JTV Sports file photos.
(August 13, 2025 9:12 PM ET) A pair of 2025 high school graduates with golf in their future are this year’s recipients of the Jackson Golf Hall of Fame college scholarships.
Western High School graduate Hayden Kim and Columbia Central’s Logan Bentley have been awarded the $750 scholarships by the Hall of Fame committee.
To be eligible, students must be graduating seniors with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average who have played high school golf. Awards are based on golf accomplishments, future plans, and a short essay on how golf has impacted the student’s life.
Kim will attend Eastern Kentucky University, where he is enrolled in the PGA Golf Management program with an eye on becoming a PGA club professional.
“I am happy to see what golf has done for me,” Kim said in his scholarship essay, “and hope that in my future I can do something for golf through the golf industry.”
Kim was a golf team captain and Interstate 8 academic all-conference honoree all four years and was a member of the National Honor Society at Western. He earned first-team all-conference honors his junior and senior years, and this spring he tied for 10th in the Division 2 regional to help the Panthers qualify for the state meet.
Kim said the challenge presented by golf to always get better has given him “a drive that I had never felt before.”
“Not only have I developed as a golfer, but as a person as well,” he said. “The game of golf has not only taught me dedication, but also communication, respect, honesty and grit, which are all important traits in life.”
After an outstanding career at Columbia Central, Bentley will continue playing at the NCAA Division I level at Oakland University, which has won back-to-back Horizon League championships to qualify for the NCAA Regional.
The last three years, Bentley has been the regional champion and finished runner-up in the Division 4 state meet. She led Columbia Central to third-place state finishes the last two seasons. A three-time all-state pick, she capped her career last fall by being named to the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Super Team, the state’s top nine players regardless of division.
Bentley stands sixth on this year’s Golf Association of Michigan girls player of the year points list, highlighted by reaching the quarterfinals of the Michigan Girls Junior Championship.
With all her success, Bentley points to the inevitable failures of golf as her motivation.
“It proved to me time and time again that if you truly want to accomplish something, you can do it,” she wrote in her scholarship essay. “Even after setbacks, you are much closer to your goal than you have ever been.”
She said that was never more true than when she played in the Epson Tour (LPGA development tour) event in Battle Creek in 2023 on a sponsor’s exemption and finished last.
“It was a couple of rough rounds of golf,” she said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for how it all took place. I learned so many things through that experience, and it was a huge stepping stone, for both the development of my game and my character as a person.”
