Athlete of the Week: Payton Rohrhoff overcomes cerebral palsy to excel for Hartland golf

HARTLAND — From the moment Payton Rohrhoff was born, excelling in athletics was going to be a challenge.

Rohrhoff was born with cerebral palsy, which affects movement and balance, key elements in nearly every sport. Her right foot is impacted by the condition, causing a limp.

The Hartland High School freshman tried playing multiple sports growing up before realizing golf presented her best opportunity for success.

She dabbled in golf most of her life, exposed to the sport through her father. Three years ago, she decided to focus on golf and started playing it competitively.

“Some sports were hard for me,” said Rohrhoff, the Livingston Daily’s Athlete of the Week. “I wasn’t one of the best. I thought I would have a good chance at golf. I started doing lessons with coaches. I started doing strength training last year. I just wanted to take golf seriously and make these goals, because one of my main goals is to play D1 college golf.

“I wouldn’t be able to run very fast or jump or anything like that as good as everyone else. I thought golf would be a good fit for me.”

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In her first year of high school golf, Rohrhoff was one of the best players in Livingston County and the No. 1 golfer for the Eagles.

She nearly qualified for the state Division 1 tournament, missing by one stroke in the regional at Forest Akers East in East Lansing. She shot 85 to finish 12th. The top three golfers not on qualifying teams advanced to the state finals.

While golf is a more forgiving sport for Rohrhoff, her condition still makes it more challenging, particularly when driving the ball.

“It will be hard for me to balance on my right foot,” she said. “It will be hard for me to get off my right foot on a swing, but I had a lot of coaches who have been able to work around it and make my swing the best I can make it.”

When Hartland coach Ethan Hawker met Rohrhoff two years ago, he talked with her parents about any physical limitations she may have after noticing her limp and scars on the back of her ankle from two surgeries.

“She does not have the same physical abilities the rest of the girls do out there,” Hawker said. “She makes the most of it. She’s an unbelievable kid. She doesn’t let it slow her down one bit. It’s just hard work that’s gotten her to where she is. She definitely can’t swing at the ball as hard as a lot of other girls. That’s not going to slow her down.

"She’s gonna keep working to improve on her distance and focus on her short game and take advantage of what she has. She is a great golfer and will continue to get better.”

At regionals, Flushing’s Kayla Rousseau shot 84 to take the final state-qualifying berth. Rohrhoff played in the same group with Rousseau and had a pretty good idea the trip to states could come down to their individual matchup.

Rohrhoff was 7-over through four holes, trailing Rousseau by four, before making a charge the rest of the round. Rousseau made par on the final two holes to secure the berth.

“I made a comeback to make it one shot,” Rohrhoff said. “She made a lot of putts and got lucky with a lot of shots, so it honestly came down to the last hole.

“My coach came up to me and I asked him, ‘Do I still have a chance?’ He’s like, ‘It’s gonna be a fight, but you still have a chance. We need to make some birdies.’”

Rohrhoff averaged 86.7 for 18 holes with a low round of 81 and 41.0 for nine with a low score of 39. She is one of three freshmen who were among Hartland’s top four players at regionals.

“It’s really cool to see how we have a chance of being really good in the future,” she said.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Athlete of the Week: Payton Rohrhoff overcomes cerebral palsy to excel for Hartland golf