In March of this year, the Washington Golf Foundation announced that Reese Isings of Puyallup, Wash., and Drake Lai of Sammamish, Wash., had been selected as the recipients of the inaugural Andrew Putnam Scholarship presented by TRUE linkswear.
Introduced in 2026, the annual scholarship – established by the Washington Golf Foundation in partnership with Tacoma native and PGA TOUR player Andrew Putnam – offers financial support to two standout junior golfers who have demonstrated strong character and community engagement in addition to both golf talent and financial need.
“We want to provide opportunity to those who show promise, and we want to assist in their growth as young people and as golfers, in developing character and skills,” Putnam says. “I benefited from an incredible junior golf program when I was growing up, and this scholarship is one way to provide others that same opportunity.”
Reese has definitely been using the scholarship to help her golf game. “Yes, I bought a new driver,” she says. “And the scholarship has allowed me to enter more tournaments.”
Reese (middle) and her teammates at Emerald Ridge High School finished eighth in the 2026 High School State Championship.
So far this summer, she has been able to compete in several Washington Junior Golf Association tournaments, and in August will be traveling with her family to Moscow, Idaho, to compete in the PNGA Junior Girls’ Amateur, which will be held at Vandal Golf Course near the University of Idaho campus.
“I’m really looking forward to that because my grandmother lives there, and we’ll all be staying with her,” she says.
Reese recently completed her sophomore year at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, and this spring the school’s girls’ golf team finished eighth in the state. “We’re really proud of that,” Reese said. “I love my teammates, and to experience it all with them has been so much fun."
Reese carries her golf handicap through the WA Golf Youth on Course program, which allows young golfers age 6-18 to play for just $5 a round at over 95 participating courses throughout Washington and Northern Idaho, plus thousands more nationwide.
The scholarship has also enabled Reese to sign up for training sessions with Golfletica, a golf performance and rehab regimen with gyms at the indoor facility of Evergreen Golf Club, which has a location in Tacoma and in Redmond.
“That has really opened my eyes to what I can do with my golf game,” Reese says. “To have that kind of focused attention on my game is amazing. The Putnam scholarship has opened so many doors.”
She can remember golf being part of her life for as long as she can remember, growing up watching her father play and eventually getting her own clubs at the age of seven.
“Being selected for this scholarship means a lot to me,” Reese said of her honor. “It allows me more opportunities that I wouldn’t have had, which excites me and makes me feel like my goals are more achievable.”
Playing for Emerald Ridge, Reese has found herself making lasting memories with those she sees on the course, whether at the nearby High Cedars Golf Club, Lake Spanaway Golf Course or elsewhere.
“Golf has taught me patience, perseverance, responsibility, determination, and more,” Reese said. “I look forward to extending my learning even more in the future.”
Established in November 2022, the Washington Golf Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that supports a number of programs in the area.
Click here to support the initiatives of the Washington Golf Foundation.
