The former Alabama native Emma Talley has dealt with hardships of seeing places she loves come to ruins. Talley experienced two major tornadoes and saw how they can be so destructive to her and affect her college experience as well as her hometown.

Talley’s hometown is Princeton, Kentucky growing up, specifically on the 16th hole on the Princeton Golf and Country Club. Growing up so close to the golf course and seeing the course daily it inspired Talley to try it out for herself. Talley enjoyed the individual aspect of golf, she liked having the outcome of her performances be controlled by her. She also liked the idea of putting individual performances together to collectively put together a team. As Talley enjoyed playing golf more she started to envision herself wanting to go pro in her near future.

 

 

Talley continued to work hard and became the number one recruit in the nation coming out of high school. She had taken many visits to schools that checked her boxes and schools that didn't. But then she truly fell in love with Alabama and the family-like coaches and teammates that were there at the University. Talley made her final decision to commit to the University of Alabama, where she would continue her golfing career and work towards her pro dream.

A year before Talley was gearing up to be a part of the Crimson Tide on April 27th, 2011 tragedy hit. A tornado hit Tuscaloosa which left Talley in heartbreak and concern for her future teammates. She ended up calling and checking in on some of the girls making sure they were all okay after hearing about what happened on the news.

Talley saw the hard work on the recent rebuild of the community after the recent tornado. It was something that was very eye opening for Talley to see. Also her love and her compassion for the people who were there to experience it first hand was difficult for her to process. Despite what happened in Tuscaloosa, Talley still had a goal to accomplish.

Talley's golfing career at Alabama was definitely an impressive one. One of her biggest accomplishments was when she was a junior, she had won NCAA championships. She graduated in 2016 and joined the Symetra Tour. She spent a year and a half on the Symetra Tour before earning her LPGA Tour card at the end of the 2017 season. Since then, she's been playing on the LPGA Tour.

However, once again, Talley was left with disbelief on December 23, 2021 when a tornado struck the Princeton Golf and Country Club golf course. Talley struggled with saying goodbye to a course she had come to grow up on and a course she favored the most. When Talley saw the news of her hometown being in shambles by a tornado and remembering her past of seeing what the Tuscaloosa tornado did to others and herself.

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Talley thought that with her platform and accolades and for how well she was known she was able to share important information with thousands. She wanted to be able to help others in a good way and make an impact in others lives.

"I started a GoFundMe with my hometown bank. In the first week, we raised around $150,000 that will go to the Chamber of Commerce and be used to help people whose insurance didn't cover all the damage, people whose insurance isn't helping at all, and people who don't have a way of transportation anymore," said Talley.

She wanted to use the platform the LPGA has given her, and the willingness she has, and the power that social media offers to help put her community back on its feet.

"The least I can do is use my brand to help the community that has always helped me," said Talley.

 

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