Young QCA golfer preps for Drive, Chip, and Putt National Finals

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - Sophia Miller, 11, has been playing golf for most of her young life.

“I have an entire family of golfers. [I remember] watching my older sisters play in college, and my dad was like, ‘Let’s put a club in your hand,’” Miller said. “I was like, ‘Let’s do this.’”

All of those swings have paid off. Miller qualified for the Drive, Chip & Putt national finals at Augusta National for the 10 and 11-year-old age group.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s like I can’t believe that I’m about to go. It doesn’t seem real,” Miller said.

Miller’s coach, Paul Del Vecchio, said she has a strong work ethic.

“She’s pretty calm, cool, and collected, so she handles herself pretty well. She’s really in the past couple of years really taken it a little bit more seriously, playing a lot more tournaments, and getting a lot better,” Del Vecchio said. “To qualify, and to kind of seal the deal, she made a 30-foot putt on her last putt.”

Miller said she practices about an hour a day and hits a variety of different shots.

“It’s easy to get nervous just because you can hit one bad shot that gets your mental state all messed up and then it goes all downhill from there, or you can hit one good shot that brings it all up again,” Miller said

Miller is ready to step foot on the Augusta National Golf Club course for the very first time and show the nation how good she is.

“I’ve seen it on tv so many times, and I’m just like, ‘I want to go there,’” Miller said. “Well, now I’m here.”

The Drive, Chip & Putt national finals will be held on April 2 on the Golf Channel.

Copyright 2023 KWQC. All rights reserved.