North East's Keziah Swan latest in family to seek title in Drive, Chip and Putt Championship
North East’s Keziah Swan officially joined her family’s unofficial business this year.
That business? Golf.
Keziah Swan, the youngest of Mike and Stacy Swan’s five homeschooled children, won the girls age 10-11 division during a Sept. 16 regional qualifier for the 2024 Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. That national competition will take place next April 7 at Augusta (Georgia) National Golf Club.
Yes, the same club which will host the Masters later that week.
“It’s so cool,” Keziah Swan said. “It’s amazing that I get to go to Augusta National and see that green grass and walk on the 18th green. I’m really looking forward to it.”
If that scenario sounds familiar to those within Erie County’s golf community, it should.
Keziah Swan was an infant when Lydia Swan, her oldest sister, won the DCP’s girls 10-11 competition in 2015.
Keziah was old enough to remember when Anna Swan, the middle sibling of the quintet, placed fourth in last year’s girls 14-15 bracket at Augusta.
Come next spring, it will be Keziah Swan’s time in a golf spotlight that’s become a way of life in her family.
Lydia and Anna Swan, plus oldest sibling Isaiah Swan, were former PIAA team or individual gold medalists as North East golfers. Anna Swan, a senior for the 2023 Grapepickers, will compete in next week’s Class 2A girls state tournament at State College.
Josiah Swan, who’s in seventh grade, also is a former age group victor for the Great Lakes Junior Golf Tour.
“Golf has been so good to our family,” said Stacy Swan, mother to the Swan siblings. “I know for Keziah that she’s kind of always been the straggler of the bunch. She was just kind of there in her younger years, being dragged to this event and that event. After just watching for so long, I remember she was super excited to play in her first event.”
“To see her finally see some of the fruits of her efforts is really rewarding.”
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Outside advice worked
Keziah Swan’s quest to qualify for the 2024 DCP began July 7. That day, she won the girls 10-11 portion of a local qualifier held at The Country Club of Meadville.
Swan compiled 125 first-place points over the competition’s three disciplines. She also gained a berth for an Aug. 10 subregion qualifier at Nemacolin Woodlands, an elite resort in Farmington that hosted a PGA Tour stop in the mid-2000s.
Swan’s 83 points were second to the 92 for Madison Do of Mars, Pennsylvania. Their totals were high enough to travel to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square for last month’s DCP region qualifier. The suburban Philadelphia course is set to host the 2026 PGA Championship.
Only the age-group victors for that day’s event were guaranteed trips to Augusta. Swan made sure she was its girls 10-11 representative with 115 points, 17 more than Avalise Kim of Alexandria, Virginia.
Stacy Swan toggled between mother and caddie roles for her daughter that weekend. She said she drove to Newtown Square instead of Mike because Keziah said her father makes her more nervous on the course.
Also present during the trip, spiritually if not physically, was Kathy Lynch. The Mercyhurst Prep girls golf coach is a beloved and respected figure for Erie County’s female players.
Stacy Swan said Lynch briefly spoke with Keziah before they departed for Aronimink.
“Kathy asked Keziah if she was nervous,” Stacy Swan said. “Keziah said, ‘Yeah, I’m a little nervous.’ Kathy then said, ‘Oh, that’s a good thing to have those butterflies floating around your belly. The trick is to get your butterflies to fly in formation.’”
Lynch’s advice must have taken, according to Stacy Swan.
“We were walking from the chipping to the driving (legs) when I asked (Keziah) how the butterflies were doing,” she said. “She gave me a look and a ‘Yes, mom! They’re flying in formation!’”
“I knew we were good after that.”
What’s next
It hasn’t been all golf all the time for Keziah Swan. She cited basketball and volleyball as other preferred sports.
Keziah Swan’s volleyball reference probably isn’t a coincidence. Stacy Swan formerly played and Anna Swan, even though she hadn’t formally competed since middle school, is currently on North East’s roster.
Anna Swan chose to play volleyball for the current Grapepickers after she verbally committed as a golf recruit to Oral Roberts University, where Lydia is a current student and women’s golfer for the Tulsa, Oklahoma, program.
“When I get older, I might play volleyball (for North East) like Anna,” Keziah Swan said. “But I really want to stick with golf.”
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Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Youngest Swan sibling is the latest to vie for a national golf title
