Her swing is fluid and powerful. Her tee shots? Known for their distance, often pushing past her opponents' by 30-plus yards. It's an advantage that helped anchor a career-best finish at the Class 1 state tournament at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin last fall.
Take one look at Meredith Sharp's swing, and Sharp's numbers, and Sharp's focus, and it's easy to see a golfer who must have taken up the sport at a young age. After all, this is a golfer who prefers a five wood in the tee box, yet still outdistances her rivals' drivers.
But in this case, it's easy to be wrong.
Sharp didn't swing a club until the seventh grade at the K-12 Greenwood Laboratory School, and entering her freshman year, didn't even seem to know just how good she already was.
"When she came in as a freshman, her mother said to me that she said, 'Mom, I just hope to make the team,' and from Day 1 she vaulted into the No. 1 position," Greenwood golf coach David Oatman said. "She's very talented, very strong and has a wonderful swing."
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"I was so nervous that first day my freshman year, I was worried I'd get blown out of the water," Sharp said. "It occurred to me early on that I was meant to be here. I was making solid contact with every ball I hit."
As a junior last fall, that swing propelled Sharp to a third-place finish at districts, seventh at sectionals and tied for 25th at states out of 90 competitors, shooting a 178 (90, 88). It was her best finish at states after finishing 44th as a sophomore and 55th as a freshman.
"I think I still surprise myself, shooting what I shoot and as little as I practice," Sharp said. "I don't practice as much as some other people do, and I probably need to change that."
A multi-sport athlete, Sharp competed at a high level in the Missouri Valley tennis circuit throughout elementary and middle school before dropping the racquet for a set of irons in seventh grade.
"My dad played golf as a hobby, and I just decided to take that up. I didn't start practicing competitively until eighth grade. I've been told by my golf coach I had a pretty natural swing," she said.
"I think her ability to outdrive other players off the tee comes from her tennis background strengthening her core," Oatman said. "I think that transferred perfectly for her into a very powerful golf swing."
It was a swing that came as naturally to Sharp as her leadership role at Greenwood. In girls golf, in every tournament and match, the two No. 1s compete head-to-head. As a rising freshman, Sharp embraced that challenge.
"During her eighth-grade year, we had our annual sports banquet for middle and high schoolers. I indicated that we need one girl on this team to come up and say, 'I'm going to be the best. I'll take that No. 1 position,'" Oatman said.
That one girl was Sharp.
"I've always been competitive," she said. "I have a younger brother. He and I have always been pretty competitive with each other and everyone else. We try to golf together, but usually we end up getting kind of angry at each other."
That drive shows up off the course as well.
While working at the Springfield Boys & Girls Club, the junior spearheaded a campaign to raise enough money to provide every single Robberson Elementary student with new shoes.
"I was realizing most kids didn’t have that great of tennis shoes on," she said. "Looking at my shoes, they thought they were really cool. I've been lucky enough to be able to have that and wanted to help."
After sending out letters upon letters to local businesses, friends and family, Sharp's idea grew, and, with the help of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, developed into her own non-profit, Just For Kicks.
"She's not just a golfer or an athlete or a good student," Oatman said. "She has a lot of human interest with the city of Springfield and the children here."
Sharp raised $13,000, and, after partnering with Bass Pro Shops, was able to provide new pairs of Under Armour sneakers to every student at Robberson, and was able to be there to pass them out to each outstretched hand.
"I was nervous at the beginning, but after it was done I felt incredible," Sharp said. "All the kids were so sweet and easy to work with. It's such an overwhelming feeling."
With one year at Greenwood ahead of her, a fourth consecutive state tournament should follow a career that has only trended upwards.
"She has a lot of raw talent, but to make all-state status, a goal of hers, she needs to go out and hone some skills and become more accurate within 100 yards of the hole," Oatman said.
Lucky for her head coach, it seems the rising senior is well aware of what she needs to do.
"I was disappointed by my performance at state," she said.
"I'm going to try to practice more this summer than I have in the past and see where that leads me. I'm going to make it to state again and hopefully place top 25 or 15. I think if I play like I did the rest of the season this year, I could really do well."
