Medina golfer competing against nation's best

Melanie Green is already making a name for herself on the golf course. 

Melanie Green (@melanie16020895) from Medina finished first in the WNY Jr. PGA championship to earn a spot in the National Girls Jr. PGA tournament in Kentucky next week. She knows she has a long way to go but she's setting the bar high @WKBW pic.twitter.com/A9m7akaMCf

— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) July 4, 2018

The soon to be junior at Medina High School is heading to Lexington, Kentucky for the Jr. PGA Championship on July 9. A week later, she'll be heading to California for the USGA Junior Championships. 

"Everything is just falling in place," Green said at her home course, Shelridge Country Club in Medina. "You put in the work and it just kind of comes your way. When you fall in love with a practice area or the driving range or the putting green specifically, it helps."

Green has already accomplished a lot as an amateur golfer -- winning a New York State title and plenty of different tournaments and qualifiers. But she's hoping to one day be considered one of the greatest to ever play. 

"I want to be the best, like ever," Green said with a smile. "I want to be beyond Annika [Sörenstam]. I want to be better than Jack [Nicklaus]. I want to beat all of his records. I want to beat everything. I just want to set everything as high as I possibly can."

Green has grown up with the game of golf but really started taking it seriously a few years ago. 

"The things that I thought of when I was 10 are nothing like what I dream of now, it's not even close." 

She's not sure what her future has in store but knows with a little hard work and training, she'll be setting herself up for success. 

"I still have to learn a lot," Green said. "The most important club in your bag is your 15th club and that's the six inches between your brain. That is something that's still developing until I'm still in college, out on tour, I mean that is something that will always grow."