DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS NOMINATION INFORMATION

The Iowa women?s golfer and Academic All-Big Ten selection has transformed her love of golf into a business that is attracting some big-time clients. PHOTO: Kaitlyn Hanna Kaitlyn Hanna poses in front of her first custom tee art creation, which is located in her high school golf team's facility. Kaitlyn Hanna had an adventurous start to her junior year. Hanna, a member of the Iowa women?s golf team, also runs a custom golf tee art company and had just received an order request from the NFL?s Indianapolis Colts. ?That?s not a normal email you get on the first day of school?or anytime,? says Hanna, a sport and recreation management major. ?It?s been a cool experience and fun to get some big names, and I?m really enjoying running my business.? Hanna?s business, TeeArt Creations, produces personalized golf art using thousands of golf tees. TeeArt has been featured in Golfweek and has a client list including the United States Golf Association and some of the most well-known golf courses in the world. Giving back through an entrepreneurial spirit Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, Hanna was surrounded by the sport. Her dad, Terry, used to run a professional golf tournament in Omaha?and his love for the game rubbed off on his daughter. At Westside High School, Hanna became an accomplished student-athlete and was named 2021 Nebraska Golf Association Girls Amateur Golfer of the Year. ?I was fortunate to have this platform of playing all these different courses and meeting so many players,? says Hanna. ?I decided I should do something that would bring the girls golf community together and help grow the game, so I created the Warrior Girls Golf Camp, and we had over 300 girls attend the first year.? At Iowa, Hanna?s entrepreneurial drive led her to join the NCAA x Meta NIL Empower Program, which helps female student-athletes leverage their name, image, and likeness to enhance their personal brand. That led to a sponsorship opportunity from Superberries, a division of Westin Foods, and more entrepreneurial thinking. Building personalized golf art for major brands When Hanna?s high school was building an indoor golf facility?the first of its kind at a public high school?a blank wall in the facility got her thinking about displaying something unique. ?I talked to my parents, and we put our heads together and came up with the concept of building custom golf tee art using different colored golf tees,? says Hanna. ?We thought it would be cool to create a big W for Westside High that covers the whole wall, and we?ll fill it with golf tees. It took thousands of golf tees and a lot of trial and error. After 30 hours of work, it turned out great.? Since then, TeeArt has created personalized golf art for a number of clients and organizations, including: The United States Golf Association (USGA), in which Hanna built a six-foot replica of a USGA tee marker using 8,058 golf tees. PGA West, a nine-course resort in La Quinta, California. For them, she created a five-foot course logo using 3,775 golf tees. Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, Nebraska, a top 10 golf course in the world, for which she erected a replica course flag using 4,872 golf tees. The Tree Farm Golf Course in Batesburg, South Carolina. For them, she built a five-foot replica of the course logo using 10,643 tees. The Indianapolis Colts, in which she created a seven-foot-tall logo using 11,156 blue and white golf tees set at three different heights. She also created trophies for the 2024 Diane Thomason Invitational , Iowa?s home tournament that was won by Hanna and her teammates. Her next project is for GrayBull Club in Maxwell, Nebraska?and she?s working on that in between classes and Iowa women?s golf tournaments. ?I?m proof that you can take anything you love to do and turn it into something that?s bigger than yourself,? says Hanna. ?I love golf, and I love being creative, so merging the two and creating something I?m really passionate about has been very rewarding.? PHOTOS: Kaitlyn Hanna let slideIndex = 1; showSlides(slideIndex); function plusSlides(n) { showSlides(slideIndex += n); } function currentSlide(n) { showSlides(slideIndex = n); } function showSlides(n) { let i; let slides = document.getElementsByClassName("slides"); let dots = document.getElementsByClassName("demo"); let captionText = document.getElementById("caption"); if (n > slides.length) {slideIndex = 1} if (n < 1) {slideIndex = slides.length} for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { slides[i].style.display = "none"; } for (i = 0; i < dots.length; i++) { dots[i].className = dots[i].className.replace(" active", ""); } slides[slideIndex-1].style.display = "block"; dots[slideIndex-1].className += " active"; captionText.innerHTML = dots[slideIndex-1].alt; }