Local Aubrey resident Emery Brown earned the first win of her young golf career as one half of the winning duo at the Ronny Gamers Spring Match on May 3.
Emery and her teammate Valentina Vilar finished first overall out of 16 teams in the 10-14 age division with a combined score of 36.
“It felt amazing because it’s my first tournament win, and I was really surprised that we won,” Emery said. “I don’t even know what place I thought we’d get, but it just felt good—I don’t really know how to put it into words. It was just so exciting, and I was overjoyed and grateful that we won.”
Emery got her start in golf a couple years ago after being inspired to take up the sport by her dad, Matt Brown, who is also an avid golfer.
“She just started hitting balls with me in our pasture, and then we’d go to the driving range,” Matt said. “Then she started taking some group lessons and started getting more into it about a year ago.”
Emery’s skills continued to improve, and she eventually began competing in junior golf tournaments, with the 2026 Ronny Gamers Spring Match being her fifth time competing in an organized event.
“My first ‘Drive, Chip and Putt’ was not the best if I’m being honest, but my second one was a lot better,” she said. “I doubled my score and got better from there, and my first two Ronny Golf tournaments were really good.”
The Ronny Gamers Match places the competitors into random pairs and follows the best ball scoring format, where each player plays their own ball and the lowest score between the team members is counted as the team’s score for the hole.
Emery was paired with Vilar for the second time, and she said the duo's familiarity helped them have a successful performance.
“It was really nice having someone I knew because we know how each of us plays, and we were able to rely on each other and have conversations, cheer each other up and help each other throughout the course,” she said.
She added that they knew they were playing well when they were halfway through the course.
“When we got to hole four or five, I was like, ‘We might actually have a shot at winning this,’ because we both started getting used to the course and hitting the shots we wanted to,” she said.
The duo finished 6 over par on the 10-hole course with a final score of 36.
Even with the excitement of her first tournament win, Emery made sure to share her appreciation and thanked her Ronny coach Hanna Dickens, Manager of the Golf Park Programming, and her dad for their support and advice.
Matt, who has been Emery’s main coach, said he was overjoyed when he received the news of the girls’ win.
“I didn’t get to go to this one because we had church service, so Mom and Grandma took her, and I was getting updates all morning, but [them winning] was awesome,' he said. “… They worked really well together, and she’s learning how to stay focused and how not to beat herself up when she makes a bad shot because she’s going to, and I just love watching her compete.”
He also shared his belief that Emery has a bright future ahead of her in the sport of golf.
“Yesterday after school she was texting, ‘Ready to go to the driving range,’” he said. 'It's in her heart, and she wants to continue getting better.”
