Cagayan de Oro’s teen golf phenom, Kiara Therese Zaldivar Montebon, will be heading to the United States next month to attend Texas A&M International University on a full golf scholarship. She will join the talent-laden Dustdevils Women’s Golf Team as a student-athlete. Kiara recently graduated from Abba’s Orchard School in Pualas, Bukidnon.
Kiara actually received scholarship offers but eventually chose Texas A&M International. She is shown below signing her collegiate contract late last year. She will start her NCAA division 2 golf in the Lone Star Conference late this year. SOURCE
Earlier this year, 18-year-old Kiara clinched the girls’ Class A title in the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines (JGFP) Mindanao Open at Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club in Cagayan de Oro. Additionally, she won the 2024 JGFP National Interschool Finals Senior High School Girls’ division.
Her exceptional golf skills have taken her to international tournaments, where she has represented the Philippines in multiple editions of the IMG Junior World Championships in San Diego, during the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. Notably, she achieved a Top 10 finish in the 2021 US Kids Teen World Championships at Pinehurst.
photos by Ethel Zaldivar
