fueled with momentum from a successful high school season and was ready to keep the scores she was shooting going into the summer season. After placing in the top-ten in that tournament, she was really proud of where her game was at and how all of my work had paid off. Then, when her next few tournaments came, her game shifted dramatically and she found herself in a huge slump. She had stopped breaking 80, and it felt like all the work she was doing was taking me nowhere. Then, a sudden swing breakthrough reignited her light. Motl learned at that moment how important it is to trust your practice and push through when things are difficult. Golf has taught her resilience, patience, respect, focus, and so many more important life lessons. Golf has also introduced her to many amazing people. She has built relationships with friends, mentors, and coaches. These people have instilled a type of confidence and belief in her that they wouldn’t have found on her own. PGA Jr. Tour events have brought some of her favorite memories and opportunities to grow her game.
Seth Svejda, Iowa PGA Member and instructor/club fitter at Ken Schall Golf Performance Studio, “A few weeks ago, I found out that Emersen had committed to the University of Nebraska Lincoln to enroll in the PGM program and work towards PGA membership. While I’ve had students go to college before, she will be the first student I’ve taught that has decided to work towards membership and influence the next generation of golfers. Again, I cannot overstate how proud I am of this because she is absolutely perfect for this field. Her high on life and always positive personality is infectious as soon as she walks in a room. You can tell she is passionate about the game, and it’s people like that who are able to portray how great of a game we are blessed to play. In 4-5 years’ time, she is the kind of person I would hope to have the opportunity to bring on board our team at the Performance Studio.”
The Iowa PGA Congratulates Emersen Motl as our 2025 Charlie Burkart Scholarship recipient.
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