By Mike Bailey
McKayla Holmes is only 24 years old, but already she’s an inspiration to others in golf, especially women. Whether as a clubfitter, manager, mentor to young women or helping other women get comfortable on the golf course, Holmes has a passion about the game and the people who play it.
PXG’s McKayla Holmes has found her fit in the golf world with passion, perseverance and personality
Sometimes the most important thing you can do in life is simply answer the call. McKayla Holmes is glad she did.
It was just a couple of years or so ago, and Holmes was fresh out of college, trying to figure out what to do in life. One day, she had just gotten out of the shower when she noticed she had a call from a number with a 480 area code. In fact, she accidentally called the number back, then hung up. But then the phone rang again. It was the same number.
“I had a gut feeling I should answer it,” Holmes says. So she did.
It turns out that the person on the other end was a recruiter from PXG. He had seen Holmes’ resume on LinkedIn, and the folks at PXG were looking to hire sales associates for a new store in Oakbrook, Ill., in the Chicago area, not too far from Holmes’ hometown of Shorewood. A recent graduate of Benedictine University in Naperville where she also played on the golf team, Holmes wound up applying and joining the PXG team, and she’s been on fast track ever since. Now, at just 24 years old, she’s the retail manager at PXG in Houston, but in between and onward, she’s been part of pioneering movement among women in clubfitting, and is making a difference already in golf, especially when it comes to women’s participation in it.
But the first thing you need to know about Holmes is that she’s passionate about everything she does — whether it’s playing golf, helping others enjoy the game through better equipment and better fit clubs, or mentoring young women to set them up for success, no matter what they wind up doing in life. This enthusiasm and values were instilled in her growing up, and an unfortunate accident when she was in high school has made her appreciate just about everything in life.
‘It never feels like work’
The youngest of two children — she has an older brother who’s a successful securities engineer — Holmes enjoyed a childhood where the family ate meals together, and the parents supported their children’s hopes and dreams.
Oddly enough, her parents really didn’t play golf, but when she made the decision as a youngster to give it a try, they found a set of Top-Flite irons on Craig’s List for $60, and she was off and running. A few lessons and the next thing you know, she was playing junior golf and on her high school team, playing well and looking forward to college.
Then, during her senior year, she had a car accident, hit by a truck when she was at a stop sign. She suffered back injuries that still affect her today. With rehab and cortisone shots, she tried to play, but it was difficult. But by her senior year in college, she managed to play in her team’s conference tournament. Though Holmes — who has a beautiful swing with flawless tempo — finished 12th in a field of 48, the most important part of playing was finishing all three rounds, she says. She was also consistent, with each round varying no more than two strokes.
“I might not have scored the best, but to have that consistency, and to know I fought and didn’t give up is what I’m most proud of,” Holmes says.
She graduated in 2021 with a degree in finance with a concentration in business analytics with a minor in Spanish for good measure. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in life, except she knew she loved golf.
“I knew I had to be part of golf for the rest of my life. That’s where my passion was,” Holmes says. “My dad always said if you find your passion, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
So she worked at a local golf course out of college and also served as an assistant coach for the girls golf team at her old high school. The latter gave her much satisfaction, and she still keeps in touch with some of the girls from her hometown, always willing to lend a little advice or just hang out when she’s back home. She also worked on getting her certifications from the Titleist Performance Institute.
Then came the call.
After a short while as a retail associate, PXG started to train her as a clubfitter, which means putting clients on a Trackman launch monitor and analyzing all the numbers as they hit different clubs with different shafts, trying to dial up the right combinations. Holmes loves golf, but she might love looking at numbers just as much. The combination of the two was right in her wheelhouse.
“All that data flying around,” Holmes says, “I could just look at numbers all day.”
Texas bound
As it turned out, it wouldn’t be long until Holmes had an opportunity to transfer to a new PXG store in Houston, an opportunity she couldn’t pass up, given the 12-month golf season and the opportunity to explore a new part of the country for her. She moved there in April of 2022, and was just one of three female clubfitters in the company, and only just one of a handful of women clubfitters throughout the United States.
This is significant on a couple of fronts. PXG has been looking to recruit more women anyway, but clubfitting hasn’t been an area that women golfers gravitate to, for whatever reason. And secondly, golf is already intimidating enough for women entering the game. Women golfers might quite naturally feel more comfortable with a female clubfitter.
“As a female fitter you always feel a lot of pressure,” says Alexandria Oren, Holmes’ friend, who also fit for PXG, but in Atlanta. Oren said of Holmes: “The way she fits, she pays attention to every detail of the club she’s giving you and most importantly she’s always listening to the customer. She shows no fear and is so confident. You can tell she fits with passion and really cares about her customers.”
Of course, open-minded men players might want to consider going through a fitting with a woman as well. In Holmes’ case — though clubfitting isn’t the main part of her job anymore — she’s as thorough as they get, leaving no stone unturned.
Roger Kendrick Jr., an auto mechanic from Houston, remembers the first time Holmes worked with him on a fitting.
“She let me take my time to get warmed up, and just talked the whole time as if we were old friends,” recalled Kendrick. “This made me feel so at ease, and I felt as if I was the most important person in the world.
“The attentiveness in which she gave to this fitting was beyond my expectation. At one point I remember her crouching behind the target line watching my swing, making adjustments ever so often. We spent about an hour and a half that afternoon. I didn’t know what to expect going in, but afterward I was blown away by her knowledge of the clubfitting process and the professionalism in which she goes about it.”
The bottom line is that Holmes got Kendrick into some clubs that have really helped him improve his game. “I nicknamed her ‘the guru,’” he says. “And I nicknamed my driver and 3-wood after her, ‘McKayla, and McKayla Jr.”
Holmes loves it when players report back that a set of PXG clubs properly fit has elevated their games. “Just being able to inspire confidence in somebody with a piece of equipment is incredible.”
But Holmes has further aspirations of growing the game.
Recently, she became involved with an organization called the Ladies Executive Golf Society (LEGS). Founded in Florida, Holmes currently serves as the Vice President of the Houston chapter, helping to set up both social and golf events, while leveraging her connections at PXG. The idea is to get women professionals from being the tables at charity events to being comfortable on the course, whether it’s at a scramble tournament or an outing with clients.
“What’s been awesome is watching the ladies drop their guard on the golf course, and get them out to giggle and have more fun” says Holmes, noting that the group’s slogan is “play nine and drink wine.”
Having more fun at golf and life is what Holmes is all about.
