Solomon and Hailey Hughes
A marriage made for golf
What started out as a chance meeting between two co-workers has since blossomed into a marriage between two powerhouses in the golf industry. Solomon Hughes and Hailey Estes Hughes met through the American Junior Golf Association.
“Our cubicles were right next to each other once we started full time out of college.” Hailey said. “I would probably credit us dating to the fact that we played so much golf together after work.”
Hailey works for sports marketing company Octagon for whom she manages BMW’s golf platform. This includes the BMW Championship. Solomon is the COO of the Advocates Professional Golf Association, a professional tour for minorities that seeks to make golf more inclusive. Hailey and Solomon married in late 2024, and while they had different pathways to the golf industry, they’ve certainly made an impact since they entered.
“Golf has given me some tremendous memories to not only call Hailey my wife, family and best friend but also to go to the Masters and find other friends,” Solomon said.
Hailey went to Wake Forest for business and enterprise management. In between her junior and senior years, she secured an internship with the AJGA.
“I thought traveling the country sounded like a lot of fun, and I already had that love of the game of golf and was familiar with the AJGA,” Hailey said.
Hailey says she wants to take the lead on a new strategic brand in the golf space where she can manage a team. Solomon wants to see more APGA players with full-time membership on the PGA Tour.
Solomon went to the University of Cincinnati and also studied business. In the summer before graduation, he needed an internship, and one of those options was with the AJGA. Solomon made the final stage of AJGA interviews but had concrete offers elsewhere. He wasn’t sure he wanted to fly to Atlanta for the interview.
“I was kind of like ‘I already have my internship. I don’t need this,’ and was going to pass,” Solomon said. “But it was a free trip to Atlanta so I decided to check it out.”
A year later, both he and Hailey sat next to each other in cubicles, working full time for the AJGA. Solomon started playing golf with Hailey and the two eventually started dating. They earned rapid promotions, each rising to AJGA regional manager.
In 2022, Hailey joined the Georgia PGA section as its foundation manager. She helped grow foundations like HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), a foundation that provides free golf instruction for military veterans.
That same year, Solomon transitioned to Intersport after five years with the AJGA. As director of marketing and development, one of his big responsibilities was growing the John Shippen National Invitational, a tournament named after the man of Black and Native American descent believed to be the first American-born golf professional. The tournament seeks to grow the game in the Black community, and has provided opportunities for players such as Chase Johnson and Sadena Parks to compete on the PGA and LPGA tours.
“It was cool for the namesake but watching players’ dreams come to reality in real life is really cool,” Solomon said.
Named the COO of the APGA in 2025, Solomon considers representation of minorities in golf one of his top priorities. He says the game has done so much for him since he was introduced to it, and knows it can do the same for other people of all backgrounds.
Hailey and Solomon have already accomplished a lot in the golf industry, but they want to do more. Hailey says she wants to take the lead on a new strategic brand in the golf space where she can manage a team. Solomon wants to see more APGA players with full-time membership on the PGA Tour.
Of course, they will help each other out in any way they can.
“I’ve always appreciated that we can be that sounding board for ideas,” Hailey said. “We both approach things from different angles.”
Everett Munez
