The two girls she played with enthusiastically congratulated her, some teammates came rushing over, and her coach waited his turn. Miller had just finished a 2-under par round of 69 to win the Division II district tournament by eight strokes at Heatherwoode Golf Club. She will play in the state tournament Oct. 13-14 at the Ohio State Gray Course.
In the middle of the celebration, Alter senior Anna Sommers got her turn. She held Miller, a sophomore, in a long embrace.
“Anna is my senior mom — I love her so much,” Miller said. “As a freshman, and even now, she drove me to matches, and we just always goof around. I found a best friend on this team. I just love her so much, and I’m going to miss her so much.”
Miller didn’t let any emotions erupt on the front nine when she bogeyed the second hole and double bogeyed No. 5.
“She’s capable of leaving the last shot where it was, fix it, move on,” Alter coach Jim Cole said. “And then she’s also pretty good at picking herself up and not staying down and trying to stay even keel.”
Miller’s attitude was helped by birdies on No. 1 and No. 3. Then she followed the double bogey with another birdie and finished the front nine at 1-over 37.
“On the first hole when I got my birdie I was like, all right, it’s go time,” she said. “I just had to realize that you’re never out of it. And I definitely proved that today. It’s never over is what my dad said, and I just kept that in mind because he’s my coach.
“I knew I would need a good score. But I didn’t come in trying to shoot a certain score. I just came in trying to have fun and do what I needed to do.”
Miller began the back nine knowing it wasn’t her team’s day to repeat as district champ and return to state. The Knights finished eighth, but Miller remained focused and birdied the first two holes on the back nine and No. 15 for a 32 to run away from the field. Reaghan McDaniel of Riverside and Ella Porter of Versailles tied for second at 77. Porter won a four-hole playoff to also advance to state.
Fenwick junior Sophia Rush, who shot 82 and led the Falcons to the team title and a third state appearance in four years, saw Miller’s round up close. The two have played together many times since their younger days in Junior PGA events.
“She is my favorite person in the world to play with,” Rush said. “We have fun with it, we talk when we should, and we get in the zone when we should. I know that she’s capable of shooting so much better, too, which is so crazy to me. She’s just an amazing player and an amazing person, and she deserves every single shot.”
Miller even overcame a 60-yard topped tee shot on No. 14. She hit her second shot 195 yards with a fairway wood to the green and two-putted for par.
“She played like she’s capable of,” Cole said. “We’ve seen this out of her all year, and her best golf has been of late, which is when you want to be peaking. And she certainly is.”
When Miller finished reporting her score inside the clubhouse, she walked outside to another big hug. Her dad, Aaron Miller, had watched every shot, and it was his turn. Dad and daughter will have many more hugs at the golf course. But this day was one of the last Miller will share with her team mom. When they finally let go of their hug both girls were crying.
“I knew she would come running around the corner, and I knew we were just going to hug,” Miller said. “When she started crying, I didn’t expect to cry, but I broke down. This was our final little thing together. It was a bittersweet moment for sure.”
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