DENVER, Colo. – A Nebraska native will compete on a new competition show on the Golf Channel, premiering Monday at 8 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. MT.
McKenzie O’Connell, a 2010 graduate of Sidney High School, is a member of “Team Lightning” on the new series called Shotmakers – an innovative new golf competition where precision shot-making meets intense strategy in a fast-paced format.
The show takes place at Topgolf Las Vegas and features nine co-ed teams squaring off in head-to-head competitions that test precision, distance and control, all while facing intense pressure and strategic decision-making.
O’Connell has been competing in golf ever since her mom and dad introduced her to the sport when she was five-years-old. She was a four-time state qualifier for the Red Raiders, finishing sixth individually her freshman year, third her sophomore year and was the Class B runner-up her junior and senior seasons.
Now a golf instructor, model and ambassador for Women With Drive, O’Connell says Shotmakers is the hardest competition she has ever come across.
“It’s like getting up on the first tee every single time you go to approach the ball, approach the situation, so it’s a lot of pressure. It’s very mind-altering in the way that you’re almost overthinking in some situations, just because you are standing over the ball and it’s just one shot, so it’s a lot of pressure.”
The 18 competitors include a former PGA TOUR professional, mini-tour professional golfers, an Olympian, former collegiate athletes, a former World No. 1 World Long Drive competitor, a trick-shot artist, decorated military veterans and champions from the Topgolf Tour.
O’Connell’s teammate on the show is professional golfer and decorated military veteran Chad Pfeifer. She says Shotmakers will be entertaining for golf fans and non-golf fans alike.
“That’s why I love Topgolf, because you can be new to the game, not know much about it and it really gets you involved in it. This show is going to be good for that, because it really shows that golf is a lot fun in a lot of different ways.”
O’Connell currently resides in Denver, Colo. with her boyfriend.
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