Reese Merrell and aunt Tinsley Merrell, from Peggy Bell youth golf tour days.
By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — A trip to Carolina Golf Mart with Elaine Brescia, her grandmother, got Reese Merrell started on a journey that has led to being recruited by Lenoir-Rhyne.
“I remember I was 7,” Merrell said. “I hit a couple of balls well with the driver, and my grandmother was very encouraging. She told me I was pretty good. I really liked it. Golf kind of took off from there for me. I took some lessons.”
Merrell, a North Hills Christian School senior who was a four-time NCISAA state qualifier, officially will sign with the L-R Bears on Nov. 11. She shot 80-77 — 157 at Greensboro National Golf Club in the recent state tournament and placed 10th in her division.
That was a major step forward, 19 strokes, from the 87-89 — 176 she shot at the state level in 2024 when she finished 13th.
The driver is still the best club in the 5-foot-7 Merrell’s bag, just as it was when she was 7, but the other aspects, especially her short game, are coming along nicely.
“I know I shaved off quite a few strokes from my junior season to my senior season by improving my chipping,” she said. “And every year of experience helps a lot. I think my mental focus has gotten sharper in the past year. So much of golf is mental.”
The elements were a factor in the state tournament, as it’s starting to get cool, but Merrell’s faith and experience combined to raise her level of play.
“It was very cold when we started on the morning of the second round and there are always some butterflies when you play in the state tournament,” she said. “I said a little prayer to calm myself down before I teed off on the first hole.”
While her first outing as a 7-year-old would change her life, golf isn’t a sport one can become proficient at in a day, or a month or a year. Merrell has worked to get better at it for a long time.
Other sports tugged at her and divided her focus because Merrell was an athlete, well above average at basketball and soccer.
There was a North Hills basketball game last December when she stuffed the stat sheet for 23 points, 12 steals, nine assists and eight rebounds.
But golf won the tussle to be her favorite sport years ago, and eventually it became her passion.
She has played nine years for North Hills teams. Merrell has been a solo act for the North Hills Eagles on the golf course during her high school years.
“Being the only one out there, representing my school, has made me rely on myself, so I know that’s helped me in some ways,” Merrell said. “But I also think it helped me playing some of the other sports at North Hills and learning from that experience of being part of a team environment. Soccer and basketball always gave me a little mental break from golf, until this year. Now I’m focusing seriously on golf, getting prepared for college.”
Merrell’s first full set of clubs was a gift from her aunt and uncle, Tinsley and Lucas Merrell. Tinsley is East Rowan’s girls golf coach and coached Reese back in her middle school days. Reese’s father, Les Merrell, coaches her now at North Hills.
“We gave Reese some hand-me-down clubs from our boys to start with, and then I believe we gave her an official Cobra set,” Tinsley Merrell recalled. “We’ve always done our best to support Reese or any young person who is interesting in growing their golf game. Reese — we liked to call her ‘Cup,’ as in Reese’s Cup — used to play out at Irish Creek with us often.”
Merrell plays frequently now at Warrior — Warrior pro Brian Lee has been an important swing coach for her — and she also puts in rounds at Corbin Hills, where she has a membership. She plays constantly, almost every day during golf season.
“Golf, school and working out is about all I have time for now,” Merrell said. “Those workouts are important. You need a strong body for golf. You need strong hands and strong legs for balance.”
Merrell’s best nine-hole score has been a 34. The best she can recall shooting for 18 are 74s and 75s, so she hasn’t shot par yet, but that’s a realistic goal for her in the year ahead.
There also haven’t been any holes-in-one for Merrell yet, but she remembers a favorite eagle when she was quite young.
“I drove the green on a par 4 and then I made a long putt,” Merrell said. “I still remember that one because of how excited my grandparents were.”
A lot of recruiting takes place during junior years of high school, but Lenoir-Rhyne got involved with Merrell a little later, at the outset of her senior year.
“It was exciting when L-R started contacting me,” Merrell said. “I believe it was my aunt (Tinsley Merrell) who told the Lenoir-Rhyne coach about me. When I took the tour of the campus and school, I loved it. Then when I met the coach (Chris Jones) face-to-face, I knew he was someone I would enjoy playing for. I haven’t had a chance to meet the girls on the team yet, but I do know it will be nice to have teammates to push me and encourage me. L-R felt right in a lot of ways. I’m going away to school, but I won’t be going too far away.”
Merrell is a fine student. She’s still deciding on her college major, but she had an interest in the fields of exercise science and business.
