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Heads up, Paige Spiranac. Not only is tennis player Rachel Stuhlmann coming for your title as the most popular sports influencer, 20 year-old golfer Katie Sigmond has already surpassed her social media numbers.
Popular golf influencer Katie Sigmond has over 3 million Instagram followers to Spiranac’s 3.7 million, but over on TikTok Sigmond absolutely dwarfs Spiranac’s numbers by a whopping 5.6 million followers.
In fact, Sigmond’s TikTok videos have received an eye-popping 309 MILLION more likes than Spiranac’s.
@katie_sigmond
Unfortunately for Sigmond, she was recently in trouble with the law after pulling a ill-advised golf stunt at the Grand Canyon.
She was charged with three Class B misdemeanors after filming herself hitting a golf ball into the Grand Canyon then throwing her golf club into it for good measure.
The golfer from Costa Mesa was charged after someone recognized her and turned her in – not that she was hiding.
“Do we really need to say, ‘don’t hit golf balls into the Grand Canyon?'” the national park wrote in a social media post of their own.
“On October 26, an individual posted a video to her personal TikTok page showing her hitting a golf club into the canyon near Mather Point.
“Members of the public helped identify the individual’s social media account.”
The charges Sigmond faced carried a $5000 maximum fine and six months in prison, but she ended up paying just a $285 fine – an amount well worth all of the publicity she generated.
Also, with the internet being the internet, Sigmond’s video, which she took down, has repopulated itself on TikTok accounts and on Reddit.
@catchupnews A similar incident took place in 2021, when a Massachusetts comedian also faced charges after hitting biodegradable golf balls into Yellowstone National Park #catchupnews #grandcanyon #golf #grandcanyonnationalpark ♬ The Home Depot Beat – The Home Depot
Katie Sigmond also has a presence on YouTube with a little over 50,000 subscribers. Spiranac, with 310,000 subscribers, at least has her beat there. Sigmond also appears to not be even close to Spiranac when it comes to playing golf.
A spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts confirmed to the Arizona Republic that the Central Violations Bureau received two payments of $155 and $130 from Katie Sigmond on Nov. 15.
Those payments closed her case with no convictions on her record.
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