HARRISON, Ohio — Harrison sophomore Sophia Merrill stood on the driving range during a Friday afternoon practice and smiled before mashing the ball with her tee shot.
“Really fun,” Merrill said.
The 16-year-old doesn’t take practice swings. Sophia doesn’t hesitate on a drive, mid-length shot, a chip or a putt. It’s all the same sequence. The driver is her favorite club.
“She just goes up, takes a look and hits the ball,” Harrison girls golf coach Bryan Carr said.
Sophia is a special education student at Harrison High School. She has had a golf club in her hands since she received an adjustable Franklin driver for her first birthday. Two years later, she practiced her swing on carpet.
Later, Sophia and her father, Jerry, would putt and chip at nearby Circling Hills Golf Course illuminated by truck lights.
"We just live up the hill here so it’s nothing just to come down (to the course)," Jerry said. "I would say, 'Soph, do you want to go putt balls? She’s like ‘Oh yeah, let’s go, dad.’ Let’s go.’ It’s what she likes to do."
Sophia doesn’t watch much TV, but she’s been known to fall asleep watching the Golf Channel.
“You think of Sophia, you think of golf,” Jerry said. “It’s just great. She just loves it.”
Golf has always been there for Sophia, who has persevered through cognitive and physical challenges. She had heart surgery as an infant and used a feeding tube as a toddler.
Now, as a high school golfer, Sophia has coped with congenital heart disease and epilepsy among other health conditions. She will wear a pacemaker for the rest of her life.
“She’s a fighter,” Jerry said. “That’s it. But she’s happy. And she wouldn’t know any difference if something was wrong. She just keeps going.”
Nothing is in Sophia's way on the course. The Ohio High School Athletic Association granted Sophia a waiver so one of two Harrison student council members can help her keep score and stay focused during the varsity match. It means everything to Sophia and her family.
“The game of golf I think has given her confidence,” said Carr, who is in his 22nd year of coaching the Harrison girls golf program. “I think it’s something that feels natural to her therefore there is a natural comfort zone for her. Just being with other students and other student-athletes. She’s part of a team, she’s part of a bigger thing.”
So it’s no surprise that Sophia wakes up each morning and thinks about golf. She discusses it during school.
Harrison intervention specialist Emily Holbert knows how much Merrill wants to be a golf pro or coach one day.
“She is genuinely the happiest kid I’ve ever worked with,” Holbert said. “She is a fantastic kid. She will do anything you ask her to do.”
Sophia exudes joy with her teammates and classmates. The happiness is apparent to her family.
“Just because she has disabilities and stuff like this, makes me happy to see her happy,” said Crystal Merrill, Sophia’s mother. “She has her own thing. We’re just very proud of her and we love watching her grow and seeing her progress. I think she’s just going to continue to keep getting better and better.”
Sophia’s progress was evident Aug. 8 when she earned the team’s best score during a tournament at Miami Whitewater Golf Course. It was the first time she played 18 holes on a regulation course.
“Pure joy,” Carr said. “It’s hard to describe because in the past you know you don’t have somebody with the kind of personality that she has. She’s all for golf. But, she’s all for her team. She’s all for Harrison. She bleeds green and white. She’s a Harrison girl. And she loves it.”
It’s why Sophia has already thought about playing golf in college. She wants to have an aide by her side and play close to home. She also has a well-known interest in weather.
For now, she wants to continue to improve on the course and help Harrison throughout this season.
“I’m just ready,” Sophia said.
Golf continues to be a gift for Sophia and her family throughout the year.
“I hope it stays with her forever,” Jerry Merrill said. “I think it will because she just loves it.”
