When Sophia Howard landed in the Sarasota–Bradenton (Florida) International Airport a few weeks ago, she exclaimed, “Oh my God, this is the home of Nelly Korda!”
Nelly got a kick out of that.
Howard, 14, flew to Florida from Hudsonville, Michigan, to meet her idols, Nelly and Jessica Korda, as part of Dream On 3, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based non-profit organization. Howard, who was born without a right hand, met up with the American stars at The Concession Golf Club for a special practice session.
As the trio got to talking, the Kordas realized that Howard lived close to this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic and invited her out to their Tuesday practice round. The spunky Howard described the whole experience as surreal. The Kordas were reminded of why they fell in love with the game in the first place.
“The longer you’re out here you kind of forget how cool it is,” said Jessica. “To see it from somebody else’s perspective is really special.”
Howard said she and her father flipped over to an LPGA event a year or so ago and happened to see Jessica Korda pull off an impressive shot. The cameras then switched over to Nelly, who pulled off something equally memorable. Howard, who also plays softball, immediately turned to Google to learn more.
A rising freshman, Howard competes in adaptive junior tournaments in her area and said that high school golf begins on August 9.
“I may look different,” said Howard, “but I think I’m just another average person. I go out and do the game of golf how everybody else (does) and I don’t let that stop me. Just go out and kill it.”
Sophia Howard hits balls on the range at Concession. (Emby Taylor Photography)
Nelly said having Howard out at the Meijer makes her appreciate what she does for a living even more. Both sisters walked away extremely impressed with Howard’s swing, too. They especially made progress out of the bunker.
“I think that’s what we’ve missed too,” said Jessica, “not having fans or kids out week in, week out. Kind of took that a bit maybe for granted. But that was something that I always loved to see. I loved being able to interact with the kids and giving them the memory that they’ll either hold on to for a while or something that they will come back to maybe the next year and can see them after that.”
The Kordas, of course, could look to their parents, Petr and Regina, both world-class tennis players, for insight into life as a professional athlete. But if they could’ve spent time with other sports stars as a kid, like Howard did with them, who would they choose?
“I love Roger, Nadal, Tiger,” said Nelly. “I know Jess would say Lindsay Vonn.”
Both Nelly and Jessica are winners on the LPGA this season and in position to represent the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics. Nelly is currently the top-ranked American at No. 4 and Jessica ranks 13th. Only four Americans can qualify to compete, and all must be ranked inside the top 15. Two events remain before the qualifying period ends on June 28.
While they won’t have their parents in Tokyo cheering them on due to COVID-19, they’re likely to hear from Howard on their new text thread.
“She’s very spunky and very happy,” said Nelly, “definitely rubs off on you.”