Ask Mattilyn Hill why she enjoys playing golf, and you may not get the kind of response you’d expect.

Sure, she loves watching her drives sail down the fairway. The competition excites her. And the sport keeps drawing her back to the course time after time.

But Hill isn’t your typical high school senior. She goes beyond the obvious to explain herself in many aspects of her life, including the sport she now loves. And didn’t pick up until her sophomore year when Shakamak High School decided to field a team.

Shakamak senior mattilyn hill shows off a third place ribbon she earned at the north knox golf sectional.

“It’s a very peaceful sport. It’s so quiet,” Hill said in a joyful tone.

“I’ve grown up playing basketball and softball. Those are very high-pace sports, and I just like that you know sometimes even in life you just got to slow down. So, it’s a sport where I can just slow down and it’s super peaceful and quiet.”

Unlike most golfers, Hill’s skills on the course have improved greatly in a short period of time. So much so that she has been offered and accepted a scholarship to continue her golf career at St. Mary’s-of-the-Woods College next year. She was also offered scholarships from other colleges.

SMWC is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the Rivers States Conference.

Hill’s scores have quickly come down over her short career. Though nothing has come easy, and hard work helped keep her on track.

“None of it really (has been easy). It all took time. My sophomore year I was shooting in the upper 50s on 9 (holes),” Hill recalled. “I put in work over the summer before my junior year and eventually I was in the upper 40s. The numbers started trending,” Hill explained.

“Patience was the big thing. What really gets me shooting low are my driver and putter. If they’re on I’m fine.

“I’ve always hit it really far because growing up I played softball. I’ve always been a power hitter. I was slicing it off the tee and sometimes I have to play the slice.”

Hill and some of her friends went to athletic director Dylan Collins three years ago to ask if the school could start a girls’ team. She said it had been close to 50 years since the school offered a team.

“It wasn’t really just me. It was like me and a bunch of my friends. They were like, ‘You want to play golf,’ and I was like sure why not,” Hill recalled. “I wasn’t playing a fall sport, and I was like you know what, a three-sport athlete sounds pretty good to say.”

The Lady Lakers had six players her sophomore and junior years, but she was the only member this year. That meant she participated as an individual in all regular-season and sectional tournaments.

Hill also is a standout player for the Lady Lakers in basketball and softball.

Hill’s best 18 holes in a high school match was an 83 at High Point Country Club in Bicknell during the sectional her junior year. Her personal best score is a 76 at the Phil Harris Golf Course in Linton.

The 83 at Bicknell was good enough for third place overall, and advanced her to the regional. Earlier this month she came up one stroke short of advancing to the regional.

After playing so well her junior year and advancing in the state tournament, Hill knew her goal of a college scholarship was within reach. But she also started to feel the pressure of reaching her dream.

That weighed heavy on her this fall, and her game suffered.

“I’ve come to the realization that I put so much pressure on myself my senior year thinking I had to perform perfect for all these (college) coaches. Then just everything kind of fell apart there for a minute,” Hill recalled.

A conversation with someone helped put things in perspective for her.

“(Getting the scholarship) is literally a weight off the shoulders,” she said. “I tried to make every shot perfect, and golf is a sport that you can’t be perfect.”

Hill has had to battle back from three knee surgeries that kept her out of action for extended periods of time. Going into her senior year she was healthy.

She missed her freshman basketball season because of an injury, but she’s been a starter her last three years. She’s a center.

Hill has started at first or third base her first three years of high school and is expected to do the same this coming spring.

Hill believes in being a well-rounded student and community member, and she volunteers her time whenever she can. She is appreciative of the support the Shakamak community shows its students.

She mentioned, though, some recent negativity in the community caught her attention. She asked to speak at a school board meeting to share her thoughts on the school.

“My thing was there has been so much negativity and division in our community and I don’t want that for my senior year. We all have to make a difference,” Hill said.

She put a slide show together for the school board and she received a positive response. It was titled “Positive Happenings at Shakamak.”

“I talked about all the positive things in the past year, what’s been happening at school. I feel like people need to know the positive things, (because) so many people are focused on (the negative). They don’t know what’s happening inside of our school with our students,” Hill said.

Hill is currently focused on the upcoming basketball season and will shift to softball in the spring. But she knows what’s right around the corner, college golf.

“I’m really excited to get started,” Hill said. “It’s a great school, and I really like the coach.”

The Pomeroys’ home course is Idle Creek Golf Course in southeastern Vigo County.

Kyle Miller is the SMWC head coach and has an impressive list of qualifications.

He has served as assistant professional at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, and head professional at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Heartland Crossing Golf Links in Mooresville, and most recently The Country Club of Terre Haute.

Hill will major in Education Pedagogy.

Pedagogy is the art, science, and practice of teaching, combining the methods and strategies educators use to help students learn.