One of Wellington’s young up-and-coming athletes is nine-year-old Sloane Steffee, a genuine multi-sport athlete. Steffee is a promising equestrian rider who is also a talented golfer. She has also enjoyed playing baseball, tennis and soccer. But, right now, Steffee is focused on hitting golf balls and riding horses.
Her next competitive endeavor is a golf competition. On Saturday, Aug. 16, Steffee will be participating in the sub-regional qualifier for the 12th Drive, Chip and Putt national competition, which is sponsored by the USGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament. This competition, which is free to enter, aims to provide a welcoming environment for youth to participate in golf and focus on the game’s three fundamental skills — driving, chipping and putting.
On Aug. 16, Steffee will be at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens to compete in the sub-regional qualifier. To qualify, she earned a spot by playing well enough at the Drive, Chip and Putt local qualifier at the Sandhill Crane Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens on Tuesday, July 15. She finished in third place in the 7-to-9-year-old age group for girls.
If Steffee plays well enough at BallenIsles, she will then advance to the next stage of the competition, which will be one of the 10 regional qualifiers. The nearest regional qualifier will be at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach on Saturday, Sept. 6. The top performers, boys and girls, in each of the four age groups at the 10 regional qualifiers will advance to the national finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition, which will held Sunday, April 5, 2026, at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
As for Steffee’s equestrian career, she’s a show jumper and rides a horse by the name of James Blonde. Her interest in horses is not a surprise, since her parents — Sean and Livia — are both horse trainers.
According to Sean, last year, the family moved from New Orleans to Wellington so that they would be geographically closer to show jumping events.
“We moved to Wellington to build a hunter/jumper business,” Sean said. “Wellington is ‘Mecca’ for our industry.”
Throughout the year, when not competing in Wellington, the Steffee family is often on the road to places like Houston, Texas; Lexington, Kentucky; Gulfport, Mississippi; Tryon, North Carolina; and Ocala, Florida, where Sloane competes in jumper events.
“Sloane has won jumping events in Houston, Gulfport and Tryon,” Sean noted.
Being based in Florida is great for both Sloane’s competitive show jumping career and her promising golf career, where she is often spotted working on her short game at the Village Golf Club in Royal Palm Beach or the Okeeheelee Golf Course.
