You would not believe it from talking to her, but Nisha Palamisamy (12) used to be a shy person. Now she is just the opposite, and she thanks golf for her transition from a timid girl to an outgoing athlete.

“I used to be a shy person,” Palanisamy said. “[Through golf] I learned to communicate better and met new people.”

Palanisamy started golf at the age of nine on account of her older brother Dilip being a former White Station golf standout.

“My brother used to play,” the younger Palanisamy said, “and I usually follow in my brother’s footsteps.”

She considers her relationship with her brother normal, but when it comes to golf though they form an even more special connection.

” [Our relationship] is like any usual sibling relationship,” Palanisamy said, “more of a love hate relationship, but now that he’s in college I do not see him as much. We still joke around a lot and get along really well though especially when he practices [golf] with me.”

In middle school Palanisamy didn’t try out for the golf team because she was “too scared.” Dilip encouraged her to try out her freshman year of high school. She made the team and since then has been one of the school’s best players.

In her freshman year she even qualified for the state championship and finished with the best score out of all of the White Station golfers. That trend has continued throughout her four years playing for the Spartans.

Palanisamy has qualified for the state championship every single year putting up her best score, a 171, this year. Now that her accomplished career is over at White Station she looks back on the sport not as just another game, but something more special – something that not only changed her athletically, but also socially.

“Golf isn’t just a hobby,” Palanisamy said. “It’s a part of me, and it’s a game [that] I love playing.”