While the majority of the graduating senior class was looking for jobs last spring, Dean Merrill was in search of something a little different: a golf coach.
After captaining the Quakers last season, the former college standout is pursuing a pro career, choosing the picturesque conditions of the Sunshine State as ground zero for his training.
After researching and meeting with a few different golf coaches, Merrill finally decided on Martin Hall, a former professional and a renowned golf instructor at Ibis Golf and Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
From the beginning, Hall put his pupil to the test.
"I get up at 6:30. It's breakfast, short game practice and hitting balls until about 10:30 or 11:00, then work out for an hour or two," Merrill said. "After that, I work out I have lunch, go play in the afternoon, then go hit balls, then go to bed."
According to Hall, Merrill's dedication is clear and unsurprising.
"His strengths as a player are his strengths as a person. He's got great character," he said.
The tedium is not an issue, Merrill said. He gets a few breaks from golf when his family visits on occasion, and takes trips to visit friends when he can.
"Obviously there are second thoughts, like in everything." Merrill said. "It's like you go get a job on Wall Street and you're working 110-hour weeks and you're thinking, 'Is this really worth it?'"
During his senior year, Merrill decided to pursue his dream after numerous conversations with his parents. He considered doing the typical job search, but decided against it.
"You only get one time frame in life to pursue a passion like that," Dean's father, Scott, said.
Of course, after four years of collegiate competitions, Merrill is no stranger to tournaments.
The past two summers, he competed in the U.S. Amateur Championship, the oldest of 13 national championships hosted each year by the United States Golf Association. The results were discouraging, though, as Merrill failed to progress past stroke play both times.
"I played poorly, but I would have had to play very well to make the cut," Merrill said.
Merrill now has the opportunity to do what school and life did not permit beforehand: focus exclusively on golf.
"I'd play over the summer, get better, get better," he said.
"But then you come to Philadelphia where it's cold all year; it's hard to really improve."
Merrill says maybe in a year he will start to make his mark in golf; his coach and father say give it "a year or two."
"My only goal for him is to keep getting better," Hall said. "The only goal I set for anybody is the same goal that Tiger Woods sets, so that's good enough for me. I think it's very dangerous to set target goals for an athlete such as 'I will win this tournament,' 'I will have this stroke count,' because so much of it is out of your control."
Merrill may not have a set timeline or gameplan, but for now, he is just basking in the Florida sunshine and relishing the full access he has to the greens and Hall's coaching expertise.
"There will have to be checks along the way to decide if it's a good option for me or not," Merrill said.
"I'll continue it if I feel like I'm improving at the rate that I want to, and I'm still enjoying myself."
