Fresh home from a day of pre-K, Katelyn Huber recalls standing with her legs shoulder-width apart, hands down and eyes down. 

Focused in her backyard, Huber glanced ahead at the occupied tee box. The golfer looked up at the course ahead of him. The golfer went back to his tee. Huber swings her head back down, eyeing where a golf ball would be. They both slowly inhale and swing. 

Before moving to Gainesville at age 5, Huber’s family lived on a golf course in Indiana. Her parents tell stories of a young Huber imitating the swings of players who went by their home. 

“That’s when I kind of fell in love with the game,” Huber said. “Every time after school, I get my schoolwork done and then immediately go practice.”

A true freshman from P.K. Yonge who has already claimed a starting spot on the Florida women’s golf team, Huber has been trying to balance life as a rising Gator star and a new student. 

Her next outing will come March 27-29 when the Gators women’s golf team plays at the Clemson Invitational in Sunset, South Carolina.

“It’s definitely been a battle,” Huber said. “There’s been some ups and downs, but overall it’s been great. 

“My teammates, they’ve been super supportive with regards to the school aspect because sometimes that can be a little challenging. But they’re so supportive on and off the golf course. I’m so thankful for each and every one of them.”

Up and down is a perfect way to describe Huber’s season. She opened her collegiate career shooting a 67 (-4) during her first round in Charleston at the Cougar Classic last September. She finished the tournament 8-under, placing fourth. 

One week later at Inverness Intercollegiate, Huber shot 14-over par and finished 21st. 

Over the course of the season, she has also placed fourth, eighth, T9th and 49th at tournaments, the latter of which occurred in the team’s event at the Moon Golf Invitational in Louisville on Feb. 15-17. She finished the event 8-over, but seven of those eight strokes came on two holes during her first round: a quintuple bogey on 13 and a double bogey on 14.

Over the final 40 holes, her scorecard read even. 

That poise has blown away the coaching staff.

“We almost forget she’s a freshman,” assistant coach Ashley Sease said. “She’s fired up about, ‘OK, when are we having this meeting?’ and ‘What do you think about this hole?’ and asking questions and being engaged.

“A lot of times, freshmen will keep to themselves, but she has no problem communicating, helping her teammates, talking about what she thought or a strategy she used for a hole.”

Coach Emily Glaser and Sease praise Huber for her adjustment from junior to college golf. In junior golf, it’s just the player and their parents traveling. There aren’t meetings or team meals or other responsibilities to uphold like one would while playing collegiately. 

“Then you jump to college golf, and now you have four teammates with you,” Sease said.

“So you have this dynamic that it’s not just you now. You have to balance having your teammates with you, and then you’re balancing a high academic career at the University of Florida. You’ve got a rigorous workout schedule. And then you have to have time for yourself outside of your game to have social and whatever hobbies make you happy, and family time. 

“But I’ll tell you, Katelyn came in hot. She was ready to go. She was ready to fire on all cylinders. She was motivated, and she just crushed the transition.”

The next stage of Huber’s transition: win an SEC and national championship.

“During the recruiting process, I was looking at multiple other schools,” Huber said. “But I couldn’t see myself playing in anything other than orange and blue. I knew I was gonna play my hardest and play with passion for the Florida Gators, and I think that’s shown here this season. Just how passionate I am for the Gators and how much I want to help them win.”

There is no ceiling for her, according to Huber’s coaches. For the Gators as a whole, Sease said that each day is an opportunity, and if they can get just 1% better every day, they will accomplish their goal of winning the program’s tenth SEC championship after falling to South Carolina in the final round of the conference tournament last April. 

“Everyone talks about, ‘What’s your goal?’ Obviously, win an SEC title, win a national championship, and at Florida, that’s the standard. That’s what’s expected of you.

“We’re really excited about her. We’re fired up about her and her enthusiasm. She’s a grinder. She’s out here, sun up to sun down, and that’s the culture of our program.”