“SwingderElla” is moving up to the big league.
Davao City’s golf phenom Alessandra Nagayo has signed with the Kennesaw State women’s golf team, the Owls’ head coach Erin Thorne announced Wednesday.
Nagayo graduated from Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary school earlier this year. She won the Rowville Sports Academy Student-Athlete of the Year award in 2017 and 2018 while earning academic awards at Marshall McLuhan in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
It has been a long glorious journey for Nagayo who started 10 years ago at the Apo Golf and Country Club in Davao City. She moved to Australia on a golf scholarship in 2016 before moving to Canada when her mother former Davao City councilor Rachel Zozobrado-Nagayo was assigned as labor attache by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Nagayo is eligible to compete for the Owls this spring.
“Very excited to announce that I have officially signed to play Division 1 golf and further my academic career at Kennesaw State University! Huge thanks to all my coaches, teammates, friends, and family (especially my mother Rachel and father Danny who helped get to where I am today. Also, thank you so much to Coach Thorne for giving me this opportunity! Can’t wait to move to Georgia this coming January!! #KSUowls,” Nagayo wrote on her Facebook page.
Born in the Philippines and a native of Ontario, Canada, Nagayo plans to major in Psychology at Kennesaw State.
“Coach Thorne is very kind, understanding and a competitive coach,” Nagayo said. “I believe her and the team can help me improve my golf game. Kennesaw State is such a nice campus and the people were very kind,” she said.
Nagayo’s brother, Daniel, is also a junior golf standout .
