It hasn’t taken Meredith Kirk from Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina, to have a strong impact in the golf teaching industry. Without revealing her exact age, let’s just say she has a way to go before she reaches 40.

Growing up in Colorado and then Atlanta, Meredith started playing golf at the age of seven. Her sister was an Olympic figure skater, but Meredith took another route. Her parents would drop her off at the golf course, where she frequently would play 36 holes per day. She became an accomplished tournament player and played a year of collegiate golf, but eventually tired of the competitive grind. She instead focused her life on getting married and having children.

Nevertheless, golf remained an important part of her life. Settling in Murrell’s Inlet, she took the USGTF certification class and landed a position as the head girls’ golf coach at St. James High School. Every summer, she conducts junior camps that serve as a fundraiser for her high school team. She enlists her golfers as instructors, which she says reinforces the lessons they themselves have learned from her.

She also took frequent walks around the International Club’s course, reflecting on golf and life after having a health scare. Eventually, these treks became the genesis for a book she recently had published, Thy Club and Thy Staff, a book of daily devotional prayers and Bible readings that reinforce the life lessons that golf imparts. The book took 2 1/2 years to write.

In addition to coaching her team, she is also in high demand for lessons in Murrell’s Inlet, and has been a welcome addition to the USGTF family.